Somewhere in the Night (1946)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

So much average

Best movie ever!

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This is the real deal when it comes to film noir: Muddled plot, confused male lead, beautiful femme fatale, shadowy dangerous characters, clever dialog, love triangle, etc. It has all of the elements in a well directed and acting package. It does demand your full attention if you are to follow along. Not to be missed if you enjoy this genre.

Before Joe Mankiewicz's career went into high gear with back to back Oscars for A Letter To Three Wives and All About Eve, he did this crackerjack noir film about a war veteran with amnesia and a past he might not really want to remember. Borrowing heavily from The Maltese Falcon, Somewhere In The Night instead of a legendary bird has a very real and tangible two million dollars of smuggled Nazi loot that a Los Angeles private eye was handling and got lost.In the meantime on the strength of a letter written to him while in the service an amnesiac war veteran comes searching for his past in Los Angeles and finds himself in a lot of trouble he can't decipher. John Hodiak plays the troubled veteran and the only friend he has is nightclub singer Nancy Guild who sings in Richard Conte's nightclub.Hodiak sad to say is a pretty forgotten actor today. He came along during the war years and when folks like Gable and Taylor returned from the service he was kind of an MGM spare tire. I'm sure Darryl Zanuck got him on the cheap for this film at 20th Century Fox. Still Hodiak had an everyman appeal that resonated well with audiences. A shame he died so young of a heart attack, I believe it was a heart murmur that kept him out of the Armed Services in World War II.I wish we had seen a little more of Lloyd Nolan playing a laconic police detective. There's a man who never gave a bad performance even in mediocre films.Although I had it right partially in terms of a solution, Somewhere In The Night will still yield a few surprises to some in the viewing audience. And that's the mark of a good film.

Ten minutes into this jumble and I thought the writers were being paid by the word, either that or they were trying to talk the audience to death. Which might be okay if the dialog added up to an interesting story. But instead, it goes off in ten different confusing directions not even a Rosetta Stone could unpack. The credits list five different writers, which is not surprising since they appear to be working in separate cities. Now, I don't expect every loose thread to get tied up, especially in noir. However, I do expect a general shape or coherence, which this screenplay unfortunately lacks. It's like a jigsaw without a concept.Leading lady Nancy Guild (Christy) does deserve some sympathy. This is her first movie and Fox thrusts her into a demanding role with lots of dialog. And that's the trouble. In her under-trained mouth lines of dialog sound just like that, lines of dialog. At times it works, but mostly it doesn't. She may look like Bacall—likely why she was promoted in the first place-- but lacks the needed smolder. Unhappily, her career proved downhill and short, so likely the resemblance was both a blessing and a curse.What the movie does have are some striking cameos—a cranky Henry Morgan, a sassy Margo Woode, a sweaty Sheldon Leonard, and in a part that steals the movie, Josephine Huchinson as Elizabeth. True to the scrambled screenplay, her wounded spinster sort of drops out of the sky. Nonetheless, catch her many nuanced expressions that are really quite touching. I just wish the editor or the director had cut the scene after it peaks since we've already gotten the idea. Then too, Nolan and Conte are quite good in their supporting roles, parts that each could probably do in his sleep. On the other hand, leading man Hodiak looks good in a suit, but like the disappearing man, has a presence that becomes fainter and fainter as time goes on. Perhaps he was as confused by the script as others of us.Now, I'm as big a fan of noir as anyone. However, I think this film proves an important lesson. Namely, there is more to noir than just a smoky aesthetic, a big-hair dame, and a catchy title.

What might have been a very interesting film noir from the mid-'40s is given a B-film flavor with a muddled script full of red herrings that keep the audience as mystified as amnesiac JOHN HODIAK throughout the film. He wakes up in an Army hospital with a bad case of memory loss and immediately sets out to discover what's behind the few clues he has to his identity.He gets help from a lounge singer, NANCY GUILD, in her first important role. She's a cross between Lauren Bacall and Lizabeth Scott, with striking looks but not enough screen presence. A friendly cop offers his services (LLOYD NOLAN) and the owner of the lounge (RICHARD CONTE) is willing to join in the search for a man they all believe is at the bottom of the mystery.Well photographed, with good sets and art direction, it's not really a B-film but does give that impression from time to time. The script wanders all over the place as Hodiak searches for clues to his past. This search does lead to an excellent scene between him and JOSEPHINE HUTCHINSON which, unfortunately, has little bearing on the plot.In the end, it all seems highly derivative of other thrillers with more coherent plots. This is an early work of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, but not as polished and focused as his later films would be.