He Walked By Night

Richard Basehart

Excellent noir from 1948. A burglar in LA shoots and kills a cop thus prompting a manhunt.

Even though this was set in LA nearly all scenes were shot at night and the concluding chase in the cavernous storm drains underneath the city. Beautifully lit and shot. Done as a quasi-doc (with a narrator) and based on a true case. Very much like Dragnet a few years later. Jack Webb had a small part.

Dated, of course, but still engrossing. It was easy to see why films like this had such an influence on European filmmakers.

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