HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948)

Eagle-Lion Films, 79m 4s

My first encounter with HE WALKED BY NIGHT occurred during a theatrical screening of MENACE II SOCIETY (1993). As Caine (Tyrin Turner) recovers from a gunshot wound in a hospital in front of a television, he is captivated by a violent sequence in HE WALKED BY NIGHT ("How about my army discharge? I got it right here."). Whatever old B&W movie Caine was watching, I knew I had to track it down. At the time I was relatively new to the film noir category and had a lot of major titles in front of me. As a devoted noir fan today with countless hours logged, HE WALKED BY NIGHT still leaves an impression on me whenever I revisit it, partly due to the performance of Richard Basehart in the lead role as the criminal convinced he has the smarts to remain a step ahead of the manhunt orchestrated by determined cops. The equally compelling factor is acclaimed cinematographer John Alton's adroit camera angles and moody lighting that merge to emphasize the visual facets of the classic film noir.

A (mostly) true crime story that makes use of locations in and around Los Angeles, HE WALKED BY NIGHT really hits the ground running with its opening sequence. What appears to be a routine police stop suddenly erupts into the slaying of a police officer when Roy Martin (Basehart) opens fire on Officer Robert Rawlins (John McGuire, uncredited). Police Sergeant Marty Brennan (Scott Brady) and Police Sergeant Chuck Jones (James Cardwell) are assigned to the case with the helpful assistance of forensic specialist Lee Whitey (Jack Webb). The case proves to be a highly challenging one. Roy is shown to be technically proficient in electronics and uses radio equipment to listen in on police activity. To eke out a living, he has formed an alliance with Paul Reeves (Whit Bissell), to whom he sells modified stolen electronic gear.

The unequivocal work of cinematographer John Alton

The archetypal alienated noir protagonist, the gat-packing hoodlum Roy is a maladjusted war veteran who has demonstrated complete incompatibility with accepted societal norms of behavior. He lives in a modest Hollywood bungalow, where his dog accounts for his only companionship. Presented as a supremely dangerous individual from the outset, Roy possesses the temerity necessary to gun down a policeman (check out his crazed eyes when he shoots Officer Rawlins!). After Rawlins dies from his injuries, in another outburst of violence the cop killer Roy leaves Sergeant Jones in a state of paralysis. Technically savvy, informed about standard police procedures and willing to shift his modus operandi as required, Roy presents an unusual underworld figure for law enforcement figures to track.

Roy’s personality traits and quirks fit snugly into the pessimistic universe of film noir. Let's start with the alarmingly ironic plot point that he once worked for the LAPD as a civilian radio technician and thus gained insider knowledge of how law enforcement operates. Naturally, the police were reluctant to consider the possibility the criminal they seek could be one of them or have insider connections of some sort. Even more noir is the oddly eroticized scene in which Roy lovingly massages the electronic equipment he has prepared for sale. The implication is clear:  the loner criminal depends upon his crimes as a substitute for sexual release. Perhaps the most uniquely noir trait connected with Roy emerges when he performs bullet extraction surgery on himself. Though Roy is an obvious bad apple who must be contained, the filmmakers allow him a sense of humanity during this scene, which is framed and edited to encourage the viewer to root for him to get that nasty bullet out of his body. Such subjective moments are perfectly at home in the film noir, where those shunned by society are granted more texture than they might be allowed in other genres. Another staple noir quality is the theme of multiple personalities and/or identities, which adds a level of confusion to the police pursuit of Roy, known first to police as Roy Martin before his original name Roy Morgan is discovered. Multiple shots that feature Roy looking into a mirror emphasize tension harbored within a conflicted personality; the seemingly ordinary man capable of killing at any moment.

The background suggests the guillotine might await Roy

It does not get any more noir than this shot

As noted by film historian Imogen Sara Smith, Roy's scene of self surgery is
characteristic of exactly the sort of sequence Anthony Mann helmed -
particularly in his Westerns, the director had a fondness for closeups
of his perspiring characters in obvious pain

The noir underworld

Though assorted film noirs play out in suburban, rural or even open environments—consider THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948), ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951), THE HITCH-HIKER (1953), CRY VENGEANCE (1954), THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) and NIGHTFALL (1957)—a much longer list could be curated for noirs that primarily unfold in sprawling urban environments. There is a certain practicality about that arrangement given the social problems that become amplified in a big city setting. The film noir delivery system often focuses on bothersome truths about city life, particularly for those who reside on the margins. Percolating problems and complex issues always have the potential to overwhelm the urban population with a vast possibility of combinations, i.e. income inequality, unemployment, overcrowding, segregation, traffic congestion, inadequate public services, pollution, decay, substance abuse and other addictions, corruption and above all else, crime. Such a milieu ostensibly calls for a dedicated police force of impeccable character and work ethic, law enforcement agents bound by a stable system of selfless beliefs. That assumption comes deeply embedded in the police procedural docudrama subgenre of film noir. HE WALKED BY NIGHT adheres to this tradition with the policeman as paragon of patience, his painstakingly tedious work sometimes unproductive. He must walk down many well-travelled paths in an urban landscape that offers limitless places for the criminal to take cover. The various languages spoken by area residents make police work even more demanding, then there are citizens who harbor irrational beliefs (i.e. the paranoid woman [Dorothy Adams, uncredited] who is convinced her milk is being poisoned). In the film noir city, few civilian problems are resolved easily.

