I've been trying to track down a film from around the same era......that I only remember a small scene from. Probably from the late 40s or early 50s......I saw it as a kid in the early 1960s on television. The only thing I remember......was there was some guy dressed in a tux & top hat with white gloves I think. It's late at night in some big city, but I think the streets were pretty much empty. The guy in the tux was standing in a store window.......I think acting as a mannequin on display. I believe he witnesses a murder outside. That's ALL I remember. No title.....nor the star. I was probably only around 8 or 9, but I know it was 'film noir' of some sort. I'm wondering if anyone recalls that movie. I've tried in the past to search it out, but to no avail. I think it creeped me out at the time though.
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!
Amen! Here where I live they showed these movies as well the Dracula Werewolf movies, were on the LATE, LATE, LATE SHOW. I was about 10 or 11. I'LL NEVER FORGET
The actor testing the nitro was the main character in the show called Dragnet. His famous line was Just the facts mam. Sorry , I can’t remember his name. I still watch these old black and white movies, mostly to see the old cars😊
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.
Wow, it must have a great experience alright. Closest I ever came to stardom was a girl who lived on the opposite corner who was doing TV commercials, but I didn't see any of them (sigh), but I saw her once when she was walking across the corner. That would have been probably in the '70s in my '20s. And I have a vague memory of maybe a film crew being on her front lawn...hhhmmmm...not sure about that one. And I don't remember her name.
I’ve Seen B & W movies of L.A. in those years.......amazing. I’m so nostalgic of that slower pace of life. I may not be young anymore but I always dream of having been in California in those years. Gangster movies. The dress code proper even. The hats. The cigarette smoking [not recommended of course], the lingo[what’s the gimmick?, Brother, sister, holy mackerel, etc.].
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.
No kidding! It's easy to see where Jack Webb got his ideas for his two Dragnet series--Clipped dialogue, terse narration, everyday people in extraordinary situations. Great movie!
The cop killed was violating the guy's civil rights. To be stopped as a pedestrian and asked to give identification with no probable cause is a civil rights violation.
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!
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.
Dragnet, a movie in 1954, directed and starred by Jack Webb, was based upon a radio series of the same name. It went on to become the TV show also starring Jack Webb, as Detective Joe Friday.
Really enjoyed the unique storyline! All the top notch actors did a great job handling all the action and for once weren't shown stumbling around, befuddled, and overacting. Watching the composite sketch being made of his face was fascinating to me. Thanks and blessings to all who made it possible for us to see this movie! 🙏👏👍👍😀
He is just a skinny lab nerd here, very young! His personality changed so much when older. I think dragnet is just a fishing term now, do police use it anymore?
What a great movie. LA is one strange place. Great to see Jack Webb get his teeth into the Detective work and lifetime career of it on Radio and Cinema. Loved this one too. Thank You
@@Kim-hl8mf Jack Webb Created both Dragnet and One-Adam 12, he was well off financially for the rest of his life. His destiny was pre-set from the Crime Dramas that acted in. His destiny was pre-set for him.
My favorite part is the cinematography. You can really show the full range of an actor just by keeping a shot on them for a while, seeing their expressions and reactions. Professional.
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.
Look at all the "insane" and "mentally ill" treatments that he scammed and gamed the system and the psychiatrists with for decades. He was a classic sociopath: He functioned when HE wanted to.
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.
Ernest Kovach - Chronological measurement is not static: ergo eighteen months ago, in early 2020, when I wrote this comment, the film was seventy-two years old. Now, in December 2021, as you correctly observed, it is “73 years and counting”. Tempus fugit...
I love the play on shadows throughout the movie . The acting is sublime. The director knows how to weave in and out of suspense, taking you to the very end. Thanks TCM for a wonderful share
I had very low expectations for this movie, having never heard of it. It was a pleasant surprise. Great cinematography, low-key but solid performances. I have ADHD so it's not easy to watch an entire movie in one sitting but this one kept me focused. Only negative, albeit minor: it never rains but the pavement is always slick for the camera work.
This is a top-notch, suspenseful, well-crafted movie. I'm not sure I'd consider it a film noir, but rather a police procedural with noir atmosphere and elements. The typical noir protagonist struggles with a moral dilemma of some sort whereas the Richard Basehart character is a purely evil psychopath. And there is no femme fatale character. The film does have a very noirish atmosphere and is shot beautifully, so I would consider it borderline noir. But no matter how you classify it, it's an excellent, gripping movie. Thanks for posting it.
THIS was the comment I was looking for. If you hadn’t written it I would have! It’s not noir but an excellent movie nonetheless which I will be sure to recommend to others
Outstanding movie! As a lover of logic puzzles, etc., this was a real treat with a extremely logical bad guy who planned every detail meticulously. From start to finish, especially appreciated the escape route through the storm drains! He even had a rifle stashed there, routes planned out. Then watching all the police picking up little details and the help of the crippled policeman that gave the case breaking hint, superb! Gripped my interest throughout. Thanks a million for posting this! 😃👍👍👏
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.
I was curious too about the real life case. Walker has a Wiki entry for anyone inclined to look it up. No doubt he suffered from severe PTSD from his war service. He lived to 2012 aged 91.
