Loved the title ('He Walked By Night' is quite an irresistible title) and the idea for the story was very interesting, as was the idea to do it in semi-documentary style. Love the genre too, am a fan of classic film and have been all my life (will admit though there are not so classic classic films out there) and heard good things about it after it was recommended to me.
'He Walked By Night' is not my definition of a classic but it is a long way from a flop, but won't hold anything against those who didn't find it their cup of tea. It has a few things that don't quite work but much of it is more than successful, while a little inconsistent it is seldom less than compelling and the good things are many.
A few of the characters are on the bland side, the cops definitely could have done with more personality as could have Scott Brady. Not every scene works, a few far-fetched parts here and there.
To me the narration is a little wordy and not wholly necessary.
On the other hand, the documentary style mostly works very well. The methodical nature of the detective work intrigues and a great job is done giving the main character a menacing edge while making him appear harmless. The dialogue does provoke thought and the direction has tautness and atmosphere. The performances generally work well, one would be hard pressed to find a more chilling Richard Basehart performance and Jack Webb acquits himself just fine.
Best assets of 'He Walked By Night' are the vividly moody photography and the nail-biting tension of many scenes. The storm drain shoot-out delivers brilliantly in the action stakes.
Altogether, classic it isn't quite but a tedious quest it certainly is not. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'He Walked By Night' is not my definition of a classic but it is a long way from a flop, but won't hold anything against those who didn't find it their cup of tea. It has a few things that don't quite work but much of it is more than successful, while a little inconsistent it is seldom less than compelling and the good things are many.
A few of the characters are on the bland side, the cops definitely could have done with more personality as could have Scott Brady. Not every scene works, a few far-fetched parts here and there.
To me the narration is a little wordy and not wholly necessary.
On the other hand, the documentary style mostly works very well. The methodical nature of the detective work intrigues and a great job is done giving the main character a menacing edge while making him appear harmless. The dialogue does provoke thought and the direction has tautness and atmosphere. The performances generally work well, one would be hard pressed to find a more chilling Richard Basehart performance and Jack Webb acquits himself just fine.
Best assets of 'He Walked By Night' are the vividly moody photography and the nail-biting tension of many scenes. The storm drain shoot-out delivers brilliantly in the action stakes.
Altogether, classic it isn't quite but a tedious quest it certainly is not. 7/10 Bethany Cox