Review of They Live by Night (1949) by Antonius B — 22 Aug 2018

First-time director Nicholas Ray does a good job of threading the needle between a romance and film noir/heist film with 'They Live by Night'. There is such a natural feeling to the actors and story-telling, and Ray keeps up a good, brisk pace for most of the film. Three convicts break out of prison at the beginning of the movie, a couple of older guys (Howard Da Silva and Jay C. Flippen) and one of the two's son (Farley Granger), who believes he was in there unjustly to begin with. He wants to raise a little money to hire a lawyer to clear his name, and makes the mistake of committing new crimes to do that. He meets a beautiful, smart young woman (Cathy O'Donnell), and soon the two of them are on the run, making this a forerunner of that kind of film.

I'm not as sure about Granger, and liked him better in 'Strangers on a Train', but O'Donnell is just wonderful. She has strong scenes throughout the movie, starting with those where she tries to talk sense into him. Her imploring eyes and minimal makeup are very effective at conveying the fundamental truth of innocence and simplicity. As the two fall in love, they have this lovely exchange while driving, her head on his shoulder:

"I like you so much. I don't know much about kissing. You're gonna have to show me.".

"I don't know too much about it myself.".

"We'll learn together.".

That sounds a little syrupy as I read it now, but it worked for me at the time. The film does get a little melodramatic, and while there are scenes which I adored, there are others which are a little cloying. On the other hand, there is a quite a bit of realism here as well. To give us this, and to create interest, Ray shoots from a helicopter, and from the backseat of the getaway car during a robbery. He also creates a natural feel in his scenes, sometimes bordering on having actors slightly out of focus. We're sometimes informed of events after the fact, relieving us of the tedium of seeing it all, and again, keeping us interested. The dialogue seems authentic, and the supporting cast is very strong. Even the character names add a certain feeling - 'Keechie', 'T-Dub', 'Chicamaw', etc The film trundles a bit towards its inexorable end, but its last scene is strong, and touching.