HE WALKED BY NIGHT
He Walked By Night is a film noir inspired by the true story of Erwin "Machine Gun" Walker. The World War II veteran unleashed terror on Los Angeles in 1945 and 1946 with a crime spree of robberies and shootouts.
We are drawn into the story as we watch a mysterious figure stalk the deserted street in the dead of night, his long shadow creeping along the sidewalk as he stalks towards his intended target. He casts a look over each shoulder and then reaches into his jacket pocket for his lock-picking tools. He is a burglar and he is intent on crime.
But he is not the only one out tonight and his criminal intent is interrupted by the police patrol car that pulls up next to him.
What follows is murder and a man hunt that chases the murderous villain down the alleys of post-WWII Los Angeles towards justice.
"The film is NOT overly explicit or gratuitous--it's just a wonderful portrait of a brilliant sociopath at work." - MartinHafer, IMDB reviewer.
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HE WALKED BY NIGHT TRAILER
Sean Fogarty, from the video sharing website, Youtube, generously shared this trailer with us all. It is only sixty seconds long but short and sweet is sometimes the best way to go. It gives us a good idea of what happens in the movie and it will definitely whet your appetite to see the rest of it. Grab a cup of joe, put your feet up and get ready for a night in the dark city.
TRAILER FROM CLASSICFLIX
Our fellow film fans over at ClassicFlix shared this movie trailer on their Youtube channel. At just over two minutes long, it's short but straight to the point and will make you want to watch the full feature film.
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OWN HE WALKED BY NIGHT DVD
Harem Cinema is surely the greatest way to watch movies but even I have a personal DVD library that ranges into the thousands of movies. Why? Because I want to be able to watch movies whenever I want, wherever I want. I recently took a long train-vacation and couldn't stream even a trailer, never mind a whole movie. That's one of the reasons that DVDs are great. So, if you like He Walked By Night, own it and enjoy it.
INTERESTING THINGS
The technical adviser for this movie got into a conversation with Jack Webb, who had a small role in this film, and suggested that Webb do a radio series based on actual police files. Thus "Dragnet" was born. Dragnet debuted on NBC radio about four months after this film was released.
Anthony Mann, so legend has it, did some directing on this movie but was uncredited for it.
The shots of two patrol cars pulling into the police station would later be reused in The Big Combo (1955). He Walked by Night (1948) and The Big Combo (1955) were shot by the same cinematographer, John Alton.
WHAT MAKES HE WALKS BY NIGHT SO GREAT
BEWARE SPOILERS AHEAD
We are immediately plunged into the dark night of gritty noir and are snared, unable and unwilling to look away. We watch as a shady figure walks down a deserted street in the dead of night, about to commit a burglary. A patrol car, driven by a lone copper, pulls over to ask him what he's doing. The figure pulls a heater and shoots the policeman before running off to jump into his getaway car. But it won't be that easy for him. Even as he draws his last breaths, the patrolman struggles to draw his own pistol and fires after the fleeing crook. Failing to stop the retreating robber and seeing that he is about to drive away, the diligent policeman uses his own car to ram the getaway vehicle. That is a very good way to start a film noir story.