Nightbeat

Another user comment on another Maxwell Reed film told of his eyebrows, gave me my summary title, which had me smiling.He certainly worked them vigorously in this film noir of an early post war racketeer, returning commando servicemen, (Ronald Howard/Hector Ross) and the longstanding girlfriend who has been faithful all during the war (the late tragic Anne Crawford).What made me smile was seeing Sid James playing a nightclub pianist called Nixon.It was films like this which established his acting credentials and which Tony Hancock envied in their early comic TV/radio collaborations.

Nasty Jackie (Christine Norden) who plays the nightclub singer, sticks Ronald Howard's commando knife into Maxwell Reed's chest and kills him out of pique because he didn't love her enough.How will Ronald establish his innocence, perhaps Anne can help?This is an above average 1947 British produced film noir which I awarded 7/10.

I finally caught this film on a DVD copy bought off ebay. I had wanted to see it for years largely based on what i'd read about it in British film books and for Christine Norden, Britain's answer to Rita Hayworth's Gilda in this performance. Norden did not disappoint; she looks stunning, slinked convincingly, sang huskily, vamps superbly. Her scenes with Maxwell Reed were the film's high points; they are both so over the top in their different styles that it works quite well and is certainly a strong contrast to the demure Anne Crawford in her good girl role. Norden's career in British films was short but made an impact, she was Britain's bad girl before Diana Dors inherited the mantle. As for the plot, well not to worry, it is eminently predictable and very 1940's, but moves along at a fair clip.

Two soldiers coming home from the war both join up in the police force, while the sister of one of them is the other's sweetheart. But during the war that sister (Anne Crawford) has started working with a night club owner and got an apartment from him, and he wants to marry her. Her father is a policeman, and when her soldier friend joins the police force she leaves him to eventually marry the night club owner. Her brother gets sacked from the police and starts working for the night club. Another girl (Christine Norden, a blonde,) gets mixed up with Felix the night club owner, and when he finally marries Anne Crawford, the blonde gets furious. Complications follow and run wild. It's a fascinating story of ex-soldiers finding an ordered existence after the war, one succeeding, the other failing, but eventually after the ultimate complication of a murder they and the sister find each other again. It's not a great film, there are no great film stars, the acting is mediocre, but the story and the intriguing environment with its many plots make ineed the film worth watching.

NIGHTBEAT struck me with its premise. "After the war is over, two army pals take opposite paths in civvy street. One becomes a petty criminal, the other becomes a policeman" Right away I was reminded of ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES where two characters make their own decisions which will test their friendship. This isn't how things unravel

Right from the outset there's a distraction and that is the two protagonists are shown wearing British army uniforms with sergeant strips. No matter the nationality of a sergeant they're all from working class stock but the characters speak with entirely posh accents that not one person in Britain speaks anymore , not even the British royal family, In fact in comparison to the two sergeants the Queen sounds like she comes from a sink council estate. This is painfully distracting to this egalitarian reviewer

As I said the plot doesn't really follow the ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES route and I found myself constantly wondering why the story couldn't have been told much better. It's not a terrible film but I did expect more from a British film noir and it's impossible to have convincing working class rough characters when they're played ex public school sounding people

In many ways this film is a clear attempt, by a British studio, to emulate the successful film noirs prevalent in the USA. To a great degree it achieves that objective, mainly through the lively cameo performances from Christine Norden, Maxwell Reed and Sidney James. The scenes containing those characters are among the best in the film. The story is lively-paced and passes the time quickly. However, where the film falls down is in its poor editing, and the lacklustre performances of the two leading males. In particular, Hector Ross displays about as much animation and personality as a glove puppet. His performance has to be seen to be believed. Overall though Nightbeat is an entertaining film.