They Drive by Night (1940)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Jerry Wald (screenplay) and
Richard Macaulay (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

Thrills . . . from coast to coast . . . !

Plot:

Two brothers struggle as wildcat truck drivers; one comes to harm, the other is accused of his friend's murder.

Plot Keywords:

Truck | Murder | Trial | Truck Accident | Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Cast

George Raft	...	Joe Fabrini
Ann Sheridan	...	Cassie Hartley
Ida Lupino	...	Lana Carlsen
Humphrey Bogart	...	Paul Fabrini
Gale Page	...	Pearl Fabrini
Alan Hale	...	Ed Carlsen
Roscoe Karns	...	Irish McGurn
John Litel	...	Harry McNamara
George Tobias	...	George Rondolos

Also Known As:

The Road to Frisco (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6278)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The wife of producer Mark Hellinger, Gladys Glad, a former showgirl for Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., was responsible for getting this film made. Hellinger had brought home a large stack of scripts that he was to read for filming consideration. Hellinger had leafed through the script and read the summary, but felt that "nobody would pay money to see a bunch of truck drivers". His wife read this script, liked it, and pressured Hellinger to read it. Reluctantly, he did, the film eventually got made and became the sleeper hit of the year for Warners. It was made for an estimated $400,000 and grossed more than $4,000,000. (Source: Book "The Mark Hellinger Story" by Jim Bishop, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1952)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Joe Fabrini first sits at Carlsen's desk, Carlsen strikes a match and lights it. Upon cutting to a different angle, Carlsen doesn't have a match in his hand, although it was flaming brightly prior to the edit.

Quotes:

Joe Fabrini: Do you believe in love at first sight?
Cassie Hartley: It saves a lot of time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Devil May Care

Enjoyable, And Hard To Classify

Not much action here for a "film noir" and really more of a melodrama than a crime story, but I still like this because the story's decent and it features a top-flight cast of actors who are usually fun to watch.

That cast includes George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart and Gale Page. My favorite of the group - in this film, at least - is Sheridan, a wise-cracking waitress. Raft and Bogart are truck drivers and Lupino plays the boss' wife. In here, the two women are more interesting than the men, which says a lot considering its Raft and Bogart.

Sheridan not only is easy on the eyes but delivers some great film-noir-type lines. Unfortunately, the edge is taken off her once she leave the diner and hitches a ride with Raft to Los Angeles.

Bogart plays more of a low-key family man whose wife (Page) is the nice- looking, wholesome type. This is one of the last movies Bogart made before he became a star. Hence, he gets fourth billing in here.

Lupino is very good as the vicious scorned woman, a role she found herself playing in a number of films.

As mentioned above, I'm not really sure how one would classify this film since there is humor, film noir, soap opera, straight drama and romance all in it. The combination makes the film interesting and recommended.