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IMDb > They Drive by Night (1940) > Plot Summary
They Drive by Night
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Brothers Paul and Joe Fabrini run a trucking business in California mainly shipping fruit from farms to the markets in Los Angeles. They struggle to make ends meet in the face of corrupt businessmen and intense competition. They are forced into driving long hours and one night pick-up waitress Cassie Hartley who's just quit her job at a truck stop. The three of them witness the death of a mutual acquaintance when he falls asleep at the wheel. This has a profound effect on Paul and Joe and they become determined to find a way to make the business pay so they can quit. Written by Col Needham {col@imdb.com}

Joe and Paul Fabrini are two wildcat truck drivers struggling to stay one step ahead of their creditors. Their job requires long hours on the road and prevents them from getting enough sleep. Paul's wife worries she's going to find herself a widow some day and for good reason. Joe, Paul and a hardboiled waitress they pick up hitchhiking are witness to just how dangerous the business is. They watch in horror when the driver of the truck ahead of them falls asleep and runs off the road; both men inside die in a fiery explosion. Eventually, Joe goes to work for an old friend, who now runs his own trucking business. Ed Carlsen is rich and successful, but he's still a regular fellow and hasn't lost the vulgar manners of his class. This annoys his wife Lana to no end. She's clearly nouveau riche herself, but wants to rise above the low-class antics of her husband. And she's in love with Joe, who wants nothing to do with her. This drives her to commit murder. Written by J. Spurlin

Two brothers Joe and Paul Fabrini try to make a living at wildcat trucking. The two deal with shaddy bosses, and repo men, but an accident ends Pauls days, and causes Joe to go to work for an old friend, Ed Carleson, whose wife, Lana, has more than a passing interest in him. While Joe only has eyes for Cassie. Lana kills Ed, but claims she had no choice as Paul threatened to kill her if she did not kill her husband, only after he rebuffs her advances. At the trial she falls to pieces with the police dragging a hysterical Lana away, the judge throws the charges against Joe out and frees him to take over his old friends business. Written by Keith Burnage {rickscafe@bogart.com}



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