When you were chased for zero reason by police other than hair length and their dimwit marine slug brains, kicked, tossed into juvie twice, and even the bag of avocados from your orchard stolen by them, and when you demanded it back, they took you into one of their cells with nothing but a drain in center floor, and rolled up their sleeves to abuse you, you realize that MANY should be shot, then you might not be so STUPID as to equate police with "good." Later they did NOTHING to prevent two cars being stolen or to arrest actual criminals breaking in and stealing anything of value i had, claiming they couldn't arrest, even though i identified them. Once a drunk woman ran a red light, destroying my car, and NOT her, but me, had to take a drunk test. Nags hate police for good reason, and though they suck as humans, (i had many experiences disabusing me of my childhood notion they were human, too) i do agree with them on their attitude toward the psychopaths who constitute police.
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.
Baseheart's physicality and movement is similar to that of Harrison Ford. Also the hairline and subdued tone of his voice. th-cam.com/video/8rBZ7Hoaf5o/w-d-xo.html Richard was a voice actor in L.A. back in the early '80s, shortly before he passed.
Great movie and great acting. Film noir at its finest as they say. Whit Bissell gives an excellent performance in this movie and has a much larger role than he does in other films that I have seen him in, such as “Creature From the Black Lagoon” and “Invasion of The Body Snatchers”. Suspenseful from beginning to end.
Inspiration for Jack Webb's DRAGNET, of course. Even the opening narration is a harbinger of how DRAGNET opens. "This is the city, Los Angeles, California."
Jack Webb was in the right movie at the right time, without this movie, Dragnet would be a pipe dream. This is the movie that started it all, and made Jack Webb rich, because he created not only Dragnet, but the Serial Cop Drama One Adam 12.
I love it when you can read the comments from people who haven't got a clue about Cinema. Its probably THE greatest of all the arts.Don't wait until you're too old to begin a love affair with Classic Cinema. One of the greatest off chutes is " Film Noir". At first you might view it as the same way you first view "Abstract Expressionism".But don't be fooled. Take it from a 40+year afficianado of the exquisite " Noir". The more you see - the more you'll need to see, and you only have so much time.......!And Yes- This is a great flick and remember the awesome PBS series "The 10,000 Day War "- that has none other than Mr. Richard Basehart as the Narrator.....!
People who get into the police profession are amazing. The ingeniousness, foresight, and formidable aptitude of the collective minds of the force for good creates resounding respect, awe, and admiration.
Film Noir doesn't get much better. Great locations, excellent acting, spot on cinematography, seamless editing, a director who knew how to stay out of the way and a story that kept me interested the whole way through. Sorry to say, while I think they could make movies as good as this today, they just don't. Thanks very much for the upload! Where have I seen the chief detective before? He's a great character actor. Basehart was marvelous.
zebrazxx And kids and young adults eat more of that garbage they sell at criminal prices at the movies. However...whatever the market will bare I say. If they can get 2 bucks for a candy bar and 3 for a bucket popcorn and $2.50 for a soda, viva the marketplace. I bring my own goodies to the film. Fun fact: on first run (and these days most pictures are first run and off to cable and videoland) The moviemakers get about 90% of the box office, at least for the first week or so, so they have to make their money on all those delicious poisons we shove down our throats.
So many old movies to choose from but I'm glad I chose this one. I was expecting the usual science fiction but got more interested after seeing that it was based on a true story. Then with Jack Webb in it and seeing that cop get plugged in his '34 Chevy coupe, I just had to watch it.
If you want " just the facts " this film inspired Jack Webb one year later in 1949 to create his Radio series " Dragnet ". Later he would make the first TV Series, Dragnet, in the 1950's.
Excellent Noir use of dark, light, echo, silence, absence of music, etc. Shades of "The Third Man" and later, "Chinatown," with locations in LA's sewer system. Great gripping entertainment, thank you!
Excellent film noir. Especially the cinematography of the GREAT John Alton, Nobody could photograph a noir like him. Anthony Mann also directed some of the film, being the credited director, Alfred Werker became ill during filming, but Anthony Mann insisted that he receive full credit.
I saw THEM as a little boy at a drive-in when it came out. Scared me to death, on the way home cicadas and crickets were chirping and my older brothers kept teasing me that it was the giant ants. Gave me a life long fear of insects. I'll never forgive those assholes.😀
I saw 'THEM!' when it first came out in 1953, and I and my friends all thought that it was kinda hokey. But at the age of 10, I was still interested in the lady scientist.
@@LobeJean8 Lori did you know there is an Off Broadway Live production in the works based on this classic SciFi Thriller from the 50's? It is being performed by an all Brooklyn born cast. They are calling it " DEM! "
Seen this film many times. It’s a great story and things can be learned from it. Drew Barrymore dad plays the heavy. Still superb acting and his best work. Fab!! NEED TO WATCH
Watching these old movies reminds me how low our creativity has gone in this country, how sad. Maybe that is why people don't go to the movies like they used too
Wow!! What a great little film. I had never seen this before. Beautifully lit and paced, it just never lets up. And Richard Basehart - who once said he wasn't good-looking enough to be a leading man - was super HOT when he was young! Great film. Thanks for uploading this.
