''Somewhere in the Night'' is a 1946 American film noir

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

film directed by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best A ...

, written by Mankiewicz with Howard Dimsdale and

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

from a short story by Marvin Borowsky, and starring

John Hodiak John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film. Early life Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...

and Nancy Guild. The supporting cast features

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. B ...

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

Josephine Hutchinson Josephine Hutchinson (October 12, 1903 – June 4, 1998) was an American actress. She acted in several theater plays and films. Early years Hutchinson was born in Seattle, Washington. Her mother, Leona Roberts, was an actress best known for ...

and

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

Plot

The film tells the tale of a man called George Taylor, who returns home to the U.S. from fighting in World War II. He is suffering from amnesia, having been badly injured by a grenade. He tries to find his old identity, following a trail left behind by the mysterious Mr. Larry Cravat. He ends up stumbling into a murder mystery involving Nazi loot.

Cast

as George W. Taylor * Nancy Guild as Christy Smith *

as Police Lt. Donald Kendall *

as Mel Phillips *

as Elizabeth Conroy *

Fritz Kortner Fritz Kortner (born Fritz Nathan Kohn; 12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director. Life and career Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn into a Jewish family. He studied at the Vienna A ...

as Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle *

Margo Woode Margo Woode (April 20, 1928 – September 28, 2018) was an American actress, signed by 20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Stud ...

as Phyllis *

as Sam *

Lou Nova Lou Nova (March 16, 1913 – September 29, 1991) also called ''Cosmic punch'' was an American boxer and actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, the Nova was the U.S. and World Amateur Boxing Champion in 1935. After turning pro, he remained ...

as Hubert

Production notes

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

purchased Marvin Borowsky's original, unpublished story "The Lonely Journey" and his accompanying screenplay in December 1944 for $11,000. ''Somewhere in the Night'' was Nancy Guild's first film. Production Dates: 21 Nov 1945–24 Jan 1946. A radio version of the film, starring John Hodiak and Lynn Bari, was broadcast on ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' on March 3, 1947.

Reception

When the film was first released, film critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a negative review, writing "Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Josephine Hutchinson and several others are competent as varied pawns. Their performances are interesting; it's only too bad that they have such turbid and inconclusive things to do. After a while, the mad confusion of the story inspires a complete apathy." More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz praised the film, writing, "A dark moody noir tale about a marine who gets blown up by a grenade in the South Pacific during a skirmish in WW-II and survives, only to become an amnesia victim...Mankiewicz does a nice job of creating the dark noir mood. The film is spiced up with comedy, excellent performances, plenty of suspense, plus a tense voice-over by

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, and it manages to keep the pot boiling with a quintessential amnesiac story."Schwartz, Dennis
''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', film review, June 3, 2000. Accessed: July 9, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * *

information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images) *

Streaming audio

''Somewhere in the Night''
on

: March 3, 1947 at My Old Radio {{DEFAULTSORT:Somewhere In The Night 1946 films 1940s crime thriller films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films about amnesia Films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films scored by David Buttolph Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 20th Century Fox films American crime thriller films 1940s American films