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DVD Somewhere in the Night
"Somewhere in the Night" is an exemplary title for a film noir, and the shellshocked pilgrimage of an amnesiac WWII veteran through an L.A. shadow-zone of hotels, bars, steam baths, sanitariums, and creepy private dwellings casts an uncanny spell. The plot is so byzantine, and the interlayering of the banal with the bizarre so pervasive, we may occasionally feel we've wandered into a Raul Ruiz mindgame in the guise of a '40s mystery-melodrama. The situation is primal: a man searching for his own identity, dreading what that identity will prove to be, yet so monastically dedicated to his mission that he won't reveal his dilemma to anyone even when it might ease his quest.
The script is shot through with contradictions and improbabilities, though these loom more glaring in retrospect than during the viewing. In his sophomore directorial outing, Joseph L. Mankiewicz--who would soon evolve into a multiple-Oscar-winner (Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve)--occasionally bungles action setups that any journeyman director could have handled in mid-yawn. But he¹s also written some choice dialogue and slivered some engaging business into the proceedings--especially for Lloyd Nolan as a drugstore-philosopher homicide cop, and German-Expressionist refugee Fritz Kortner (Pandora's Box), whose arias of Continental fatalism and duplicity are sheer delight. The always-assured Richard Conte is slick as an affable nightclub operator, and there are fine bits by a host of unbilled character players (Whit Bissell, Henry "Harry" Morgan, Jeff Corey, Houseley Stevenson). But Hodiak makes a charismatically challenged leading man, and a better actress than neophyte Nancy Guild ("rhymes with wild!") would have found it tough to bring off the combination of worldliness and devotion required of the nightclub chanteuse who offers him aid and comfort. --Richard T. Jameson
Real men don't ask for directions nor do they seek help for amnesia
This review is for the 2005 Twentieth Century Fox DVD.
The film opens in a "MASH" unit near a World War II battleground where a wounded George Taylor (John Hodiak) slowly realizes that he has amnesia. Rather than confront the issue head on with the medical staff, he decides to try to regain his identity by using all of the people around him for feeding information about himself. When he is finally discharged from the military, he goes to Los Angeles to piece his past life back together. He later discovers that a friend he doesn't remember named Larry Cravatt left him some money at a bank. When George goes to the bank to withdraw the cash, George has reason to believe that the police are after him and flees the bank and then has to do a lot more detective work on his own. This sets up the rest of the film where the stakes suddenly are much bigger than he ever imagined since he discovers that he may have been involved in a murder that was tied to $2 million worth of missing money.
Beyond the obvious issue of suffering from amnesia and refusing any medical help, the story goes off into a long string of highly improbable events that don't seem that well connected to each prior event. The main character just seems to have an uncanny knack of falling backwards into some other fantastic situation. In spite of these problems, the film does a few things right. First, it's a clearly a film noir movie set mostly in the seedier parts of Los Angeles and photographed with plenty of shadows and darkly lit settings. Another nice touch is that just about all of the supporting actors are recognizable characters from the classic film noir era. Even though the film has some of the necessary ingredients for success, the script is disappointing since it doesn't connect the dots that well from one scene to the next, and doesn't thoroughly sell the audience on several key points of the movie such as the main male character (Hodiak) and his relationship with the leading female character (Guild), the surprise villain, and how uncreatively the villain is brought to justice. Overall, I think classic film noir fans will still find the movie rewarding based on the visual presentation, but mystery buffs will be holding their noses with this plot.
As for the DVD, the black and white full screen presentation is overall excellent. The picture is sharp and with superb contrast. The only minor problems were some graininess and occasional tiny signs of film deterioration, but considering the film was made in 1946, it's a great transfer. The DVD bonuses include commentary by noir author Eddie Mueller plus several other Fox Film Noir trailers.
Movie: C
DVD Quality: A-
Meet That Guild Gal...She Gives As Good As She Gets!
John Hodiak plays a soldier who wakes up after being wounded with no memory. All he knows is what he is told: that his name is George Taylor. He makes his way to LA, and before long is looking for one Larry Cravat, a man who is apparently his friend. But lots of other people are looking for Cravat too, both hoodlums and cops, and our hero is quickly up to his neck in danger, without even knowing why.
An early storyline centred around amnesia, Somehwere in the Night's twists have become rather familiar over time, but this doesn't take away from the superb pacing, atmosphere and dialogue. That the dialogue is so good should come as no surprise, given that the director/co-writer is Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Interestingly, Lee Strasberg also had a hand in the screenplay. With its baffled character at the mercy of forces beyond his comprehension or control, this is as pure a noir as they come.
As with the other films in the series, the sound comes in the original mono and a 2.0 stereo mix. The latter has the same richness and flaws as the other (the surround is rather indiscriminate, but is also pretty low key).
Noir historian/author Eddie Muller turns in another fine commentary, as informal as it is informative. The only other extras are the theatrical trailer and some trailers for other films in the series. The menu's main screen is scored.
A terrific entry in the Fox Film Noir series. Highly recommended.
Style Over Substance
Despite weaknesses in this film it has enough good qualities to recommend. For starters, despite layered plotting and red herrings the script telegraphs it's inevitable conclusion. The film's leads, John Hodiak and Nancy Guild, though attractive are merely serviceable. The film though does boast great atmosphere with it's use of shadowy cinematography and seedy L.A. locations. The film also has a better than average supporting cast in Richard Conte, Lloyd Nolan, Sheldon Leonard, Harry Morgan, et al. This one is a tough call because the potential is here for a better than average noir. If you're a completist of Fox's noir series like I am you're obligated to purchase it. Otherwise, rent it or wait until it pops up on TV.
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