Very interesting at the beginning to see the early communications center. As a former 911 operator, we were taught on computers and using many technological innovations. But we were also taught that in case all Hell breaks loose, you can always go back to the old ways, writing the reports down on paper.
UI was thinking of that when the narrator mentione3d "dragnet" and Jack Webb appeared shortly after. Also, Roy Roberts played Capt., Green here and he also played the hotel manager in "Gentleman's Agreement" who harrassed Gregory Peck, who played Phil Greene.
The cop killed was violating the guy's civil rights. To be stopped as a pedestrian and asked to give identification with no probable cause is a civil rights violation.
This movie is loosely based on the real life crime spree from 1945 to 1946 committed by William Erwin Walker (Richard Basehart's character Roy Morgan).
Thanks for giving the info. It isn't too clear in the 'Description' section. It's more of a rambling on and on and even gives away the ending. Your 'summary' said it best!
Wow! Thanks for the 'reply-back'! Luv this type of history...definitely looking into it now. Also, isn't this the video where one viewer said she was there when this movie was being shot on her street? Cool! Check it out! Thanks again!
Some films like this are so interesting, partly because they merge dramatism and facts pretty accurately as I recall. The Ufo Story was a true story but used an actor to play the central character investigating actual events with actual participants costarring along side him.
The film noir - the greatest chapters in the history of cinema! Starting with the 1930 and 1955's film noir created by great directors and actors of high class! Which of the current actors can now replace Hamfreya Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Edmond About Brian ...? No one! There are no such persons, who could now mimic film noir. America, as most of these films belong to the film companies of the country, created a fashion, clothes, hats, cigars, whiskey, cars, sparkling night of advertising, casinos, restaurants, and so forth, just yet created ideal breeding ground for crime novels, which served the script for the black-and-white films. Prohibition has created a mafia and gangsters, in their turn became the heroes of many "black" films. The great director Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, John Huston, Robert Siodmak, Rudolph Mate, Billy Wilder and Otto Perminger, Raoul Walsh, Jean Negulesco, Edward Dmytryk, ........ they are not repeatable !!! See the film noir. About 200 of the immortal masterpieces of world cinema! Long live the film noir !!! My eternal love of film noir !!!
+AMIRKHAN NOIR Which is why I'm a big-time collector and avid watcher of such films. Another contributing factor to the creation of these fine flicks, not much thought of in a positive light however, is the Hayes Code. If you think about it, believe it or not censorship played an unwitting role behind the careful and tight crafting of such silver-screen gems, as the novelist and Hollywood professionals back then were compelled to be artistically resourceful in coming up with clever to ingenious narration, dialogue, and action to get around or deal head on with what was considered verboten by the HC boys for the Public audience. This indirectly raised movie making production standards to a new level, causing an outpouring of "Melodramas" having that distinctive finish, film historians and informed laymen alike nowadays find impressively intriguing and highly esteem, that otherwise perhaps wouldn't have that serious adult-level sophistication and polished "look and feel and sound" we get so endlessly enamored by today. Btw I was surprised a bit to see a young Richard Basehart, on first view of this film, cast in such a cold blood-curdling dangerously resourceful anti-social role, as I'm accustomed to seeing him play in his latter years the wholesome morally up-right Admiral Nelson of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
+SwarthySkinnedOne You are quite right, my friend. Hays Code thoroughly played his role in the history of cinematography USA. This code has appeared after the time of great economic depression 1920-1930. When the film company shut down many of the financial crisis, big bankers gave loans on the condition of the moral code of Hayes. All items of the Code are respected by strict rules. In the flesh to the fact that actors kissing in romantic scenes could not more 4-5 seconds .. in the police could shoot, but he did not have to die, and so on. As you can see, all of this gave the dignity of the film .... The audience is not distracted ... But now it's different, writers and directors out of control. Virtually nothing is respected! It is not possible to guess what a disgraceful scene or dialog waiting for us in the next episode: the children when the parents are discussing vulgarity, send them .... and the bloody scenes of violent murder ... In today's audience a different flavor and a true connoisseur of the art treasures that created our ancestors!
Raymond Chandler really liked this movie, recommending it a couple times in his letters. When the guy who wrote The Big Sleep and created Philip Marlowe thinks a crime movie is good, you can take that to the bank.
I love old movies, especially noir, but this lost me at the ending. We got zero satisfaction from the criminal's death (sorry spoiler). He just dies. And after all the pursuit, the build-up, the mystery...nothing. At least give the guy one last line. Or show us why he was a criminal. Just my disappointment. imho
Don't feel too bad Dyann, because this movie was based on a real life case and in the actual case the cop killer is tracked down to his bungalow and then captured after a scuffle. He then spent many years in prison and eventually was released and quietly rejoined civilian life a free man once again.
@@8176morgan Thanks. Sounds like the real story wasn't hard enough on the criminal to suit the filmmakers. Up until the ending, it had some suspense and drama. And it was fun seeing Jack Webb in a supporting role (but still sounding like the Jack Webb we all know). Cheers!
