One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

A detective tries to find the killer of a composer who was presumed to have committed suicide. The charismatic George Raft does a good job here as the detective who doesn't accept a suicide was murder. This atmospheric and moody thriller scoots along swiftly as the mystery as to who killed the man deepens. Raft is helped by a decent cast especially the beguiling Lynn Bari as Rafts chief suspect. The well paced script shows plenty of wit and lots of snappy one liners. It builds the suspense well as Raft slowly uncovers the truth.This is a classy and very entertaining 1940's thriller that holds up well today. Well worth seeking out.

Nocturne is directed by Edwin L. Marin and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from a story written by Roland Brown and Frank Fenton. It stars George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston, Joseph Pevney, Myrna Dell and Edward Ashley. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Harry J. Wild.When Hollywood composer Keith Vincent (Ashley) is found dead in is swanky abode, the police feel it is a clear case of suicide. But there is one exception, Joe Warne (Raft), who feels it just doesn't add up. When it becomes apparent that any number of lady friends of the composer could have killed him, Joe drives himself onwards in pursuit of the truth.Comfort food noir. Nocturne is a Los Angeles based detective story that doffs its cap towards Otto Preminger's far superior Laura. Raft is in suitably understated hard-bitten mode as Joe Warne risks more than just the wrath of his bosses when he becomes obsessed with finding a woman called Dolores. He is convinced she has committed a murder and the gap on the wall where a row of ladies photographs hang only fuels his obsession still further.As director Marin (Johnny Angel) balances the opposing lifestyles of the principal players, taking us for a trip through the varying haunts of Los Angeles, the dialogue is pungent enough to overcome the failings of the script. A script evidently tampered with by Raft and leading to a rushed and not entirely satisfying finale. But as a mystery it works well enough as the acid tongued dames are dangled in the narrative to keep the viewer as interested as our intrepid detective is.Marin does a grand job of mixing suspense with action, even opening the picture with a doozy of a plot set-up that is born out by some lovely fluid camera work, and while Wild's (Murder, My Sweet) photography and Harline's music barely break the boundaries of mood accentuation, the tech credits are admirably unfurled to ensure the picture remains in credit. It helps that the support cast is a roll call of strong B movie players, and Raft fans get good value from an actor who was desperately trying to get away from the thuggish characters he was becoming known for. 7/10

After George Raft left Warner Brothers in the early 1940s, his career was in the toilet. He'd rejected the leads in some amazingly successful films that would have made him a mega-star of the first caliber--such as "The Maltese Falcon", "Casablanca" and "Double Indemnity" (among others). His stubbornness and a string of mediocre films instead of hits really killed his career. By 1946, he was practically a has-been--and frankly most of his films of his latter career were really dull. In light of this, I had little faith in "Nocturne". Fortunately I was wrong.This movie hooked me early on--with two brilliant scenes that really set the stage for the rest of the movie. First, a playboy is talking to his latest conquest. It's obvious that she's just another notch on his bedpost and you only see her in the shadows. He basically sits there playing the piano as he laughs at her for trusting him. Nice guy, huh?! Then, when she blasts him, the audience is hooked--a wonderful way to get the viewer interested. Second, when the cops are investigating, the Lieutenant (George Raft) sits down at the piano and begins playing the unfinished song the creep had been working on when he was plugged--and the whole time the body is STILL lying there under the piano! What a tough film! I knew this wasn't going to be one of the dull Raft films he made so many of in the late 40s--this one had style.Upon further investigation, the coroner rules the case a suicide! However, the viewer knows this isn't so and Raft is inclined to think it's murder. After all, the creep had a long string of ladies who he'd used--surely one of them was mad enough to kill! While he's right, his methods during his investigation leave a lot to be desired. Now his methods aren't any more harsh than most cops in film noir movies--but that IS pretty harsh. However, unlike other noir films, Raft is rewarded for his actions by being fired! You can't just rough up people and act like you own the world without consequences--and I liked this aspect of the film, as it heightened the realism.Despite being fired, Raft is doggedly determined to investigate the case to the end. With a bit of help from, of all people, his sweet mother, Raft slowly starts to unravel the mystery. Considering that there is a big goon bent on breaking him in half, it's not so certain he won't be the next murder victim! Pluses for the film are, of course, the first five minutes, but also the great fight scenes (particularly at the 80 minute mark), an interesting plot and the fact that a cop CAN'T just beat up people and do what he wants--making it a lot more realistic than some noir films. Well worth seeing--and one of Raft's best films of his post-Warner Brothers years. Exciting and stylish. I nearly gave this one a 9--it was that good.

Like others have noted, this is not a masterpiece in the canon of film noir, but it does have originality, humor, a good pace, and some downright interesting characters and actors, including the director Joseph Pevney as Fingers the piano player. George Raft gives a decidedly deceptive performance. He was a good enough actor to look as if he couldn't even act. But, nonetheless, he carries this film along with one deadpan diverting observation after another, spitting out lines from a screenplay that is full of one-liners, yet is cohesive enough to at least somewhat keep the plot unfolding, with scenes that vary from posh apartments and hillside houses, to a piano bar where the pianist and his piano are pushed on a little portable stage from table to table by a big, menacing lug, and even to the RKO studios where Raft pursues his chief suspect, played by Lynn Bari, in what only he and the real murderer knew was a murder and not a suicide. The film's light touch mixes well with its well placed darker moments, especially a pitch black and windy night ( probably Santa Ana winds) in Los Angeles.