An early noir effort from Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve/Cleopatra) from 1946. When a soldier, John Hodiak, is released from the army (due to injuries) all he has is a name & not much else as he tries to find out about his past. At first getting an early lead to some money at a bank, he thinks otherwise on the collection instead hitting the streets getting a name 'Larry Cravat' & meeting an assortment of characters which include a night club owner, Richard Conte, a police detective, Lloyd Nolan, a chanteuse, Nancy Guild, a strong willed harpy, Margo Woode & others which make Hodiak work for his info just by the myriad of clues which turn up (chiefly a suitcase filled w/2 million dollars hidden beneath a pier). It's interesting to see Mankiewicz dipping his toe in this genre & his unusual wit serves the material well but it's length & Hodiak not being the strongest of leads (at first he's all fog being unsure of himself but he manages to come up w/the quips) lessens this effort (if only Dick Powell was available) but as a matter of being a noir completist, this may be for you.
Review of Somewhere in the Night