![Behind Green Lights (1946) [Film Noir] [Drama] [Mystery]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YUlYI4cHsU8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Behind Green Lights (1946) [Film Noir] [Drama] [Mystery]](/img/tr.png)
![Woman on the Run (1950) [Film Noir] [Crime]](/img/n.gif)
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Jimmy
Timeless Classic Movies NHLl
Love old movies..
Dragnet & Adam Twelve
I've been trying to track down a film from around the same era......that I only remember a small scene from. Probably from the late 40s or early 50s......I saw it as a kid in the early 1960s on television. The only thing I remember......was there was some guy dressed in a tux & top hat with white gloves I think. It's late at night in some big city, but I think the streets were pretty much empty. The guy in the tux was standing in a store window.......I think acting as a mannequin on display. I believe he witnesses a murder outside. That's ALL I remember. No title.....nor the star. I was probably only around 8 or 9, but I know it was 'film noir' of some sort. I'm wondering if anyone recalls that movie. I've tried in the past to search it out, but to no avail. I think it creeped me out at the time though.
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!
I concur
There really are the best movies. I only watch old black and movies.
Amen! Here where I live they showed these movies as well the Dracula Werewolf movies, were on the LATE, LATE, LATE SHOW. I was about 10 or 11. I'LL NEVER FORGET
The actor testing the nitro was the main character in the show called Dragnet. His famous line was Just the facts mam. Sorry , I can’t remember his name. I still watch these old black and white movies, mostly to see the old cars😊
@michaelfred8848 that would be Jack Webb, he played Detective Joe Friday.
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.
Mr lee how was america during ww2?
cool
Wow, it must have a great experience alright. Closest I ever came to stardom was a girl who lived on the opposite corner who was doing TV commercials, but I didn't see any of them (sigh), but I saw her once when she was walking across the corner. That would have been probably in the '70s in my '20s. And I have a vague memory of maybe a film crew being on her front lawn...hhhmmmm...not sure about that one. And I don't remember her name.
I’ve Seen B & W movies of L.A. in those years.......amazing.
I’m so nostalgic of that slower pace of life. I may not be young anymore but I always dream of having been in California in those years.
Gangster movies. The dress code proper even. The hats. The cigarette smoking [not recommended of course],
the lingo[what’s the gimmick?, Brother, sister, holy mackerel, etc.].
@@mohammadsaeed6720 1a
They don't make movies like this anymore. First-class! Brilliant.
I always love movies that are narrated like this. Great movie.
Between 1940 and 1950 some of the best movies ever made during this time period.
Absolutely !
And this was certainly one of them.
@@patbrennan6572 absolutely was !!!😊
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.
No kidding! It's easy to see where Jack Webb got his ideas for his two Dragnet series--Clipped dialogue, terse narration, everyday people in extraordinary situations. Great movie!
The cop killed was violating the guy's civil rights. To be stopped as a pedestrian and asked to give identification with no probable cause is a civil rights violation.
This movie was based on an actual event.
A milkman fit like a SEAL warrior...
the csi of the 40´s
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!
robin heidel agree
See Stumbled across it last year. Had never seen it. He did a good one with Audrey Totter around same time...
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.
Excellent. Shows the beginning of police forensic procedures combined with smart and disciplined detective work. Thank you.
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.
Dragnet, a movie in 1954, directed and starred by Jack Webb, was based upon a radio series of the same name. It went on to become the TV show also starring Jack Webb, as Detective Joe Friday.
What a good performance by Richard Basehardt...love this old film noir.
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.
Outstanding! Acting, directing, script, lighting, everything. Old move, new favorite!
Thanks for uploading this 5 star film. Wow! :)
Really enjoyed the unique storyline! All the top notch actors did a great job handling all the action and for once weren't shown stumbling around, befuddled, and overacting. Watching the composite sketch being made of his face was fascinating to me.
Thanks and blessings to all who made it possible for us to see this movie! 🙏👏👍👍😀
These old movies r priceless. I'm so glad there is an organization that restores old movies like this.
Awesome movie and the beginning of Jack Webb's career of Dragnet. I miss him.
While watching the movie, I was wondering if Webb got his Dragnet inspiration from working in this film.
He is just a skinny lab nerd here, very young! His personality changed so much when older. I think dragnet is just a fishing term now, do police use it anymore?
380 acp.
Jack Webb also appeared in Sunset Boulevard...
I loved Jack Webb. A great actor.
What a great movie. LA is one strange place.
Great to see Jack Webb get his teeth into the Detective work and lifetime career of it on Radio and Cinema. Loved this one too.
Thank You
Aframe Antiques Joe Friday of dragnet.
Right On Jack Webb ☆♡☆
@@Kim-hl8mf Jack Webb Created both Dragnet and One-Adam 12, he was well off financially for the rest of his life. His destiny was pre-set from the Crime Dramas that acted in. His destiny was pre-set for him.
more like a "disgrace" now LA a good example of failed left-wing policies and their EPIC failure.
Trump was right about tht one.
hope they crumble into the sea. GONE!
My favorite part is the cinematography. You can really show the full range of an actor just by keeping a shot on them for a while, seeing their expressions and reactions. Professional.
