Somewhere in the Night (1946)

During the World War II, a soldier is hit by a grenade that deforms his face and leaves him with amnesia. Sometime later, he is recovered and learns that his name is George Taylor (John Hodiak) and he is discharged from the army. He finds a letter written by a man called Larry Cravat that would be his pal and he goes to Los Angeles to seek out Larry Cravat to find his identity. He goes to a bank, a hotel, a Turkish bath and a night-club following leads. He is beaten up by Hubert, the henchman of Anzelmo (Fritz Kortner) that dumps him at the front door of the singer Christy Smith (Nancy Guild) that works in a night-club. George tells his story to her and Christy decides to help him. She calls her boss and friend Mel Phillips (Richard Conte) that schedules a lunch with his friend Police Lt. Donald Kendall (Lloyd Nolan) and Christy. They learn that Larry Cravat was a private investigator that somehow received US$ 2 million three years ago from Germany from a Nazi that was immediately deceased. Then George receives a tip to go to the Terminal Dock where he meets Anzelmo that explains that Larry Cravat is wanted by the police for the murder of a man at the dock to keep the money. Larry has disappeared and Anzelmo believes George Taylor is the man that was with him and probably the killer. George further investigation finds that a man named Conroy was a witness of the crime, but he was hit and run by a truck and is interned at the Lambeth Sanatorium. When George meets Conroy, he realizes that the man was stabbed but he tells where he hid the suitcase with the money before dying. Now George is close to solve the mystery."Somewhere in the Night" is an intriguing film-noir with a mystery about who is and where is a man called Larry Cravat. The direction of Joseph L. Mankiewicz is tight as usual and the plot has many twists and the story is disclosed in pieces like a puzzle. The gorgeous Nancy Guild performs the role of an independent woman ahead of time. Alan Parker was probably inspired in George Taylor to develop the character Harry Angel in the 1987 "Angel Heart". My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Uma Aventura na Noite" ("One Adventure in the Night")Note: On 29 July 2018 I saw this film again.

A film noir does not have to be totally realistic to become a classic; All it needs are the elements that make film noir the gritty and riveting thrillers they are. This plot surrounds amnesia, money laundering, and mistaken identities. George Taylor (John Hodiak) is an amnesiac veteran who finds a letter from a friend he doesn't remember named Larry Kravat for a bank account in Los Angeles. When he goes to the bank, he becomes nervous over the suspicious nature of the bank teller and flees. Mysterious encounters with several others makes him wonder about his own identity and who the mysterious Kravat really is. With the help of a kindly nightclub singer (Nancy Guild), he sets out to solve the mystery. What he finds he may not like.In a year of such classic film noir as "The Big Sleep", "Gilda", "Decoy", "The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers", "The Killers" and "The Blue Dahlia", "Somewhere in the Night" has been somewhat overlooked until recently. It has a somewhat convoluted plot line, and its structure moves all over the place like the roads in the mountains above Los Angeles. Characters come in and out of the script like bees out of a hive. Who is good and who is bad will have to be waited out until the ending revelation, but this isn't the L.A. of movie studios and sunny days at the beach. Sure, Taylor ends up at the beach, but it is to go into the bowels of an old wooden dock, not to catch rays between Santa Monica and Venice. Film noir vets like Richard Conte and Lloyd Nolan add color, while Margo Woode is an interesting supporting "femme fatale". ("Whose the character with the hair?", she squawks upon meeting Guild....) Guild does have an interesting look, sort of like a younger Kate Mulgrew. Veteran 30's leading lady Josephine Hutchinson is memorable in one key scene as a seemingly middle aged recluse who dresses and lives like Whistler's Mother. Look too for Harry Morgan as a rough character Hodiak encounters while investigating.This was only the third film for director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and he already shows signs of being a master story teller. With truly dark photography, a moody hero, a Lauren Bacall like heroine and other archetypes that make for essential film noir, this is worthy of becoming a small classic. I would like to have seen more films of this nature with Nancy Guild; She had the ability to make you trust her in spite of her involvements of unsavory characters, but appears to have had a very limited acting career.

John Hodiak (George Taylor) wakes up in a hospital with amnesia. He doesn't even know who he is and he spends the rest of the film trying to track down Larry Cravat who has left him some money. His journey takes him to a nightclub called "The Cellar" where he meets Nancy Guild (Christy) and they form an alliance. So where is the mysterious Mr Cravat.....? It is so bleeding obvious where Mr Cravat is. You should guess that part of the plot within the first 15 minutes. However, there are other twists and turns that keep you guessing and I didn't expect the final plot development. As for the story, it can get a little complicated so you need to just go along with it even though it is too long. The cast are fine - my favourite character being Lloyd Nolan's Police Lieutenant who has a way of letting people know that he pretty much knows everything already. He's like Peter Falk's "Columbo". Nancy Guild looks like a cross between Lauren Bacall and Ella Raines, and while many reviewers have given her a hard time about her acting (my girlfriend included), I thought she was fine. It's something about her mannerisms, smugness and trying to act older than she is which seems to annoy.The film starts with an overlong narration and there are dumb parts to the story, eg, why does Hodiak run out of the bank when he is asked to stay and have a quick word with the manager when he goes to cash his cheque from Larry Cravat. Surely, he would be only too pleased to speak to someone who may shed light on his past life or give him information about Larry Cravat. Another ludicrous concept that you have to accept is that Hodiak fell onto a bomb when it exploded. He looks pretty good to me. What a nonsense! However, there are a few moments that provide tension, eg, the episode at the asylum and the scene at the docks where Hodiak and Guild go in search of $2 million. There is also a moment that will make you jump when an attempt is made on Hodiak's life. You'll know the one I mean. That would have properly been game over! Overall, the film is a bit boring. Every scene, particularly at the beginning, takes ages and you'll get fed up with the name of Larry Cravat. Sadly, John Hodiak died unexpectedly while having a shave 9 years after this film was made at the age of 41.

This is such a lousy film that putting it in the tradition of the 1940's film noir is an insult to that film genre.Total confusion reigns here as John Hodiak plays an injured war vet in the throws of amnesia. How he could fool a hospital that he didn't have this tells you a lot about hospital care as well as this very muddled film.Finding items in his wallet, money deposited for him along the way, suspicion that he is a killer, becoming mixed up with seedy people and finally finding out who he is has no value in this plodding film.Richard Conte, as the owner of the bar, is up to his usual no good ways in films. That's Conte and that comes as no surprise. Lloyd Nolan explains to us why the police always wear their hats. Isn't that wonderful? By the time, you hear that, you're more than satisfied that this miserably scripted film is over.