Knock on Any Door

What do you mean, Mr., Mr. Conklin?

Well, you've seen leading men on the screen, haven't you? Humphrey Bogart in Knock on Any Door, Errol Flynn in Don Juan.

No, sir, I haven't seen those.

Oh, well, what's the last movie you did see?

What, what do you mean, Mr., Mr. Conklin?

Well, you've seen leading men on the screen, haven't you? Humphrey Bogart in Knock on Any Door, Errol Flynn in Don Juan.

No, sir, I haven't seen those.

Oh, well, what's the last movie you did see?

Night was produced by Howard Hughes, who had recently purchased RKO.

Because of the chaos that was part and parcel of working with Howard Hughes, Ray's second and third films, A Woman's Secret and Knock on Any Door with Humphrey Bogart, ended up being released before his first film.

Ray worked with Bogart again for 1950's In a Lonely Place and Robert Ryan for 1951's On Dangerous Ground, two major contributions to the NAR genre.

He accepted a gig to direct John Wayne in that year's Flying Leathernecks, mostly as a money job, and cast Ryan opposite the Duke, partly just to push back against the star and the film's overt jingoism, since Ray and Ryan were both outspoken liberals.

I think Eddie Muller, the film noir expert, Eddie Muller has said it's his favorite film noir of all, which is saying something when you think about how many film noirs he's seen.

But it's an absolutely masterful film.

And then the other one he did with Bogart, Knock on Any Door, is also really good.

And I found those both really interesting is that they're kind of playing Bogart's not playing against type because Bogart's certainly a rough and tumble guy, but like in In a Lonely Place, he's like a Hollywood screenwriter.