John Alton (1) (1901–1996)

This is an effective noir film set in late 1940s Los Angeles. It starts out documentary style with a voiceover about LA--just like Dragnet, but settles down into a much more serious police procedural. (Dragnet's Jack Webb, by the way, plays a key role here as the LA Police Department's lab specialist, who not only can do ballistics but also Identikit! Webb apparently got the idea for Dragnet here.) The film looks great all the way through, and the scenes in the storm drains will remind you of the Third Man, but He Walked by Night was filmed a year earlier. The film is made most interesting by its alternation between scenes of the killer, well played by Richard Basehart, and the police investigation. Of course, the LA police department, make up entirely on white guys in dark suits, comes off as completely competent and uncorrupt. This is based on a true story, by the way. I guess I have given it only 3 1/2 stars for the simple reason that the killer's motives are never revealed or even hinted at. Which I guess is why it was so hard to track him down! I watched this movie on Kanopy through my library, so it should be easily available to anyone who wants to journey back 70 years. Recommended.… (mere)

Elmer Gantry (Burt Lancaster) es un hombre atractivo, oportunista y absolutamente inmoral. Tras asistir, por casualidad, a una reunión religiosa, se da cuenta de lo fácil que es ganar dinero como predicador y se convierte a la religión Evangélica. Con la hermana Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons) a su lado, Elmer pronuncia unos estremecedores sermones que le permiten conseguir fama y dinero. Pero un periodista (Arthur Kennedy) sigue sus pasos para desenmascararlo. Su situación se complica aún más cuando reaparece en su vida una antigua amiga (Shirley Jones), que hará que Gantry tenga que afrontar su turbio pasado.… (mere)