They Live by Night (1948)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay)
Nicholas Ray (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

June 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Romance

Tagline:

Cops or no cops I'm going through!

Plot:

An escaped convict is injured and is helped by a woman with whom he has an ill-fated relationship.

Plot Keywords:

Prison Farm | Police | Escaped Convict | Car Accident | Teen

Cast

Cathy O'Donnell	...	Catherine 'Keechie' Mobley
Farley Granger	...	Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers
Howard Da Silva	...	Chicamaw 'One-Eye' Mobley
Jay C. Flippen	...	Henry 'T-Dub' Mansfield
Helen Craig	...	Mattie Mansfield
Will Wright	...	Mobley
Marie Bryant	...	Nightclub Singer
Ian Wolfe	...	Hawkins
William Phipps	...	Young Farmer
Harry Harvey	...	Hagenheimer
Will Lee	...	Jeweler
James Nolan	...	Schreiber (as Jim Nolan)
Teddy Infuhr	...	Alvin Lambert
Byron Foulger	...	Lambert
Guy Beach	...	Rudy (as Guy L. Beach)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Allen	...	Woman (uncredited)
Paul Bakanas	...	Shadow (uncredited)
Regan Callais	...	Young Wife (uncredited)
Lewis Charles	...	Auto Lot Attendant (uncredited)
Curt Conway	...	Man in Tuxedo (uncredited)
Suzi Crandall	...	Lulu (uncredited)
Helen Crozier	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Boyd Davis	...	Herman Hawkins (uncredited)
Gail Davis	...	Girl at Parking Lot (uncredited)
James Dobson	...	Boy at Parking Lot (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Ferguson	...	Bum (uncredited)
Dan Foster	...	Groom (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
Eula Guy	...	Mrs. Haviland (uncredited)
N.L. Hitch	...	Bus Driver (uncredited)
J. Louis Johnson	...	Restroom Porter (uncredited)
Chester Jones	...	Waiter in Nightclub (uncredited)
Tom Kennedy	...	Cop (uncredited)
Kate Drain Lawson	...	Tillie (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Robert Mansfield, Mattie's Husband (uncredited)
Myra Marsh	...	Mrs. Schaeffer (uncredited)
Marilyn Mercer	...	Bride (uncredited)
Charles Meredith	...	Commissioner Hubbell (uncredited)
Carmen Morales	...	Mother on bus (uncredited)
Jimmy Moss	...	Boy on bus (uncredited)
Stanley Prager	...	Short Order Man (uncredited)
Erskine Sanford	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	Shadow (uncredited)
Russ Whiteman	...	Man (uncredited)
Lynn Whitney	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Douglas Williams	...	Drunk (uncredited)

Directed by
Nicholas Ray

Writing credits
Charles Schnee		(screenplay)
Nicholas Ray		(adaptation)
Edward Anderson		(novel "Thieves Like Us")

Produced by
John Houseman	....	producer
Dore Schary	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Leigh Harline
Woody Guthrie		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
George E. Diskant		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Sherman Todd

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Alfred Herman		(as Al Herman)

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera
Maurice Yates

Costume Design by
Adele Balkan		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor
Helen Grizuk	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
James H. Anderson	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Lane	....	assistant director

Sound Department
John L. Cass	....	sound (as John Cass)
Clem Portman	....	sound
Roy Meadows	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Russell A. Cully	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Edward Bergholz	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Paul Ivano	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Ollie Sigurdson	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Other crew
Knute Flint	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)
Mercy Weireter	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• R. K. O. Radio Pictures (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Twisted Road (UK)
Your Red Wagon (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

France:U | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

RKO Encino Ranch - Balboa Boulevard & Burbank Boulevard, Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

French visa # 10588.

Goofs:

Continuity: Chicamaw's right eye is okay in a brief scene toward the end. Otherwise, the eye is opaque.

Quotes:

Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers: You having trouble?
Catherine 'Keechie' Mobley: Could be.
Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers: Who are you? You live around here?
Catherine 'Keechie' Mobley: Could be.
Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers: You haven't had a couple of visitors lately, have you?
Catherine 'Keechie' Mobley: That wouldn't be a sore foot making you limp, would it?
Arthur 'Bowie' Bowers: Could be.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Soundtrack:

Your Red Wagon

We're gonna keep searchin' searchin' ....

O'Donnell /Granger are par excellence the romantic couple of the film noir,and their scenes display a tenderness ,a longing for a happiness which always eludes them.This is a dark movie,since most of the scenes were filmed by night:the first meeting of the doomed lovers,the wedding (no walk down the aisle,no flowers,no wedding dress) ,the unforgettable last scene when O'Donnell whispers "I love you" ....

I certainly love Nicholas Ray's movies.In "they live by night" a lot of his recurrent features are already present:the hero is still a child ,a victim of fate.We do not know anything about his background,his parents but he's certainly akin to Jim Stark in "rebel without a cause " who is playing with a toy on the street or Jeff in "lusty men" finding back his old money-box.The heroine is a distant relative of Judy in "rebel" and O'Donnell resembles Natalie Wood.Like her,her family life is a dead end and she sees love as the only way out of it.In 'rebel' ,Ray puts the parents on trial ,in "Bigger than life" -one of his most extraordinary films ,unfairly overlooked - a father becomes monstrous and almost kills his son.Here Bowie was probably "killed" too, on his own at such an early age.

To quote Neil Young,Ray "offers life in sacrifice so the others can go on".In "Rebel" ,Plato's death might mean a new beginning for Jim and Judy and their families (it's stunning how Plato wanted his two friends to be his "parents" ).In "lusty men" ,Jeff's death signals Wes's maturity.But there 's much more:in "run for cover" we find another relationship father/son where the latter's decease allows his "father " to find love and serenity.Even the much debated "55 days at Peking" follows suit:Ray might have been drunk during the shooting,but the baroness'death leads the officer to take on the Chinese orphan girl.

Here Bowie's death does not leave the audience helpless and desperate :he had to die so that his child could have a better life .We know that Keechie is a strong girl and that she will do all that she can for her baby.

In Ray's world,young people are misfits:around them everything is hostile from a father washing up (in "Rebel") to the ugly sinister-looking gangsters in direct contrast with the lovers' charm(in "they live by night" ) to the cruel microcosm of rodeo (in "lusty men").The scene of the wedding is somewhat gloomy even if Ray displays a sense of humor ("You've got a cold!" (so don't kiss the bride)).It's a world beyond any moral:take for instance Mattie's character;is she good? is she evil?probably both like Vienna in "Johnny Guitar" or Ed in "Bigger than life".It displays more than a world in ruins: a world that has forgotten it's in ruins.Almost every ending tells us life HAS to be rebuilt.