Deep in the thicket of the film noir ecosystem lurks an inevitable force of retribution that accounts for sins of the past. This concept of fatalism is what unifies film noirs of many varieties. In HE WALKED BY NIGHT, the LAPD's steadfast dedication to public service dovetails nicely with the searing brand of film noir fatalism meant to restrain unwelcome transgressions like Roy. LA's massive storm sewer system designed to handle flash flooding provides the ideal environment for his containment, one steeped in noir irony. During his crime spree, the drainage system offers a helpful safety net for Roy, but ultimately that same underground arena assures his damnation via an inescapable police dragnet. This climactic segment of the film begins on a rooftop as Roy hides, runs and jumps en route to a sewer inlet. The sequence builds to imply the ultimately cornered noir protagonist has been reduced to animalistic impulses, as can be seen in other quintessential noirs like HIGH SIERRA (1941), THE SET-UP (1949), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), GUN CRAZY (1950), NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) and perhaps most strikingly in PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950). The motif of rainwater is another major noir signifier, as certified by Paul Schrader in his essay “Notes on Film Noir” (FILM COMMENT, Spring, 1972). Schrader observes, "...rainfall tends to increase in direct proportion to the drama." How fitting that Roy should find himself drawn to the tunnel system designed to control excessive rainwater.

The fragmented noir protagonist

A production budgeted at just over $300K, HE WALKED BY NIGHT was a good earner for Eagle-Lion Films and producer Bryan Foy, a film industry veteran known as "the keeper of the B's" while employed at Warner Bros. After Warners shut down their B picture unit in 1942, Foy went to work for 20th Century Fox and then Universal Pictures before his stint at Eagle-Lion Films began in 1947. One of his assistant producers at Eagle-Lion was "Handsome Johnny" Roselli, who did time in the can for a scheme that involved the extortion of money from movie industry figures. Journeyman director Alfred L. Werker is not remembered as a great contributor to the film noir movement, though he did helm two other noirs of interest:  SHOCK (1946) and REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947). The more stylistic sequences that punctuate HE WALKED BY NIGHT routinely are credited to Anthony Mann, whose actual contribution must be left to conjecture at the time of this writing due to lack of production records. What we do know is that Mann collaborated with cinematographer John Alton five other times with similar results:  T-MEN (1947), RAW DEAL (1948), REIGN OF TERROR (1949), BORDER INCIDENT (1949) and DEVIL'S DOORWAY (1950). The Mann/Alton partnership yielded an easily recognizable rhythmic pattern of angular lines, dramatic camera angles and clever interplay between light and darkness. So whenever low camera angles abound or shadows cast by venetian blinds imprison the condemned man, one senses the ingenuity of Mann/Alton. The sewer chase that concludes the narrative has been confirmed as the product of Mann's directing, but I wonder if Roy's initial descent into the vast drainage system was overseen by Mann as well. In any case, Roy sprinting through the huge storm sewer for the first time is a real showpiece, a hallmark of film noir imagery. There is an unquestionable sense of depth and dimension when Roy disappears into black nothingness. As his flashlight accents the area around him, darkness relentlessly follows. Mann also worked with co-screenwriter John C. Higgins on RAILROADED! (1947), T-MEN, RAW DEAL and BORDER INCIDENT. Co-screenwriter/original story creator Crane Wilbur's noir writing accomplishments include CANON CITY (1948), THE AMAZING MR. X (1948), CRIME WAVE (1953) and THE PHENIX CITY STORY (1955). HE WALKED BY NIGHT would mark Richard Basehart's breakthrough performance. His subsequent film noir credits include TENSION (1949), FOURTEEN HOURS (1951) and THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (1951), though film fans likely recall him best for his splendid role as the free-spirited Il matto in Federico Fellini's La strada (1954). HE WALKED BY NIGHT is narrated by Reed Hadley, "the voice of docunoir" as described by film historian Alan K. Rode. The noir narration credits of Hadley include THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET (1945), 13 RUE MADELEINE (1947), BOOMERANG! (1947), T-MEN, CANON CITY (1948), WALK A CROOKED MILE (1948) and THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950). Several film noirs that followed in the wake of HE WALKED BY NIGHT bear more than a passing resemblance, especially THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, WITHOUT WARNING! (1952) and THE SNIPER (1952). It should also be mentioned the most influential docudrama film noir surely is THE NAKED CITY (1948), though visually Jules Dassin's film has more in common with the Italian Neorealism movement than the noir look epitomized by Alton.

