CrimeMysteryThriller

Follow Me Quietly

- Police baffled by the FACELESS KILLER!

When it rains in the city, a serial killer known as "The Judge" looks for his next strangling victim. For months, the madman has been stalking at night, leaving behind clues, but police efforts have been fruitless. Constructing a life-size dummy of the murderer, police Lt. Harry Grant is growing obsessed with capturing him, and always following Grant is the relentless reporter Ann Gorman looking to break the story, but the hunt continues.

Release Date : 1949-07-07

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : RKO Radio Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Harry Grant

Original Name : William Lundigan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ann Gorman

Original Name : Dorothy Patrick

Gender : Female

Character Name : Police Sgt. Art Collins

Original Name : Jeff Corey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Benny

Original Name : Nestor Paiva

Gender : Male

Character Name : Police Insp. Mulvaney

Original Name : Charles D. Brown

Gender : Male

Character Name : Overbeck

Original Name : Paul Guilfoyle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Charlie Roy aka The Judge

Original Name : Edwin Max

Gender : Male

Character Name : J.C. McGill

Original Name : Frank Ferguson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Waitress

Original Name : Marlo Dwyer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dixon (as Michael Branden)

Original Name : Archie Twitchell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Phony Judge

Original Name : Douglas Spencer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Book store proprietor

Original Name : Maurice Cass

Gender : Male

Character Name : Waitress

Original Name : Wanda Cantlon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Don, bartender

Original Name : Howard M. Mitchell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kelly

Original Name : Cy Stevens

Gender : Male

Character Name : Coroner

Original Name : Robert Emmett Keane

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sgt. Bryce

Original Name : Paul Bryar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Detective

Original Name : Lee Phelps

Gender : Male

Character Name : Detective

Original Name : Art Dupuis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Intern

Original Name : Walden Boyle

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ed

Original Name : Joe Whitehead

Gender : Male

Character Name : Policeman

Original Name : Martin Cichy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Mark, apartment manager

Original Name : Michael Mark

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman in bookstore

Original Name : Virginia Farmer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Larson

Original Name : Nolan Leary

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Funny thing how he always strikes in the rain. Follow Me Quietly is directed by Richard Fleischer (with uncredited help from Anthony Mann) and adapted to screenplay by Lillie Hayward from a story written by Mann and Francis Rosenwald. It stars William Lundigan, Dorothy Patrick, Jeff Corey, Nestor Paiva and Paul Guilfoyle. Music is by Leonid Raab and cinematography by Robert De Grasse. A serial killer known as "The Judge" is stalking the city, his modus operandi is to strike when it rains and to kill by strangulation. The police have loads of little clues but nothing solid to go on. The strain is starting to weigh heavy on Lt. Harry Grant (Lundigan), but he comes up with a genius idea to help catch the killer - a mannequin! Not widely known, but once released to MOD home format it got more noticed and has been keenly sought out by fans of the great Anthony Mann. It has proved a little divisive so this fawning review should be taken with a little context. Clocking in at just under an hour in length, Fleischer's film is by definition a compact RKO "B" picture, but the quality of story, and the little slices of noir craft, ensure it's got plenty of strengths going for it. In essence it's an early police procedural dealing with the hunt for a serial killer. There's a babe in the mix, Dorothy Patrick as an intrepid reporter who announcers herself to the film wearing a see through mackintosh, which of course is splendid. She teams up with Grant, not as a fatale, but as a sort of wry cohort, suggestion is evident, sexual tension even, but nothing is shoe-horned in to the pic. The cops are all stoic types, splendidly attired for period delights, but it's with Lundigan's head of investigations where the film gets its pulse beat. He gets in deep with the psychological aspects of the case, thinking like the killer, talking to the faceless mannequin that has been constructed out of clues left by the killer, the mirror images of the killer and mannequin are not exactly a million miles away from Lundigan himself. Cheeky is that. Mann's stamp is all over the film, but Fleischer's work is evident for sure, an economical purist meets the crafty auteur, a fine match. Robert De Grasse (The Body Snatcher/Born to Kill) is a key component, operating with angles and shades when required, there's a distinct uneasy feel to proceedings. A few scenes grab the attention with full effect, akin to a spider inviting a fly to dinner, which all builds to a head, culminating in a blunderbuss finale at an oil refinery - cum - power plant. Only where White Heat (also 1949) went nighttime for its coup de grace, Follow Me Quietly did it in daylight. Cheeky is that. It's not perfect. Some logic holes are there as regards the water effect with the killer, which also leads us to lament a lack of reasoning and understanding with the perpetrator. There's also a couple of instances where the mannequin is played in a rear shot by a real actor, why? I have no idea. While the best scene in the film, as Lundigan chats to the dummy in a darkened room - and the rain falls hard on the windows - brings about a reveal that makes no sense what so ever. Especially once "The Judge" is revealed. However, this is easy to recommend to noir heads and fans of police procedurals, and I loved it. 8/10

Nutshell

@nutshell

2021-06-23

This is a well photographed crime drama with an embarrassingly bad plot and poorly written dialogue, a prime example of RKO's impending doom… The 60 minute run time comes as a huge blessing.