Daniel Roberto Archila Please rate this classic noir on IMDb here: www.imdb.com/title/tt0040427/combined
Yeah, John Alton was a master
+Daniel Roberto Archila They tended to be very psychologically driven.
The dog should have gotten an Oscar for best supporting actor.
HaHaHa that's a good one.
eh, I thought he overdid it lol.
good scenery-chewing though.
Truly!
@Robert Gardea , now, that's just old nasty!🐾🌭🏆🐕
what type of dog was it? Australian sheepdog?
Fine movie. Richard Baseheart and the other actors gave great performances! Thank you.
Richard Basehart should have received an Oscar. Great acting as a baddy.
This little dog is so well trained, he deserves an oscar!🐶🏆
Now that's what I call a good movie!😊
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.
He died in 2008
Look at all the "insane" and "mentally ill" treatments that he scammed and gamed the system and the psychiatrists with for decades. He was a classic sociopath: He functioned when HE wanted to.
Thank you for the background information.
I am glad that he was released and became a contributing member of society.
@@scarletmacaw Yeah, unless he had murdered YOU or a member of YOUR family. Lame .
I just love these old movies. Thank you for sharing.
Incredible, Richard Basehart , among the best.
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.
alvideoprod - 72 years old, now: tempus fugit...
@@dorianphilotheates3769 Nope. you 2 need to do your math ...73 years and counting!
Ernest Kovach - Chronological measurement is not static: ergo eighteen months ago, in early 2020, when I wrote this comment, the film was seventy-two years old. Now, in December 2021, as you correctly observed, it is “73 years and counting”. Tempus fugit...
I love the play on shadows throughout the movie . The acting is sublime. The director knows how to weave in and out of suspense, taking you to the very end. Thanks TCM for a wonderful share
The best part of all? No stupid romantic component. A real police movie.
Oh? I guess I'll skip this one. A woman hovers over every man who fails.
?
Love it. Thank you for posting good clean films.
Doing a burglary in a suit and tie , times has changed .
Martha, iron my shirt. I've got a job to pull tonight.
@@joannealbertson2600 Today it's " have you seen my hoody ? "
Times have changed. They didnt make a lot of junk clothing back then.
Thanks for the LOL❤
@@joelonzello4189 Well, to be fair, it's not like people actually did ever go burgling in a suit and tie. This is a movie.
I had very low expectations for this movie, having never heard of it. It was a pleasant surprise. Great cinematography, low-key but solid performances. I have ADHD so it's not easy to watch an entire movie in one sitting but this one kept me focused. Only negative, albeit minor: it never rains but the pavement is always slick for the camera work.
This is a top-notch, suspenseful, well-crafted movie. I'm not sure I'd consider it a film noir, but rather a police procedural with noir atmosphere and elements. The typical noir protagonist struggles with a moral dilemma of some sort whereas the Richard Basehart character is a purely evil psychopath. And there is no femme fatale character. The film does have a very noirish atmosphere and is shot beautifully, so I would consider it borderline noir. But no matter how you classify it, it's an excellent, gripping movie. Thanks for posting it.
THIS was the comment I was looking for. If you hadn’t written it I would have! It’s not noir but an excellent movie nonetheless which I will be sure to recommend to others
Its Noir and you know it
This is one of the all time great examples of Film Noir. Also a direct line from this movie to the classic "Dragnet" radio, TV and Movie franchise.
Outstanding movie! As a lover of logic puzzles, etc., this was a real treat with a extremely logical bad guy who planned every detail meticulously. From start to finish, especially appreciated the escape route through the storm drains! He even had a rifle stashed there, routes planned out. Then watching all the police picking up little details and the help of the crippled policeman that gave the case breaking hint, superb! Gripped my interest throughout. Thanks a million for posting this! 😃👍👍👏
Uououououo
But robbed stores with no mask
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.
DOA with those loopy sound effects when he saw a pretty girl lol
DOA is my favorite of these but those stupid sound effects every time Edmond O'Brien say a pretty girl were annoying.
I was curious too about the real life case. Walker has a Wiki entry for anyone inclined to look it up. No doubt he suffered from severe PTSD from his war service. He lived to 2012 aged 91.
@@andrewfrancis4462thanks.
When you were chased for zero reason by police other than hair length and their dimwit marine slug brains, kicked, tossed into juvie twice, and even the bag of avocados from your orchard stolen by them, and when you demanded it back, they took you into one of their cells with nothing but a drain in center floor, and rolled up their sleeves to abuse you, you realize that MANY should be shot,
then you might not be so STUPID as to equate police with "good."
Later they did NOTHING to prevent two cars being stolen or to arrest actual criminals breaking in and stealing anything of value i had, claiming they couldn't arrest, even though i identified them.
Once a drunk woman ran a red light, destroying my car, and NOT her, but me, had to take a drunk test.
Nags hate police for good reason, and though they suck as humans, (i had many experiences disabusing me of my childhood notion they were human, too) i do agree with them on their attitude toward the psychopaths who constitute police.
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.
Enjoyed the thrilling film. Loved to see a young Jack Webb.
a young skinny Jack Webb.....lol
also enjoyed
Likewise. I remember how deadpan he was in Dragnet, but in this he seemed to be acting.
Young indeed.
