Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

InspireGato Film Perfection

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Myriam Nys Black-and-white police procedural about the hunt for a callous criminal who has shot and killed a police officer. This is not a bad movie, but it lacks something - some spark of life, of wit, of imagination. Most of the characters are so bland and generic that they might be replaced with houseplants, which means that the actors were saddled with a thankless job. About the only character that has been developed with some depth and care is the cold-hearted man-who-walks-by-night, and even there the viewer is left guessing as to his essential drives and motivations. It is much to the credit of actor Richard Basehart, that he still succeeds in putting some meat on these meagre bones. After a slow beginning, the movie gains speed and tension in the second half. The finale boasts a suspenseful, marvelously filmed pursuit through a system of storm drains, which, who knows, may have served as an inspiration for the sewer scenes in the vastly superior "The third man". (Lovers of crime thrillers and of the "noir" genre may want to organise a happy, pop-corn filled evening comparing and contrasting both movies.) I for one enjoyed "He walked" mainly for its time capsule feel and for its many images of Los Angeles, that most fascinating of cities, shortly after World War II.

mark.waltz Atmospheric and detailed in every way, shape and form, this is what tension is all about. Cop killings are a serious matter, and nearly 70 years later, this film still hits raw nerves. After the titles dedication to the world of law enforcement is followed by stock footage narration that takes you to downtown Los Angeles where calls come in one after another that the narrator describes as a city gone mad. Corrupt or not, the police force has a job to do, and when real criminals are taken off the streets of any big city, it is something to celebrate. There are moments of silence here that in some films indicates that nothing is going on, but here, something is always happening. Richard Basehart gives a truly creepy performance as a cop killer who kills the officer simply asking him where he is going in total cold blood. Witnesses surface who saw the fleeing Basehart are gathered together where little descriptions provide enough of a picture of who they are looking for. Los Angeles streets turn sinister as the killer leads the police force (among them Scott Brady and Jack Ebb) on a not so merry chase.If you like tight camera work that really goes into the structure of the new wave, then this is a great example of how film noir and crime dramas, whether on the big screen or the then new invention of television. It's a chase not only between cop and criminal, but camera and cast, turning precincts, streets, sewers and various other types of locations into characters. The end of the war gave filmmakers new tricks to try, and this one succeeded in abundance.

michaeljhuman First off, I love Dragnet, so that creates a bias I love the police procedural too. And old crime movies. So of course, seeing how this is a well executed police procedural movie I love itLoved the plot about the intelligent sociopath. Ignoring the historical basis, we wonder, why is he so cold blooded. The war? Does he blame society?His actions are logical. As is the police actions. I often question 100 things in a movie, but in this case I questioned very few items. It seemed very plausibleLoved seeing Jack Webb here of course, and I then realized, wow this is so much like Dragnet. Then I did some looking into it and realized this had to be the template for Dragnet. That alone is worth the priced of admission unless it was awful, and it was not awfulI feel this should get 9/10 for being a perfect example of the sub genre as police proceduralAs a noir, well, as some people have said, it's not a typical noir, but I would still give it 6/10As a dramatization of a historical killer, it's probably a bit weak due to changes to the real story, but that's Hollywood for you, and expected so 6/10 thereI highly recommend this to Dragnet lovers and police procedural lovers. People who like more drama and less realism could probably find better choices elsewhere, but even crime story lovers should find something to like here, and some noir lovers might appreciate it

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Semidocumentary style Film Nior classic that's a lot like the film "Street with no Name" released in the same year. "He Walked by Night" is based on the real life crimes of former L.A police department employee and WWII vet Erwin "Mechine-Gun" Walker who terrorized the city in the mid 1940's with a string of shootings and armed robberies. Roy Martin, Richard Besehart, has been burglarizing electrical appliances stores in L.A and pretending that what he stole he in fact invented. Martin makes a living, and a damn good one at that, by selling his stolen booty to his fence-man, who in fact doesn't known it's stolen property, electronic dealer Paul Reeves, Whit Bissell.It's when Martin is spotted by an LAPD cop one night hanging around an electronic store and looking like he's up to no good that he gunned him down thus going up the ladder in the world of crime from just a plain garden variety burglar to a wanted all points, in the state, cop killer! With every cop in the LAPD out looking for him Martin is able to avoid them in slipping into the vast 700 mile L.A sewer system thus preventing him from being captured. Despite all the precautions he takes Martin makes the mistake of going back to his "Fence-Man" Paul Reeves to make sure, by bashing his skull in and cracking a couple of his ribs, that he doesn't turn him into the police. That tips the cops on the case Sgt. Marty Brennan, Scott Brady,& Sgt. Chuck Jones,James Cardwell, off to Martin's identity. That's not after Jones ended up being brutally attacked and beaten by Martin when he spotted him and his partner Sgt. Brennan hiding out in Reeves' office.***SPOILERS*** With his cover blown thanks to the US Post Office in tracking him down in this out of the way L.A bungalow colony Martin is now not only on the run but has his secret hideout, the sewer system, found out as well. Like a cornered rat having nowhere to go with his escape route, a manhole cover, blocked by an LAPD patrol car all he can do now is shoot it out with the oncoming police that in Martin's case turns out to be fatal.The sewer system scenes in the movie were later used, in 1956, in the Lon Cheney Jr horror suspense movie "Indestrutable Man" where he played the just brought back from the dead, through a massive electronic jolt, zombie-like mass murderer Butcher Benton. The movie "He Walked by Night" also has a 27 year old Jack Webb playing police forensic specialist Lee Whitey. Webb became so interested in police work during the filming that with the support of LAPD cop Sgt. Marty Wynn, who served as a police technical adviser in the film, he came up with the idea for his blockbuster radio and later TV police drama series "Dragnet".