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

Not as good as hyped, this film noir, however, is still interesting and suspenseful. It's full of good film noir photography with lots of nighttime shots with many shadows, not only outdoors but indoors and even in the Los Angeles sewer system! I recommended getting the Anthony Mann DVD pack so you get the best picture quality. With all that darkness, you need to see this on a good transfer.

Mann is an uncredited director for this film, or at least a co-director. John Alton, the cinematographer who worked with him on a couple of other film noirs, did the camera-work and he was one of the best.

Richard Basehart plays a convincing no-conscience killer. He as very interesting to watch all the way through. It also was entertaining to see a young Jack Webb play a forensics-type cop. This was his pre-Dragnet television show period but this was a good vehicle for his cop work. In fact, this movie even had a Dragnet feel to it with some kooky minor characters, such as the lady talking to the milkman/cop.

This movie dragged a big in the middle but overall was entertaining enough to recommend, especially to film noir fans. Just make sure you see this with a good print.

A very intriguing thriller built on the best possible foundation of a true story. Richard Baseheart is always an interesting actor specializing in odd roles, such as The Fool in Fellini's "La strada", and he adds an extra whiff of interest by deeply sympathetic originality to his roles, and this is one of his best - a total outsider who stalks his own life in darkness without scruples, turning into a very cold-blooded and technically advanced murderer, giving the police a hard time to even get him defined.

In addition the film is carefully built up with architectural finesse, as the tension never relaxes but constantly is augmented, leading to a towering finale of suspense in the tunnels. Yes, this points forward to "The Third Man", and the question is if Carol Reed saw this film first. If he did, "The Third Man" makes it even better.

It is very dark, a truly noir film at its best, I had no expectations seeing it but was deeply impressed, especially by Richard Baseheart's extremely unpleasant but at the same time very tragic role amounting to greatness.