Director: Alfred Werker and Anthony Mann
Producer: Bryan Foy and Robert Kane
Screenwriter: John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur
Cinematographer: John C. Alton
Music: Leonid Raab
Studio: Eagle Lion 1948
Main Acting: Richard Basehart and Roy Roberts
I’m not the biggest fan of narrated police procedural semidocumentary pictures that were very popular in the mid to late 40s. Besides the stale aroma of governmental propaganda, I always found those booming voices to be hopelessly quaint and annoying. Both The Naked City and T-Men are generally talked about with reverence, yet neither is remotely great in my eyes. I consider both to be okay movies but have a hard time swallowing the intrusive rigmarole that those explanatory antiquated chronicler’s recount. Even He Walked By Night, which has always been my favorite of this ilk can still grate at times. I swear Ed Wood used the same guy in Glen Or Glenda to harp on about “satin undies”. Still, discounting this one flaw, Alfred Werker/Anthony Mann’s film really works in almost every other way and comes only a few inches from being pitch perfect.
Anthony Mann, while uncredited, is said to have actually directed most of He Walked By Night. Along with the great John Alton handling the cinematography, it’s not hard to see the visual and thematic similarities this picture shares with other Mann/Alton joint ventures like T-Men and Raw Deal (the cinematography of He Walked By Night is Alton’s peak achievement in my opinion). While Alfred Werker was considered a solid craftsmen and dependable journeymen who helmed the entertaining The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939), he was not known for creating gritty film noirs throughout his career. I would say it’s safe to wager that Mann was the one who made this 1948 Eagle Lion picture worth watching. When Alton’s shadows take center stage, the result is tough, dark, and full of enough grime to get every noirist’s heart aflutter.
The big knock on this movie is that characterization is thin, and that there is no individual actor who stands out. But I find Richard Basehart to be extremely compelling. He gives a great performance as Roy, bringing out the character’s desperation during some harrowing moments. In the scene after he is shot, he adjusts the mirror and heats up the proper instrumentation to remove a policeman’s bullet—which he wonderfully communicates with grimaces and cold sweats. The few times he shows kindness to his dog, it helps in revealing that this hardened narcissistic criminal still displays some human traits, and therefore is not a completely remorseless killer. In fact, one of the most curious aspects of He Walked By Night is that even though this is ostensibly a police propaganda flick, it actually allows the viewers to feel more sympathy for the misanthropic killer! The policemen are all bland, faceless cardboard stand-ins who show no emotion and are unrecognizable from each another. Roy is the character we identify with and actually sympathize for after his final confrontation in the L.A. sewers. I’m not sure if this was intentional or just a total coincidence, but the interesting subversive possibilities are marvelous. I wonder if any government officials choked on their popcorn realizing this ironic bit of information.
I cannot finish this piece without mentioning the climactic ending in the labyrinth gutters that Roy finds himself in. He realizes the policemen have finally reached their target because of the only living thing he cares about: His dog’s incessant barking alerts him to their inevitable presence. Roy makes a beeline for his strategic hiding place below the city. The tension-filled moments where Roy attempts to escape manhole after manhole only to find them already barricaded by law enforcement are tangible and thrilling. I also love the scene where he runs along a narrow tunnel where the only available illumination is from his flashlight. When he reaches for his cache of weapons, the final shootout does not fail to bring forth an action-packed conclusion. My preference for this particular film over something like T-Men is precisely because the lack of characterization makes this picture feel almost avant-garde in its structure. Like a Michael Mann project, it is more concerned with the mechanizations of the characters than dwelling on their personal motivations. Why is Roy the way he is? Who knows? Who cares? Must we always need to know such things? Let’s just sit back and revel in his cunning as he dodges the cops for about 78 minutes before the inevitable hand of fate strikes down and places him face down in dirty sewer water.
He Walked By Night is also notable for inspiring Jack Webb to create Dragnet. The actor has a small part playing a forensics specialist who connects various shootings to the same man because of matching ejecting bullet cases. Dragnet would go on to being the most famous and influential show of its kind.
I, too, have problems with that kind of intrusive, propagandistic voiceover, and this film is no exception – it does detract from what is otherwise a very interesting film. As you say, the police are all surprisingly generic, and in many ways the audience is placed on the side of the killer, watching the police closing in, feeling his terror and anxiety, and it’s very curious. The cinematography is what really saves the film, though, as that final chase sequence is just gorgeous, and the scenes before that, in the killer’s house, with the slatted windows casting barred shadows across his body, are similarly compelling. A lot of the scenes with the cops are pretty boring, especially in the light of all the endless procedural imitators they inspired (unfair, but true) but every so often there’s a bracing, powerful suspense sequence and the movie is jolted back to life: the chase, or the earlier scene where the killer silently circles and stalks the cops through an office.
Yeah one of my pet peeves with noir is all those films that include booming intrusive voiceovers. He Walked By Night has always been my favorite due to it’s subversive siding with the criminal for sympathy. This may not be the most popular pick for the countdown, but this is the ultimate police procedural for me.
