Wikipedia entry
Noir of the week entry
Full movie at youtube
Download or watch at archive.org
Director: Alfred L. Werker, Anthony Mann (uncredited)
Writer: Crane Wilbur (story), Crane Wilbur and John C. Higgins (screenplay)
Cinematographer: John Alton
Plot: This is simply the story of how the LAPD track down and kill Roy Morgan. He is an electronic expert, who once worked for the police as a civilian radio engineer. Morgan lives with his dog in a Hollywood bungalow, keeping a very low profile. At night he walks the city of Los Angeles, often traveling in the storm drains under the city streets, to rob and kill. LAPD forensics specialist Lee uses crime evidence to link various crimes to the same man. LAPD Captain Breen gathers all of the witnesses to the robberies to create a composite sketch. A hunch on the part of LAPD Sergeant Marty Brennan leads him to travel to all the local police departments, asking if they recognize the person in the sketch. Finally, one remembers him as a radio engineer who worked there years ago. Further interviews with post office mail carriers lead to Morgan's location. During a carefully planned raid, Morgan's dog alerts him in the nick of time, and Morgan escapes into the LAPD sewer system. The LAPD traps him in the sewer system and Morgan dies after a gun fight with police.
Trivia:
The story was loosely based on newspaper accounts of the real-life actions of Erwin Walker.
This was Richard Basehart's third film. He of course went on to become a household name in the 1960s TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea".
This was also Jack Webb's third film. He went on to star in the long-running TV series "Dragnet", which started in the 1950s. (In fact, Webb's experience making this movie inspired his idea to create the series Dragnet.)
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