Nocturne

Nocturne is directed by Edwin L. Marin and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from a story written by Roland Brown and Frank Fenton. It stars George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston, Joseph Pevney, Myrna Dell and Edward Ashley. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Harry J. Wild.

When Hollywood composer Keith Vincent (Ashley) is found dead in his swanky abode, the police feel it is a clear case of suicide. But there is one exception, Joe Warne (Raft), who feels it just doesn't add up. When it becomes apparent that any number of lady friends of the composer could have killed him, Joe drives himself onwards in pursuit of the truth.

Comfort food noir. Nocturne is a Los Angeles based detective story that doffs its cap towards Otto Preminger's far superior "Laura". Raft is in suitably understated hard-bitten mode as Joe Warne risks more than just the wrath of his bosses when he becomes obsessed with finding a woman called Dolores. He is convinced she has committed a murder and the gap on the wall where a row of ladies photographs hang only fuels his obsession still further.

As director Marin ("Johnny Angel") balances the opposing lifestyles of the principal players, taking us for a trip through the varying haunts of Los Angeles, the dialogue is pungent enough to overcome the failings of the script. A script evidently tampered with by Raft and leading to a rushed and not entirely satisfying finale. But as a mystery it works well enough as the acid tongued dames are dangled in the narrative to keep the viewer as interested as our intrepid detective is.

Marin does a grand job of mixing suspense with action, even opening the picture with a doozy of a plot set-up that is born out by some lovely fluid camera work, and while Wild's ("Murder, My Sweet") photography and Harline's music barely break the boundaries of mood accentuation, the tech credits are admirably unfurled to ensure the picture remains in credit. It helps that the support cast is a roll call of strong "B" movie players, and Raft fans get good value from an actor who was desperately trying to get away from the thuggish characters he was by then becoming known for. 7/10

There are some nice touches in this noir if you can get past Raft's non-acting. For a cop obsessed by a murder, he really needs more than one frozen expression. It doesn't help that the script sticks this 50-year old man with a 60-year old mother (Paige), even if she can wisecrack with the best of them. She's a hoot, but he still looks more like a brother than a son.

That opening sequence, however, is masterful and a testament to RKO's artistic team. A night-time camera swoops down from high above the Hollywood hills into a swank, ultra- modern glass house where a handsomely attired man noodles on a piano while a mystery woman sits in the shadows-- and the plot sets up from there. It's done in a single take and is quite riveting.

So who did kill the noodler (Ashley). Maybe it was his bad piano playing. More likely it's one of a hundred women who've visited that swank bachelor pad. Anyway, detective Warne (Raft), after viewing the glamour photos on the wall, is obsessed with finding out. His sleuthing takes us on a entertaining tour of LA area hotspots, circa 1946, including a ship that never sails. The attraction really isn't in the whodunit, which proves difficult, anyway. It's in the characters and the settings and some nice touches. There's the brassy blonde "housekeeper" (Dell) who assures us she sleeps alone, the fashion photographer who can't stand his model, the hulking gorilla (Hoffman) who KO's Warne amusingly off-camera. Most of all, there's Mom who may make you rethink nice old ladies. Then too, I like Joe Pevney as the moody, laconic "Fingers"; his smokey joe seems just right.

All in all, it's an interesting, if uneven, movie with some good dialogue, but with a wrap-up that sounds like it was thrown together on the way to the studio.

From the initial scene chronicling the murder central to the plot of Nocturne as seen from the killer's vantage point, this movie has much to sustain the viewer's interest. Whenever a stock line or situation makes you feel this is a typical hardboiled cop flick, another plot twist or cinemotographic trick changes your mind. Portions of the movie shot after hours in a deserted photographic studio remind the viewer of Harrison's Hitchcockian associations with palpable suspense. George Raft shows surprising likeability as the lead, and Lynn Bari lends sparky support as one of the ranks of the victim's past conquests-or was she?-who just might hold a clue to the identity of the deadly Dolores. If you have a chance to see this film, grab it-although it was a successful and high grossing film at the time of its release in 1946, it is extremely difficult to rent, view, or purchase today. And the music, so evocative of the forties' nightclub allure, is great.

Nocturne is certainly not in the 1st rank of 40's film noir movies but nevertheless has a few things going for it.....the photography, some funny lines ("one more crack like that and I'll wrap the piano around your neck"), and for me, Lynn Bari. I always thought she was ( like Hillary Brooke, Lenore Aubert, Brenda Joyce, and a few others of the 40's) an underrated, very beautiful and sophisticated actress ( of a type that no longer exists in films). Of course no-one is going to confuse George Raft with Lawrence Olivier but the rest of the cast, particularly Joe Pevney (also good in "Body and Soul") does a professional job.and makes the film worthwhile.

I found this movie in my local video shops "film Noir" section. It is considered so rare I had to plunk down a hundred dollars in deposit just to take it out the store. It was worth it! Lush characters, a wardrobe to die for, it's a charmer. There's a hardboiled detective, a sassy, sarcastic maid, a lovely starlet, and plot twists to die for! At times the banter is so sarcastic and cutting you just can't help but laugh, a pulp novel comes alive, and worth every penny! Though the mystery is a bit formulaic and at times you feel you are spinning your heels a little, there are more than enough moments to make up for it. My favorite moment is when the detectives mother, and another older lady try to figure out how the crime was made to look like a suicide, it's like having two Mrs Marples on screen, very funny!