Fly-By-Night

Siodmak’s second feature made in the U.S. uses a Hitchcockian conceit as a pretext for concocting a delightful, gripping curio that melds the espionage thriller and the screwball comedy. A young doctor (Richard Carlson) finds himself enmeshed in an obscure conspiracy plot when he crosses paths with an eccentric inventor who has recently escaped captivity at the hands of a network of Nazi spies. Circumstances inevitably lead our protagonist to put his life on the line in order to clear his name after being framed for murder. This tonally fascinating work feels like a dry run for Siodmak’s later pioneering film noirs.