He Walked by Night (1948)
Plays here · source: Internet Archive
A methodical lone burglar with an ex-cop's grasp of police procedure evades an LAPD manhunt across Los Angeles, until forensic detective work traps him in a chase through the city's storm drains.
Jack Webb plays only a minor police chemist here, but the film’s procedural rigor — and its real LAPD technical advisor — sent him off to create Dragnet; John Alton’s shadow-heavy photography of the storm drains remains its most enduring image.
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