Wonderful movie. Loved everything about it. Thanks for showing it.
Richard Baseheart had his own TV series in the 1960's called Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea.
Baseheart's physicality and movement is similar to that of Harrison Ford. Also the hairline and subdued tone of his voice.
th-cam.com/video/8rBZ7Hoaf5o/w-d-xo.html
Richard was a voice actor in L.A. back in the early '80s, shortly before he passed.
Voyage to bottom of the sea was good program. Rich Baseheart was good in everything I saw him do. Very consistant style of acting.
John Baginski That was one of my father’s favorite shows along with Combat. Every Friday night.
Well,one would be remiss in not mentioning his role as Ismael, in Moby Dick,I believe.
I thought that was a great series. Richard Basehart had a great voice acting too. His best film was 24hrs.
That scene when the group came up with his face was amazing.
Great movie and great acting. Film noir at its finest as they say. Whit Bissell gives an excellent performance in this movie and has a much larger role than he does in other films that I have seen him in, such as “Creature From the Black Lagoon” and “Invasion of The Body Snatchers”. Suspenseful from beginning to end.
One of the best film noir movies I’ve seen and I’m a big fan of them!
I love Film Noir and this is one of the best In my humble opinion- and Richard Basehart's awesome performance!
Agree wholeheartedly.
Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea
He was also good in Command Decision...
retroflix's collection of old Hollywood epics is simply magnificent
Inspiration for Jack Webb's DRAGNET, of course. Even the opening narration is a harbinger of how DRAGNET opens. "This is the city, Los Angeles, California."
Also the disclaimer that the story is true and only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
Jack Webb was in the right movie at the right time, without this movie, Dragnet would be a pipe dream. This is the movie that started it all, and made Jack Webb rich, because he created not only Dragnet, but the Serial Cop Drama One Adam 12.
Interesting. I thought the radio series was before this, but the dragnet radio series started after this film.
I love it when you can read the comments from people who haven't got a clue about Cinema. Its probably THE greatest of all the arts.Don't wait until you're too old to begin a love affair with Classic Cinema. One of the greatest off chutes is " Film Noir". At first you might view it as the same way you first view "Abstract Expressionism".But don't be fooled. Take it from a 40+year afficianado of the exquisite " Noir". The more you see - the more you'll need to see, and you only have so much time.......!And Yes- This is a great flick and remember the awesome PBS series "The 10,000 Day War "- that has none other than Mr. Richard Basehart as the Narrator.....!
Love all these classic movies - most I've never seen before & keeps me in suspense, thanks for sharing,
People who get into the police profession are amazing. The ingeniousness, foresight, and formidable aptitude of the collective minds of the force for good creates resounding respect, awe, and admiration.
What a bloody ripper of a movie, old school movies rock.
Film Noir doesn't get much better. Great locations, excellent acting, spot on cinematography, seamless editing, a director who knew how to stay out of the way and a story that kept me interested the whole way through. Sorry to say, while I think they could make movies as good as this today, they just don't. Thanks very much for the upload! Where have I seen the chief detective before? He's a great character actor. Basehart was marvelous.
Joe Postove Please rate this classic noir on IMDb here: www.imdb.com/title/tt0040427/combined
Joe Postove "while I think they could make movies as good as this today, they just don't."
Like Chinatown? Five Easy Pieces?
zebrazxx Chinatown - Paramount Studios.
zebrazxx And kids and young adults eat more of that garbage they sell at criminal prices at the movies. However...whatever the market will bare I say. If they can get 2 bucks for a candy bar and 3 for a bucket popcorn and $2.50 for a soda, viva the marketplace. I bring my own goodies to the film. Fun fact: on first run (and these days most pictures are first run and off to cable and videoland) The moviemakers get about 90% of the box office, at least for the first week or so, so they have to make their money on all those delicious poisons we shove down our throats.
L.A. Confidential was done well.
So many old movies to choose from but I'm glad I chose this one. I was expecting the usual science fiction but got more interested after seeing that it was based on a true story. Then with Jack Webb in it and seeing that cop get plugged in his '34 Chevy coupe, I just had to watch it.
This was a great film noir and thank you for posting it for us!!!!
If you want " just the facts " this film inspired Jack Webb one year later in 1949 to create his Radio series " Dragnet ".
Later he would make the first TV Series, Dragnet, in the 1950's.
THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOADING IT!!!
Who’s here in 2020? 🤔
We’re all here in 2020. You expect a new comment from 1986 or something?
I just discovered this channel, so I'm here now...
@@filledwithpeace None of the people you've mentioned live in Los Angeles, fool.
Checking in from the computer in my Delorean in 2022. Im sorry to say it looks like Covid 19 took out everyone.
@João Fernando dos Santos on my way !
lotta familiar faces...good to see these old flicks 👍
i like the description i wish more people would describe in detail the movie youz guys are GREAT
Excellent Noir use of dark, light, echo, silence, absence of music, etc. Shades of "The Third Man" and later, "Chinatown," with locations in LA's sewer system. Great gripping entertainment, thank you!
Chinatown & sequel The Two Jakes !!
The scenes in the storm drains are worth watching it for alone. Good film.