All guns blazing

Expensive trial avoided

The inspiration for this review was provided by the Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray edition of HE WALKED BY NIGHT released last year. This dual-layered disc presents the film via a new HD master from a 16-bit 4K scan of the 35mm Fine Grain. Framed at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1, this is the best the film has looked on home video to my eyes. Those considering this Blu-ray as an upgrade might be persuaded to take the plunge given the new audio commentary track recorded by film historian and author Imogen Sara Smith, who specializes in film noir. Smith considers HE WALKED BY NIGHT to be more police procedural than proper noir. The semidocumentary format was blueprinted at Twentieth Century Fox with titles such as THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET, 13 RUE MADELEINE and BOOMERANG! setting the stage for a new subgenre. In light of the LAPD's containment of the menace embodied by Roy, she contends this type of crime movie meshed well with the Production Code of its time. What's more, Joseph Breen Jr., son of Production Code Administration leader Joseph Breen, was the conduit between Eagle-Lion Films and the PCA, so family ties did not hurt matters given some of the production's content. One of Smith's best observations involves the no-nonsense narration style employed by Reed Hadley. His approach on the mic is diametrically at odds with the narration of the prototypically doomed noir protagonist, i.e. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), DETOUR (1945) and SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). Smith also charts steady waters when she notes the healthiest film noir specimens highlight flawed, even dirty cops, the likes of which have no place in the police world suggested in procedural films like HE WALKED BY NIGHT. Moreover, the classic noir exercise flexes the notion that anyone can become a criminal under certain circumstances. Another exceptionally non-noir quality is the lack of moral ambiguity, which provides a cynical dimension to so many noir films. True enough, that theme gives unity to genre classics such as OUT OF THE PAST (1947), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, NIGHT AND THE CITY and THE BIG HEAT (1953). HE WALKED BY NIGHT is at its most noir according to Smith during the climactic storm sewer chase, a noir labyrinth that leads to a dead end for the doomed protagonist. Smith and I differ only when she advances the notion that film noir is not a genre, but rather a style, cycle, etc. Like a money-making movie monster, that tired old theory just refuses to die.

Also selectable is the audio commentary track that pairs author/film historian Alan K. Rode with writer/film historian Julie Kirgo, recorded for the Classicflix Blu-ray edition released in 2017. This track is more conversational in tone than the scripted approach favored by Imogen Sara Smith. An early incarnation of the "RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES!" method of genre filmmaking, HE WALKED BY NIGHT was based upon the real-life 1946 crime spree of William Erwin Walker, also known as Erwin M. Walker and Machine Gun Walker. Per Rode, the script rearranges the order of events associated with Walker's crimes. Importantly, Rode notes Walker just had to be a PTSD case considering the tragic circumstances of his service as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The World War II veteran was in charge of a radar detachment at Leyte Island in the Philippines. One day Walker returned to his ship per orders. When he returned to the radar site the next day, he learned that an elite Japanese Army paratroop unit had attacked the radar site at sunrise. His best friend John Brake was bayoneted in the neck and disemboweled. Remarkably, Brake managed to survive, but all other members of the unit, all under Walker's charge, were killed brutally and sadistically. No doubt Walker was plagued by survivor's guilt. Walker later worked as a radio operator and police dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department. The film's technical advisor Marty Wynn was one of the detectives who arrested Walker (Wynn also appears briefly in an uncredited role as a police sergeant). Jack Webb meeting Wynn on the set proved to be a catalyst in the development of the DRAGNET radio series (1949–1957) and subsequent television series (1951–1959). Alfred L. Werker directed the bulk of HE WALKED BY NIGHT according to Rode, who is keenly aware of stock footage on display that pops up in a large number of genre films. Rode correctly points out that civil rights are violated routinely during this film and in so many others when policemen go into suspect apprehension mode. And leave it to Rode to recognize the villain's loyal Border Collie would later serve as Rembrandt at the side of Eleanor Johnson (Ann Sheridan) in the film noir WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950). An excellent observation by Kirgo is that the attempt to construct a composite sketch of the criminal as organized by Police Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) serves as a metaphor for the killer's fragmented personality. Kirgo also reminds us the climactic chase through the gargantuan storm sewer predates director Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN (1949). And based on his sources, Rode assures us Mann should be credited for directing the exciting chase sequence through LA's underground storm sewer.

For the record, William Erwin Walker fared better than his screen counterpart portrayed by Richard Basehart. Walker was paroled in 1974 and lived a quiet life until his death in 2008.