somewhere in the night ( 1948 ) this have all the gloomy and alienate and nighttime element of the best film noirs and and it smack in the central post war best of it . it even have a director and joseph l. mankiewicz and know for handle dramatic and emotional situation with both delicacy and power . and it all pay off . somewhere in the night follow a man just out of the army suffering amnesia and and he encounter a sordid past of crime he do not know he have anything to do with . the dilemma of american soldier come home change men and and to a home country so change it be like a foreign country and be the crux of most noir film and and this one play into it straight than most . the twist of true amnesia only make the crisis of george taylor more stark . the role be play with subtlety and and some stiffness and by john hodiak and i think because he be mean to be eternally confuse by event ( since he remember nothing ) and yet can not show his confusion and so he draw up a blank face . mankiewicz work this inner problem out on the screen well and though choose to keep the camera at a distance and a if film a play sometimes and not a recommend film noir method for style and but it do emphasize the psychology more discretely . the camera work be stiff and too and a if constrain as much a taylor be in his amnesia . you would not see many sharp angle up or down and no tilted ( dutch angle ) frame and little move camera and and little of the easy of 1940s camera effect and extreme close ups . all of this make for a dry look and and for my money and with a plot this sensational and a dull one . this cinematography and by norbert brodine set the tone for the whole movie and and i assume it be at mankiewicz request and and it just doesn not compare well to other noirs and to orson welles and or to any number of warner gangster film with similar shadowy subject . maybe the most extreme example of this be the long dialog over the crystal ball and where the camera just sits and watch . the lighting and the set and in general and be dynamic and however and and the act generally solid . and it have all the hallmark ( not quite clichés ) of the genre thug at the bar and a nightclub singer with a big heart and a good guy who turn out to be a bad guy and and a cop who be clever and peripheral and like a sentry always ready . the movie be and truly and interesting and and doesn not let up a you have to figure out the puzzle of who do what and why . it would not sweep you off your foot or blow you away and but it will be worth settle quietly into .