Well, it was bound to happen. This is where we part ways Maurizio. Sure John Alton’s visual poetry in the drains climax is superb, but that’s about all that is noir or great about this movie. You see zero characterization as a strength. For me it is an irredeemable weakness.
T-Men is greater by light-years of magnitude, as are Raw Deal, Border Incident, and even Railroaded! and Desperate. T-Men, Raw Deal, and Border Incident are stone-cold masterpieces.
Sorry if I am too blunt – nothing personal.
In this one instance I do see zero characterization as a strength. Roy’s mysterious need to kill and rob is never adequately explained and it makes for thrilling cinema. It is almost avant- garde in its narrative and structure. Alton’s cinematography is finally shown in a great print and home viewing copy. His other major releases have only been available through inferior products. MGM’s DVD really brings out Alton’s glorious work for us to marvel at. One of those films you mention, Tony, will see the light of day in this countdown. The rest I left out either due to my dislike for them or because they just missed the cut. In my opinion only 1 of the 5 is a stone cold masterpiece. The rest (which I have all seen) are average or in two cases below average. No need to apologize for bluntness since your opinion and expertise is warranted and appreciated. As for the noirness of He Walked By Night or police procedurals, I can understand the view that they should be separated and placed in their own category, but I personally consider this Mann/Werker film as part of the genre. Visually and technically it fits. Also the palpable sense of doom which I mentioned in the introduction is clearly apparent. Roy is heading for a fall due to his greed and overwhelming temptations or moral corruptibility.
I saw this film in August during the Anthony Mann festival and liked it well enough, though the others broached here by Tony are stronger (by maybe Maurizio agrees and has some revelations down the road during the poll…Ha I’m sure he does!) The intrusive voiceover was certainly a debit, but John Alton was again a major star.
Another exceptional essay.
Well Sam one film is indeed stronger and will appear. The rest I would argue are inferior to He Walked By Night. Alton is indeed the star but I also love the narrative structure. It explains so little and has a cold distanced feel that in this one case I love.
If noir is form than He Walked By Night gets in on the strength of those sewer scenes, but in terms of content a procedural isn’t much of a noir. As a procedural, however, He Walked is a great film because of the paradoxical focus Maurizio notes on Basehart’s supercriminal. Basehart’s quietly charismatic relentlessness makes you want the hunt to keep going. He isn’t a romanticized bandit nor the sort of barnstorming villain who gets the best lines. His unfathomable menace beneath a bland if not blank exterior makes He Walked nearly as much a horror movie as the title suggests.
Great comment as usual Samuel. His mysterious malignant evilness is similar to Anton Chigurh. No explanation needed. A force that destroys all in his wake and does resemble horror movie tropes. Unlike the Coen film, in the noir universe he must eventually be killed and dispatched. The beauty is that as the viewer we end up siding with the remorseless criminal!!! What a perverse bait and switch by Mann…
I’ve always liked this film, and that climax is unforgettable. But I can see why most would consider it less than Mann’s other noir films, especially Raw Deal. Where I agree with Maurizio is that Alton’s photography is tops in this movie. Nice review.
Thanks Frank. Raw Deal may or may not be that other Mann film that makes the countdown. We shall see…
Maurizio Roca said,”When Alton’s shadows take center stage, the result is tough, dark, and full of enough grime to get every noirist’s heart aflutter.”
I wish that I would have created this slide-roll… Here is the proof…Alton’s Shadows Takes Center Stage…
…alas, I didn’t create the (Slide-roll) Of Alton’s lensed “He Walked By Night”…By the way, nice screenshot too!
What an interesting review…First Of all, I like this film for two reasons…Frank Gallo’s summary Of the film (Which I share, but Of course!) and Secondly, Micheal Tierney, (Lawrence Tierney and Scott Brady’s nephew…)
He appears to be a nice chap! )
He is a member Of my administrator’s Ning and I don’t want him to pin my ears back (Can you imagine a big strong man like him pinning a “little girl” ears back…Just kidding!
if I were to say anything negative about the film his uncle portrayed one Of those faceless policemen.
[Postscript: I must admit that I accept voice-over in films for what it's...additional facts or details...about the film.]
Maurizio Roca said,”MGM’s DVD really brings out Alton’s glorious work for us to marvel at…”
Just think you can purchase a copy Of the superior MGM version for as low as $2.00+change(used) and as high as $4.00+change (new)…And the Alpha version goes for the same amount, but my advice please don’t purchase it!
“Mann project, it is more concerned with the mechanizations of the characters than dwelling on their personal motivations. Why is Roy the way he is? Who knows? Who cares? Must we always need to know such things? Let’s just sit back and revel in his cunning as he dodges the cops for about 78 minutes before the inevitable hand of fate strikes down and places him face down in dirty sewer water.”
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee
Thanks for the comment Dee Dee. This is one of those picks that didn’t sit well with the readers. I’m not sure what everyone is missing lol. I have always considered He Walked By Night first rate noir. in fact in an earlier draft of my list I had it as high as 31.