The nocturnal robber in the 1948 He Walked by Night ends up murdering a police officer and thereby brings down on himself a load of professional energy for his seizure. Played by Richard Basehart in what is supposed to be a true story, Roy The Killer is a loner obsessed with electronics, for, after all, he himself is an alienating machine. No emotion, no conscience. He even shoots and leaves paralyzed a second cop.
He is L.A.’s public enemy no. 1 (so it seems) and gets his comeuppance in the huge dark city sewers. The pursuit there is a visually striking scene, with direction by Alfred L. Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann. Crane Wilbur is the main writer for this filmic procedural with good gunfights.
