He Walked By Night (1948)

The film movement known as film noir emerged in the 1940s. It was from film noir movement that the genre of the police procedural emerged. The late Forties saw a number of police procedural movies released, including T-Men (1947), The Naked City (1948), The Street with No Name (1948), and Mystery Street (1950). These police procedurals were shot in a semidocumentary style and focused on the procedure of law enforcement as they investigated a case. Among the best of the police procedurals released in the late Forties was He Walked By Night (1948).

He Walked By Night centred on Roy Morgan (Richard Basehart), a former radio technician for a local police department turned thief who has shot a Los Angeles Police patrolman when he was nearly caught during his burglaries. He Walked By Night was inspired by the real life case of Erwin "Machine Gun" Walker, a former Glendale, California police radio operator and dispatcher who committed a spree of burglaries in Los Angeles County in 1945 and 1946. He engaged in more than one shoot out with law enforcement. The film had the working titles of 29 Clues and The L.A. Investigator before finally being titled He Walked by Night.

While Alfred L. Werker is credited as the director on He Walked by Night, most film scholars believe that Anthony Mann took over for Mr. Werker fairly early in the shooting of the film. To wit, He Walked by Night was shot in a semidocumentary style similar to Anthony Mann's earlier film T-Men and his later film Border Incident (1949). John Alton was the cinematographer on He Walked By Night. Not only had worked with Anthony Mann on T-Men and would work with him on Raw Deal (1948) and Border Incident, but he would become well-known for his work in film noir. In addition to Anthony Mann's films, John Alton also worked on such classic film noirs as Reign of Terror (1949), Mystery Street, and The Big Combo (1955). He Walked by Night featured some of John Alton's work, particularly the climax of the film shot in the storm drains of Los Angeles.

In addition to Anthony Mann's direction and John Alton's cinematography, He Walked by Night benefits from a strong script by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur, as well as the performances of the cast. Richard Basehart is chilling as Roy Morgan, the master criminal terrorizing Los Angeles County. Scott Brady and James Cardwell do a good job playing the police sergeants investigating the case, Marty Brennan and Chuck Jones.

He Walked By Night proved to be an influential film noir in more ways the one. In the movie Jack Webb played a forensics expert named Lee. He became friends with the police technical advisor on the film, Los Angles Police Detective Sergeant Marty Wynn. It was Jack Webb's discussions with Sgt. Marty Wynn that convinced him that police procedure could be realistically portrayed on a regularly scheduled radio show. This led to the radio show Dragnet. It debuted on 1949 and proved to be a huge hit. It made the transition to television in 1951.

He Walked By Night won the special prize for Best Police Film at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1949. It also received largely positive reviews and did very well at the box office. He Walked by Night would also have lasting impact through its bare bones approach to the police procedural. It was a direct inspiration for the radio show and television series Dragnet and, as a result, its influence can be felt on police procedurals to this day. Even the film's action sequences, particularly its climax, would have a lasting impact on both film and television. While He Walked by Night may not be as famous as Double Indemnity (1944) or The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), but there is every reason it should be.