Thank you for posting!! Great film and film quality!! LOVE these old black and white films!!
One of the best police movies ever made
I think what would have happened if movies were not made. It is a wonderful gift of man to man. Thank you.
Agreed. A sound majority of the "noir" genre are hit-or-miss. This was an excellent film. great story & characters. thank you for the HQ upload.
This was a thoroughly good movie! Thanks so much for sharing.
Excellent film noir. Especially the cinematography of the GREAT John Alton, Nobody could photograph a noir like him. Anthony Mann also directed some of the film, being the credited director, Alfred Werker became ill during filming, but Anthony Mann insisted that he receive full credit.
Alton was a cinematic god and a master of light and shadow.
That was a nailbiter! Thanks a ton for the great film...very much appreciated!
I was kind of surprised that while running through those tunnels they did not run into
them......Them......THEM!!!!!!!
I saw THEM as a little boy at a drive-in when it came out. Scared me to death, on the way home cicadas and crickets were chirping and my older brothers kept teasing me that it was the giant ants. Gave me a life long fear of insects. I'll never forgive those assholes.😀
I saw 'THEM!' when it first came out in 1953, and I and my friends all thought that it was kinda hokey. But at the age of 10, I was still interested in the lady scientist.
Them was the first movie I saw ... about 4.. terrified me as well !
A ha ha ha baddest ants ever!
@@LobeJean8 Lori did you know there is an Off Broadway Live production in the works based on this classic SciFi Thriller from the 50's? It is being performed by an all Brooklyn born cast.
They are calling it " DEM! "
Los Angeles - suburbs in search of a city. I think that that sums it up pretty well!
Today it's a city in search of a place to sleep on the streets.
@@williamdean4101 or in the storm drains.
I JUST LOVE THESE CLASSICS, just gives me chills. also the music is nice and jazzy
FIVE STARS Fantastic example of a real noir movie!
There's never a bad Film Noir movie.
i love film noir, but I'm not sure I'd go that far---there are a lot of hokey film noir's out there
I especially love the ones with Dana Andrews.
@@lisajouet4943 I totally agree. Some are good and some were bad in all genres.
You've never seen the Dame that Wouldn't Die 😝
Sometimes the worse the better!! Lol!!
I love this one. One of the ultimate light and shadow masterpieces
My dad was born in 1909 and he wore a hat all through the 1950's.
Tee hee l am retired in Cyprus - no Brit leaves the house without a hat 🤠
You mean the same hat ?
This movie must have inspired "Dragnet".😊
Seen this film many times. It’s a great story and things can be learned from it. Drew Barrymore dad plays the heavy. Still superb acting and his best work. Fab!! NEED TO WATCH
Watching these old movies reminds me how low our creativity has gone in this country, how sad. Maybe that is why people don't go to the movies like they used too
People don't go to the movies like they used to b/c of COVID - 19. I'm VACCINATED. Hope U are the SAME.
These black and white movies had great actors, great scenery. Everything was perfect.❤
Wow!! What a great little film. I had never seen this before. Beautifully lit and paced, it just never lets up. And Richard Basehart - who once said he wasn't good-looking enough to be a leading man - was super HOT when he was young! Great film. Thanks for uploading this.
I liked Basehart in this, too. I think my favourite of his was "La Strada".
Very interesting at the beginning to see the early communications center. As a former 911 operator, we were taught on computers and using many technological innovations. But we were also taught that in case all Hell breaks loose, you can always go back to the old ways, writing the reports down on paper.
I consider "He Walked by Night" a prequel to "Dragnet". Having Jack Webb in it gives Sgt.Joe Friday a back story. :D
He was so iconic, that when he died, he was given a police burial.
UI was thinking of that when the narrator mentione3d "dragnet" and Jack Webb appeared shortly after. Also, Roy Roberts played Capt., Green here and he also played the hotel manager in "Gentleman's Agreement" who harrassed Gregory Peck, who played Phil Greene.
Even the intro showing L.A. from above is a Dragnet staple.
This movie was surprisingly good. Every aspect of the movie was amazing. There are so many recent movies that seem crap, when compared to this.
I noticed Leonid Raab scored this film. He’s best known as the orchestrator for many of Frank Waxman’s Forties scores.
Fantastic movie! Good acting and suspense! Love it!
A great film. Thank you for sharing.
12:15 I can see why they questioned the Oriental man. He fits the ID description to a tee.
Maybe they anticipated what would happen seventy years later, when some police forces cannot describe suspects by ethnicity.
He was delivering a Sweet and Sour Pork but ended up in the wrong que.
Just goes to show you that police dragnets have to be cast wide in the hopes of catching the right guy.
@@westlock 70 years later? what exactly did happen?
The cop killed was violating the guy's civil rights. To be stopped as a pedestrian and asked to give identification with no probable cause is a civil rights violation.
love this one, Webb is a classic legend.
This movie is loosely based on the real life crime spree from 1945 to 1946 committed by William Erwin Walker (Richard Basehart's character Roy Morgan).
Thank u
Thanks for giving the info.
It isn't too clear in the 'Description' section. It's more of a rambling on and on and even gives away the ending. Your 'summary' said it best!
