"This boy...and this girl...were never properly introduced to the world we live in." With this superimposed opening title, director Nicholas Ray inaugurates his first feature, They Live by Night. Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell play a "Bonnie and Clyde"-type fugitive couple, who in trying to escape their past are hell-bent down the road to Doom. Despite their criminal activities, Bowie (Granger) and Keechie (O'Donnell) are hopelessly naïve, fabricating their own idyllic dream world as the
authorities close in. The entrapment -- both actual and symbolic -- of the young misfit couple can now be seen as a precursor to the dilemma facing James Dean in Ray's 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. A box-office disappointment upon its first release, They Live by Night has since gained stature as one of the most sensitive and least-predictable entries in the film noir genre. The film was based on a novel by Edward Anderson, and in 1974 was filmed by Robert Altman under its original title, Thieves Like Us. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Although it -- like others -- is misguided in its sympathies for a youthful crook, this crime-and-compassion melodrama has the virtues of vigor and restraint.
A key film noir of the 40s, this was Nicholas Ray's first film as a director (1949), and the freshness of his expressionist-documentary style is still apparent and gripping.
Nicholas Ray established himself as a major talent to watch with his feature debut, one of the best noirs of the 1940s as well as a lyrical variation on the theme of lovers on the run, splendidly played by Granger and O'Donnell.
Passionate, lyrical, and imaginative, it's a remarkably assured debut, from the astonishing opening helicopter shot that follows the escaped convicts' car to freedom, to the final, inexorably tragic climax.
A little too sentimental for my taste, but the film's influence is clearly apparent. Nicolas Ray's sympathy for criminals and of youth culture is on full display, and his innovative overhead helicopter shots is impressive (especially considering that, at the time, using those shots were only used for establishing
shots, not to follow action). A clear precursor to Bonnie and Clyde and many famous "love on the run" films.
August 28, 2011
Jonathan Hutchings
Super Reviewer
it might be the first film noir i ever saw. anyway i remember it fondly. rip bowie
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