clanciai A soldier, all bandaged up, wakes up in an army hospital in the war and remembers nothing. All he can do is to soliloquize. His wallet has been miraculously saved from the grenade devastation that all but killed him, which contains a weird letter from someone condemning him with all her hate. That's the only cue he has to his life and identity.It's a difficult beginning to start with, but the soldier is returned to life and to Los Angeles, where he starts digging for his past, groping his way in the total darkness of a mystery that only grows worse for each new clue that turns up. A singing lady takes care of him and bandages him up when he gets beaten up by hoodlums for no known reason, and there are more and more people like that, trying to get what he knows and the more eagerly so for the fact that he knows nothing.All amnesia films are usually extremely interesting and good, "Random Harvest" is the best example of all, but here the hero has no great past and has never been in any position but is just a common man who had the misfortune to get mixed up with accidents and intrigues beyond his control. At first you feel disappointed with the film, as nothing seems to resolve the mysteries but only to complicate them. Like the man himself you err in a labyrinth of grotesque absurdity, and every helper seems only to make it worse - until he meets an old man in a mental hospital, and then you have already passed way beyond half of the film.What follows though is completely rewarding. The miracle happens that everything in this inextricable mystery actually is resolved and explained, and an impossible abyss of illogical absurdity turns the other way around in a marvel of a sudden revelation, which definitely saves the film and turns it from disaster to glory.All Joe Mankiewicz's films display a high class stylishness of almost an aristocratic touch, which makes them all enjoyable, and this weird odyssey through a nightmare of disorientation is no exception. The actors are also convincing enough, while Richard Conte is the only real character player. This was Mankiewicz's second film on his way up to supreme stardom of directors, and he still had 20 more years to go of reliably outstanding films.

bnwfilmbuff This is the real deal when it comes to film noir: Muddled plot, confused male lead, beautiful femme fatale, shadowy dangerous characters, clever dialog, love triangle, etc. It has all of the elements in a well directed and acting package. It does demand your full attention if you are to follow along. Not to be missed if you enjoy this genre.

seymourblack-1 Amnesia, confused identities and a number of characters with uncertain motives all contribute to the atmosphere of danger and distrust that prevails throughout this movie. The natural anxiety that accompanies memory loss escalates steadily as the main protagonist tries desperately to discover his own identity and his growing fear is reflected visually in Norbert Brodine's striking cinematography which skilfully uses shadows to give many of the scenes a particularly sinister look.A badly injured World War 11 veteran (John Hodiak), who recovers from a coma in a military hospital in Honolulu, is aware that he's suffering from amnesia but doesn't disclose this to the doctors who call him George Taylor. From certain documents in his possession, he's able to deduce that he previously lived at the Martin Hotel in L.A. and so when he's eventually discharged, he immediately heads to that address, but no-one there knows him or has any record of him having stayed there in recent years.A claim check that he discovers in his bag leads him to recover a briefcase that he'd apparently left some time ago at a nearby train station and in the case he finds a letter and a gun. The letter is signed by Larry Cravat who confirms that he's deposited $5,000 for George in a bank account. George has no success when he tries to claim his cash from the Second National Bank and so embarks on a search for Cravat. His search leads him to a local nightclub called "The Cellar" where on one occasion , he meets a singer called Christy Smith (Nancy Guild) and on another, gets beaten up by a couple of thugs who don't appreciate his interest in Cravat and tell him to call off his search.Christy introduces George to Mel Phillips (Richard Conte) who's the owner of "The Cellar" and his contact Police Lieutenant Donald Kendall (Lloyd Nolan) and all three offer him help. It soon becomes clear that Cravat was a private eye who was connected some years earlier with a crime involving murder and the possession of $2,000,000 which had been transferred into the country by a high ranking Nazi officer. As his investigations continue, George becomes increasingly concerned about what he might discover until ultimately, a number of surprise developments lead him to solve the mysteries surrounding his own identity and the stolen money."Somewhere In The Night" is a well paced and well written mystery with a complicated plot and an anti-hero who's been traumatised by his experiences in the War, disconcerted by his memory loss and made anxious by his inability to know who he can trust. John Hodiak conveys Taylor's mental state by emphasising how tense and humourless his experiences have made him and the supporting cast successfully adds considerable colour and interest to the array of characters that feature in Taylor's bewildering odyssey.

sol ***SPOILER ALERT*** Recovering for a Jap grenade that ended up rearranging his face during the battle of Okinawa US Marine Sgt. George Taylor, John Hodiak, completely lost his memory. With Taylor, if that's his name, not really knowing who he is trying to keep that fact a secret from the hospital staff he tries to fake his way through life, as George Taylor, until his memory, if ever, comes back to him.The few clues that Taylor has about himself is a letter, unsigned and without a forwarding address, that he found in his wallet by a former girlfriend telling him what a low down and dirty rat he is! The other clue he found in his navy duffel bag was a note telling him that he has a $5,000,00 account in a L.A bank courtesy of his good and life-long friend Larry Carvat! What puzzles Taylor most of all in the confusion he's going through, in him not being able to remember anything, is who the hell is Larry Cravat! Taylor a man determined to find out who he is ends up getting involved with a slew of unsavory characters who's only mission in life seems to be the finding the whereabouts of Larry Cravat! Since Cravat left the amnesic Taylor $5,000.00 it's assumed by those looking for him that he may well know were Cravat is and lead them straight to him! That's if Taylor's memory ever comes back!Among those looking for Carvat is the Bela Lugosi sounding fortune teller Anzelmo known professionally as Dr. Oracle, Fritz Kortner. As it turned out Anzelmo had something going with Cravat back some four years ago involving a two million dollar, smuggled out of Nazi Ggermany, transaction he was to make with him. This lead to Cravat's disappearances with the money as well as the murder of the middle man in the transaction, someone named Steel, on a deserted L.A dock! Among the other persons looking for Cravat is nightclub owner Mel Phillips, Richard Conte, considered by those who work for him as being the nicest guy in the whole wide world.***SPOILERS***All Mel wants, from what I can figure out, from Cravat is just a friendly chat and nothing more. Maybe Mel is looking to give Cravat a job at his nightclub replacing the bartender John , Whit Bissell, who was found murdered the other night! Meanwhile Taylor begins to put all the pieces together, regarding Larry Cravat, and comes to realize just who this mystery man really is! Something he'll soon wish that he would have never found out!The movie also has in it the great Llyod Noland as police Det. Donald Kendell as well as pretty and classy Nancy Guild as the confused, not about Nancy but everything else in the movie, Taylor's love interest nightclub singer and dancer Christy Smith. In the end Taylor does finally, with Christy's help, find out who he is but that little bit of information almost ends up costing him his life! As you would have expected it was the great Llyod Noland, as Det. Kendell, who with gun blazing came to both Taylor and Christy's rescue. It was also during the films climatic shootout that Det. Kendell finally figured out why detectives,in the movies as well as in real life, never take off their hats even when dining in a Chinese restaurant! Something that had been bugging the lawman for as long as he could remember!