Fri February 21, 2014
He Walked by Night, Alfred Werker, Anthony Mann (U.S., 1949)
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at Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
(see times)
Don’t believe the title: he ran, he didn’t walk. The “he” is Richard Basehart playing an icy master criminal whose one mistake is waxing a cop. With an officer down, the LAPD swings into action, rounding up suspects and clues in a forensic frenzy. The procedural manner of this classic noir would influence Jack Webb, here the lab technician but soon to be Dragnet’s man Friday. Pushing hack Werker aside, Mann teamed with Alton to engineer a fact-based story steeped in mood and menace. The much-tramped-on city is an implacable maze lacerated by harsh grids of light, leading inevitably to a desperate end in the storm drains below.
—Steve Seid
• Written by John C. Higgins, Crane Wilbur, from a story by Wilbur. Photographed by John Alton. With Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell. (79 mins, B&W, 35mm, From MGM)
show less
—Steve Seid
• Written by John C. Higgins, Crane Wilbur, from a story by Wilbur. Photographed by John Alton. With Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell. (79 mins, B&W, 35mm, From MGM)
Don’t believe the title: he ran, he didn’t walk. The “he” is Richard Basehart playing an icy master criminal whose one mistake is waxing a cop. With an officer down, the LAPD swings into action, rounding up suspects and clues in a forensic frenzy. The procedural manner of this classic noir would influence Jack Webb, here the lab technician but soon to be Dragnet’s man Friday. Pushing hack Werker aside, Mann teamed with Alton to engineer a fact-based story steeped in mood and menace. The much-tramped-on city is an implacable maze lacerated by harsh grids of light, leading inevitably to a desperate end in the storm drains below.
—Steve Seid
• Written by John C. Higgins, Crane Wilbur, from a story by Wilbur. Photographed by John Alton. With Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell. (79 mins, B&W, 35mm, From MGM)
read more
—Steve Seid
• Written by John C. Higgins, Crane Wilbur, from a story by Wilbur. Photographed by John Alton. With Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell. (79 mins, B&W, 35mm, From MGM)
show less
Date/Times:
Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
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