He Walked by Night (1948) [Film Noir] [Thriller]
1,473,648
Published 2013-08-26
Roy consigns burgled electronic equipment to Paul Reeves (Whit Bissell), and on his fifth sale is nearly caught when he shows up to collect on his property. Reeves tells police that the suspect is a mystery man named Roy Martin. The case crosses the paths of Brennan and Jones, who stake out Reeves' office to arrest and question Roy. He suspects a trap, however, and in a brief shootout shoots and paralyzes Jones. Jones wounds Roy, who performs surgery on himself to remove the bullet and avoid going to a hospital, where his gunshot wound would be reported to the police.
With his knowledge of police procedures, Roy changes his modus operandi and becomes an armed robber. During one robbery he fires his semi-automatic pistol, and the police recover the ejected casing. Lee (Jack Webb), a forensics specialist, matches the ejector marks on the casing to those recovered in the killing of Officer Rawlins and the wounding of Sgt. Jones, connecting all three shootings to one suspect.
Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) uses this break to gather all of the witnesses to the robberies. They assist Lee in building a composite photo of the killer. Reeves then identifies Roy from the composite. However, Roy hides in Reeves' car and attempts to intimidate him into revealing details of the police investigation. He barely eludes a stakeout of Reeves' house.
Because the police do not realize that Roy has inside knowledge of their work, the case goes nowhere. Breen takes Brennan off the case in an attempt to shake him up. Jones convinces his partner to stop viewing the case personally and to use his head.
Plodding, methodical follow-up by Brennan, using the composite photograph, results in information that Roy, whose actual name is Roy Morgan, worked for a local police department as a civilian radio dispatcher before being drafted into the Army. Brennan tracks him down through post office mail carriers and disguises himself as a milkman to get a close look at Morgan and his apartment.
The police surround and raid the apartment that night, but Morgan, forewarned by the barking of his dog, escapes through the attic and uses the Los Angeles sewer system as a means of escape. The film continues with a dragnet and chase through the sewers. Roy is finally cornered by the police in a passage blocked by the wheel of a police car. As the police shoot tear gas at Roy, he staggers and attempts to fire at them. He is then shot down and killed. The final scene is notable for its resemblance to the final scene in The Third Man in which Orson Welles is chased through the sewers of Vienna. No known connection between the films has been established.
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Directed by Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann, produced by Bryan Foy and Robert Kane, story by Crane Wilbur, screenplay by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur, starring Richard Basehart as Roy Martin/Roy Morgan, Scott Brady as Sgt. Marty Brennan, Roy Roberts as Captain Breen, Whit Bissell as Paul Reeves an electronics dealer, James Cardwell as Sgt. Chuck Jones and Jack Webb as Lee.
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Source: "He Walked by Night" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 26 August 2013. Web. 26 August 2013. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Walked_By_Night.
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All Comments (21)
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If you like this movie and our channel, please subscribe: goo.gl/0qDmXe
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I’m old enough to remember when TV stations would run these old movies late at night before signing off. As a kid they would put me to sleep from boredom. Now I think they’re superior to 99% of movies made today, IMHO. Yeah...the acting and diction may have been occasionally stilted, but the writing was incredible! Actors and actresses could pull off sexy without being explicit, crass, or vulgar. Don’t mean to sound like I’m yelling at clouds but damn..... Also, props to the great cinematography of John Alton! What a gorgeous looking film!
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In 1946---1947 when this film was being made I was 12--13 years old and I actually saw some of the film crews making this film at storm drain locations around Los Angeles. It was a great experience for me at that young age.
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Between 1940 and 1950 some of the best movies ever made during this time period.
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They don't make movies like this anymore. First-class! Brilliant.
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The story is based on Erwin Mathias Walker, born 1917. He served in WW2 and was promoted to first lieutenant. After he was discharged, his crime career began. The beginning of this film really did happen. The man he killed was Officer Loren Cornwell Roosevelt, police chief of Arcadia, California. He was later arrested and sentenced to the gas chamber. After a string of appeals the death sentence was revoked. Walker applied for parole in 1974, which was granted, and was released. Later he worked as a chemist. Walker died in 1982, without ever offering an apology to the family of the police officer.
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I had no idea of the existence of this film. This is clearly the origin of the Dragnet TV and radio series. Jack Webb is in this too. Very cool to see this early police procedural.
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From an impoverished Italian street performer in La Strata de Fellini to an Italian scam artist in Il Bidone of the same Fellini to a passanger of theTitanic to a psycho killer here to Admiral Nelson in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, among many other roles. Quite a career for Richard Basehart.
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Doing a burglary in a suit and tie , times has changed .
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The best part of all? No stupid romantic component. A real police movie.
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This is easily one of the best old crime films, ever. Everyone i've ever turned onto this movie has placed it into their all-time favorites category.
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A gem of a movie ahead of it’s time! Forensics, sketch artists and a serial offender combine with a tight script and even tighter performances to deliver a gripping tale.
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This movie is a gem. I like everything about it. The production values were above average, the cinema photography was excellent and the lighting perfect. Very, very well done. I'm gonna watch it again right now!
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The dog should have gotten an Oscar for best supporting actor.
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about 7 minutes into this and I am :"They don't make em like this anymore." What a production. Absolute attention to detail. Love it.
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Excellent. Shows the beginning of police forensic procedures combined with smart and disciplined detective work. Thank you.
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Based on a real life person by the name of Erwin Walker. A soldier during WW2 who had a mental breakdown and became a criminal. His story is as amazing as this movie. Much of the movie actually parallels his crime spree. He did kill a police man, but was paroled and became a chemist. One of the best film noirs, right next to DOA.
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Who’s here in 2020? 🤔
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So, this film is 66 years old and it still holds up well ! A triumph to the people involved in the making of this. I can't say that for most of the films that are produced today.
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Awesome movie and the beginning of Jack Webb's career of Dragnet. I miss him.
