Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

GManfred Sounds like a serious film noir, judging from the title. Wet,dark alleys, trench coats, world-weary private eye, etc. But it's not - "Crime By Night" is a breezy, light-hearted crime story that could have been a series. No telling where Warner Bros. was going with this entertaining B picture, but it could have been better than the main feature it played with.Jerome Cowan is the star as the genial, unflappable private eye and Jane Wyman is his 'girl Friday', even though she has top billing. Can't remember Jerome Cowan as the leading man before. He spent most of his career as a supporting actor, but goes all out here as he solves a murder mystery - and it's a genuine whodunit, which is the yardstick by which all mysteries are measured. If you haven't seen it and you're a mystery movie fan, give it a shot. It's only 75 minutes of your time.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Confusing murder mystery involving a one handed pianist Larry Bordon who claims he's been framed in his father-in-law's murder. Larry himself was almost shot and killed as soon as the movie opened by an unknown assailant while Larry was on his rowboat. Fearful for his life Larry got in touch with famed New York private eye Sam Campbell to not only save his neck from the person or persons who are trying to murder him but from his being arrested and tried for the murder of his father-in-law Harvey Carr whom he found axed to death in his rowboat. In fact t was Mr.Carr who chopped off Larry's left hand in a fit over his strained relationship with his daughter, and Larry's wife, Irene.The movie gets even more complicated that it already is when the boathouse caretaker is found by Campbell brutally axed, but still alive, by the very same person who murdered Mr.Carr. The fact that the caretaker is still alive is very good news for Larry in if he's telling the truth the caretaker can prove that Larry's innocent by not identifying him as his attacker. That all later turns sour for Larry with the caretaker not coming out of his coma and dying. That leaves Larry on the hook in not only killing Mr.Carr but the caretaker as well. As Campbell begins to follow the trail of evidence in both Mr.Carr and the caretakers murder it becomes evident to him that the double murders were really an effort to cover up a far more sinister crime.***SPOILERS*** All that leads to both Ann Marlow and her boyfriend singer Paul Goff who are staying at a hotel not far from the crime scene who seemed to have had some kind of special dealings with the late and murdered Mr. Carr. And it was Mr.Carr's suspicions of them that in fact may well have lead to his murder. Or better yet could it have been Mr.Carr's former son-in-law Larry Bordon who had it in for Mr.Carr ever since he destroyed his career as a concert pianist! It was Campbell and his secretary Robbie "Candy-Lamb" Vance who by setting up a trap at the local horse stable who got Mr.Carr's killer to trip himself up. In him thinking that the stable owner Dad Martin, whom one of his horses was used by the killer to make his escape, had spotted him and then tried to murder Martin as well! As for the real reason behind Mr.Carr's murder it had to do with what was going on the other side of the world, Europe, at the time, 1944, and the super secret formula that Mr.Carr was working on that those who murdered him were after.

ultfan67 Crime By Night is a film that I discovered on TCM a couple of years ago. Although Jane Wyman receives top billing, Jerome Cowan (the ill fated Miles Archer from The Maltese Falcon) carries the film. As another poster commented, the film has some great dialogue. In addition to his interplay with Jane Wyman's character (Robbie, aka Candy Lamb), I really enjoyed Cowan's (private eye Sam Campbell) scenes with Cy Kendall. Kendall plays the sheriff, who's a bit on the shady side. I especially like the scene when the sheriff leaves Sam alone in the sheriff's office to ostensibly get a drinking glass and what happens immediately after that. Also funny was Sam's revenge later in the film towards the sheriff regarding the drinking glass incident. All in all, an excellent B film...check it out if you can.

CitizenCaine For a fifteen year period between the late 1930's and the early 1950's, Jerome Cowan played supporting roles to a number of big name stars in a variety of movies. Here he gets a chance to be the lead in this snappy little B picture, playing a detective on vacation. He was notable for playing wisecracking sidekicks, and in Crime By Night he plays a wisecracking detective. His sidekick is Jane Wyman who is actually listed as the lead here, but she plays second fiddle as Cowan's "candy lamb." Faye Emerson is on hand in a supporting role, and Eleanor Parker has a small role in one of her early films. The pace is fast with snappy dialog written by Daniel Mainwaring, who a few years later became famous for the quintessential film noir: Out Of The Past, which was based on his novel Build My Gallows High. **1/2 of 4 stars.