Unlike the movie he didn't get full justice and live a long life till his 90s.
Wow! Thanks for the 'reply-back'!
Luv this type of history...definitely looking into it now.
Also, isn't this the video where one viewer said she was there when this movie was being shot on her street? Cool! Check it out!
Thanks again!
Thank you for this brilliant movie. You made my day.
What a bunch of hunks and all in one heck of a film. Together making watching worth while.
Really cool film. Thanks for sharing 😎
what a great Movie! they should make more movies like this One!
Hitchcock suggested that if writers would go for the stuff that's in the papers, they'd hit the mark more often.
i never really get tired of this movie. ****
Some films like this are so interesting, partly because they merge dramatism and facts pretty accurately as I recall. The Ufo Story was a true story but used an actor to play the central character investigating actual events with actual participants costarring along side him.
Hey! I found it here! Now my old vcr tape can rest. One of my late night viewing favorites. Thanks!
The film noir - the greatest chapters in the history of cinema! Starting with the 1930 and 1955's film noir created by great directors and actors of high class! Which of the current actors can now replace Hamfreya Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Edmond About Brian ...? No one! There are no such persons, who could now mimic film noir. America, as most of these films belong to the film companies of the country, created a fashion, clothes, hats, cigars, whiskey, cars, sparkling night of advertising, casinos, restaurants, and so forth, just yet created ideal breeding ground for crime novels, which served the script for the black-and-white films. Prohibition has created a mafia and gangsters, in their turn became the heroes of many "black" films. The great director Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, John Huston, Robert Siodmak, Rudolph Mate, Billy Wilder and Otto Perminger, Raoul Walsh, Jean Negulesco, Edward Dmytryk, ........ they are not repeatable !!! See the film noir. About 200 of the immortal masterpieces of world cinema! Long live the film noir !!! My eternal love of film noir !!!
+AMIRKHAN NOIR Which is why I'm a big-time collector and avid watcher of such films. Another contributing factor to the creation of these fine flicks, not much thought of in a positive light however, is the Hayes Code. If you think about it, believe it or not censorship played an unwitting role behind the careful and tight crafting of such silver-screen gems, as the novelist and Hollywood professionals back then were compelled to be artistically resourceful in coming up with clever to ingenious narration, dialogue, and action to get around or deal head on with what was considered verboten by the HC boys for the Public audience. This indirectly raised movie making production standards to a new level, causing an outpouring of "Melodramas" having that distinctive finish, film historians and informed laymen alike nowadays find impressively intriguing and highly esteem, that otherwise perhaps wouldn't have that serious adult-level sophistication and polished "look and feel and sound" we get so endlessly enamored by today. Btw I was surprised a bit to see a young Richard Basehart, on first view of this film, cast in such a cold blood-curdling dangerously resourceful anti-social role, as I'm accustomed to seeing him play in his latter years the wholesome morally up-right Admiral Nelson of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
+SwarthySkinnedOne You are quite right, my friend. Hays Code thoroughly played his role in the history of cinematography USA. This code has appeared after the time of great economic depression 1920-1930. When the film company shut down many of the financial crisis, big bankers gave loans on the condition of the moral code of Hayes. All items of the Code are respected by strict rules. In the flesh to the fact that actors kissing in romantic scenes could not more 4-5 seconds .. in the police could shoot, but he did not have to die, and so on. As you can see, all of this gave the dignity of the film .... The audience is not distracted ... But now it's different, writers and directors out of control. Virtually nothing is respected! It is not possible to guess what a disgraceful scene or dialog waiting for us in the next episode: the children when the parents are discussing vulgarity, send them .... and the bloody scenes of violent murder ... In today's audience a different flavor and a true connoisseur of the art treasures that created our ancestors!
How about William Holden who can replace him today ❓😎🇺🇸
Yeah you love noir! I get it!!
The latest film noir was made in the early 70s: Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson
OMG That black and white TV was so cool.... He really does walk by night !!! I want that TV !! I bet the screen has at least 30 pixels..!!
Thank you film noir and TMC(hoping I got the acronym correct)😊🐈🐈🐈😊
I love this movie every time I have watched it over the years.. ty for posting
Raymond Chandler really liked this movie, recommending it a couple times in his letters.
When the guy who wrote The Big Sleep and created Philip Marlowe thinks a crime movie is good, you can take that to the bank.
So did Jack Webb - take it to the bank!
I love old movies, especially noir, but this lost me at the ending. We got zero satisfaction from the criminal's death (sorry spoiler). He just dies. And after all the pursuit, the build-up, the mystery...nothing. At least give the guy one last line. Or show us why he was a criminal. Just my disappointment. imho
Don't feel too bad Dyann, because this movie was based on a real life case and in the actual case the cop killer is tracked down to his bungalow and then captured after a scuffle. He then spent many years in prison and eventually was released and quietly rejoined civilian life a free man once again.
@@8176morgan Thanks. Sounds like the real story wasn't hard enough on the criminal to suit the filmmakers. Up until the ending, it had some suspense and drama. And it was fun seeing Jack Webb in a supporting role (but still sounding like the Jack Webb we all know). Cheers!
Yes, cheers to you too!
One of the best 20 b and w noires of all time.