Nocturne (1946)

George Raft is Joe Warne, a Los Angeles police lieutenant who isn't ready to accept the death of songwriter Keith Vincent (Edward Ashley) as a suicide, even though the medical examiner says so and his superiors (Walter Sande, Robert Malcolm) on the homicide squad readily accept that verdict. Warne's biggest clue that things are not as they seem is an unfinished tune found in the expired musician's home. The song is called "Nocturne" and a notation in the margin indicates the number is dedicated to Dolores. Problem is, the killed lady-killer calls all of his gal pals Dolores.

The movie opens with a tight shot of city traffic. Then we pull back for a panoramic view of Los Angeles, and then there's a gradual zoom on Vincent's home, with the camera (and the viewers) entering through the patio glass door. It's one of several neat cinematography tricks in the film, which also features some neat cuts and dissolves.

Once inside the home, we see Vincent is playing the piano. Sitting on the couch is a leggy woman whose face is hidden in shadows. The love-'em-and-leave-'em musician is casually throwing the mystery woman over but hey, it ain't all bad, honey — I've written this song for you. He plays Nocturne on the piano while speaking the lyrics that confirm to the latest Dolores she is being dumped. The wolf melody-maker is just filling in a few more notes when — Bang! — he meets his end.

When the police and the medical examiner arrive, all the evidence — fingerprints, powder burns — points to a suicide. Warne isn't convinced, however and later, when explaining to his mother (Mabel Paige) why he can't buy the suicide angle, he utters a line of that typically snappy film-noir dialogue: "He had money, Dolores, a nice house. Only he apparently decided he needed a little more ventilation so he put a hole through his head."

Raft, who portrayed tough guys of various shades on both sides of the law throughout his career, plays his Joe Warne as a bit of a bull terrier. He’s politely defiant of authority and won’t take no for an answer when he’s on the case. Even when he’s booted off the force, he keeps sniffing around.

Of course, he’s highly intrigued by one of the Doloreses in the investigation — a small-time actress named Frances Ransom (Lynn Bari). Raft, who was 50 when Nocturne was filmed, comes across better as a dogged investigator than as a romantic figure. That said, the scenes with Raft and Bari are filled with peppy banter and are quite watchable, even if the sexual chemistry is more or less non-existent.

There’s a lot of fun scenes in this one, many of which feature Warne’s smart-as-a-whip mom. It’s a hoot to hear Ma Warne nonchalantly discuss murder with bingo buddy Mrs. O’Rourke (Virginia Edwards). At one point, when Warne realizes he’s falling for the prime suspect, he asks his mother how she’d feel if he married a murderess. Without batting an eye, Ma said it’d be A-OK with her so long as she was “a nice girl.”

When Ma Warne inadvertently stumbles across the solution to the mystery, her son immediately and triumphantly makes the announcement to Frances.

"I think you've been reading too many detective stories," suggests the lady.

"No, I've been talking to mom," replies Warne.

Joseph Pevney, in what the Internet Movie Database lists as his film debut, is great as Ned “Fingers” Ford, a pianist with a quick but melancholy smile who seems to know more than he’s letting on. Pevney only did a handful of films and wound up earning most of his paycheques as a film and TV (Bonanza, Star Trek, Trapper John, M.D.) director.

He tickles the ivories at a nightclub where the house singer, Carol Page (Virginia Huston), just happens to be Frances's sister.

And how about a lean John Banner (looking nothing like the Sergeant Schultz character he would play two decades later on the TV series Hogan's Heroes) as a comically swishy photographer?

There’s also a by-the-books brassy blonde (Myrna Dell), Vincent’s maid who was in the house when her boss died but never heard a thing. Why? She wears earplugs because she can’t stand Vincent’s music. “It's icky,” she says.

Mood and lighting are suitably noirish and the crash-and-bang scenes consist mainly of Warne’s run-ins with oafish Erik Torp (Bernard Hoffman), an omnipresent bodyguard/enforcer/bully who’s connected with three other characters — Frances, Fingers and Carol.

Edwin L. Marin, whose best known films include the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol and the 1944 John Wayne oater Tall in the Saddle, directed. The year before Nocturne, he and George Raft collaborated on another crime noir for RKO, the very good Johnny Angel. Joan Harrison, who started out in the business as a secretary for Alfred Hitchcock, both produced and co-wrote Nocturne.

Who’d like it: Noir fans. The film is true to the principles of the genre, there’s shadows all over the L.A. cityscape (kudos to cinematographer Harry J. Wild) and the script is brisk and smart.

Who should stay away: Those who criticize Raft for being stiff won’t be convinced otherwise by this outing. If piano music ain’t your thing or if you absolutely hate getting a tune stuck in your head, beware of this one. The title tune (penned by Leigh Harline) is a key component of the plot and gets lots and lots of play.