Review of Nocturne

This estimable and well-paced mystery noir was produced by Joan Harrison, Alfred Hitchcock's long-time partner. Janathan Latimer;'s script is unusually rich in characters, suspects and dialogue.Director Edward L. Marin and composer Leigh Harline contributed mightily also to this tale of three strands of narrative deftly-interwoven. A playboy composer has been seducing and dismissing women, whose photographs he collects. When he is murdered, a detective, George Raft, investigates the case and is told it was a suicide, ordered to keep his hands off. He goes on with it, anyhow. The third strand is his suspicion of and then gradually falling anyhow for actress Lynn Bari, which leads him to a nightclub where Bari's sister works, and eventually, to the musical clue to the killer's identity. There are some very good performances in this stylish B/W surprise entry. Bern Hoffman and Joseph Pevney score very strongly as a loyal bully and a smart- mouthed pianist; others in the cast include Walter Sande and Queenie Smith as Raft's feisty and tough-minded mother. There are strong action scenes, including fights between athletic Raft and the very large Hoffman, and an unusual element as the police start harassing , then suspend, then hunt Raft who is convinced a murderer is at large. Minus the intelligently used help supplied by Raft's mother, this would make a very modern remake of a classic mystery story--so many suspects, plenty of time, but a man alone risking his life for justice. Myrna Dell, Mabel Paige, Mack Gray and Edwin Astley are also in the expert cast.