They Live by Night

Last updated
They Live by Night
They Live By Night (1948) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Screenplay by Charles Schnee
Nicholas Ray
Based on Thieves Like Us
1937 novel
by Edward Anderson
Produced by John Houseman
Starring Farley Granger
Cathy O'Donnell
Howard Da Silva
Cinematography George E. Diskant
Edited by Sherman Todd
Music by Leigh Harline
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • August 1948 (1948-08)(London) [1]
  • November 5, 1949 (1949-11-05)(U.S.) [1]
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

They Live by Night is a 1948 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, in his directorial debut, and starring Cathy O'Donnell and Farley Granger. Based on Edward Anderson's Depression-era novel Thieves Like Us , the film follows a young convict on the run who falls in love with a woman and attempts to begin a life with her.

Contents

The film opened theatrically in London in August 1948 under the title The Twisted Road, before it was released in the United States by RKO Radio Pictures as They Live by Night in November 1949. Though it received favorable reviews from film critics, it was a box-office failure, losing the studio $445,000 (equivalent to $5.47 million in 2022 [2] ).

Although the film is considered by many to be the prototype for the "couple on the run" genre, and is generally seen as the forerunner to the movie Bonnie and Clyde , the first telling of the story was actually the 1939 Persons in Hiding based on the J. Edgar Hoover memoir of the same title.

Robert Altman directed another adaptation of the novel in 1974 using the original title of the novel, Thieves Like Us .

Plot

Arthur "Bowie" Bowers, a 23-year-old serving a prison sentence for a murder he allegedly helped perpetrate at age 16, escapes from prison with two older bank robbers, Chicamaw and T-Dub. The three take shelter with Chicamaw's brother, who operates a service station, and niece, Catherine "Keechie" Mobley, who works there. Hoping to also free his incarcerated brother Robert, T-Dub concocts a plan to rob a bank and use the funds to hire a lawyer to prove a wrongful conviction.

The robbery goes smoothly. However, shortly afterward Bowie crashes his car, and Chicamaw then kills a police officer who arrives at the scene. Chicamaw leaves an injured Bowie in the care of Keechie and joins T-Dub in another town. The sheepish Keechie swiftly grows fond of Bowie, who is also shy. The two bond over their lack of experience in the world and soon develop a romance. Meanwhile, the press reports heavily on Bowie, wrongly pinning him as the ringleader of the robbery. Bowie and Keechie decide to go on the run together, and travel by bus through several towns. Late one night, they come across a chapel that performs quickie marriages for $20. Bowie asks Keechie to marry him, to which she agrees. Hawkins, the local justice of the peace, performs the ceremony and sells the couple a convertible car.

The couple travel to a remote mountain resort where Keechie once stayed during her childhood, and rent a cabin there, dreaming about being able to live openly together. At Christmastime, Chicamaw arrives at the resort, having tracked the couple there; he has gambled away his money and wants Bowie to help him and T-Dub commit another robbery. Bowie reluctantly agrees, though Keechie, fearing Bowie will not make it out alive, gives him his Christmas gift early: a wristwatch. The three men commit another robbery, but T-Dub is killed during it. Bowie and Chicamaw flee the scene by car. While driving, Bowie learns from a drunken Chicamaw that he is jealous of all the press attention Bowie and Keechie have received. Bowie eventually forces Chicamaw out of the car at gunpoint.

When Bowie returns to the resort, he learns from Keechie that Chicamaw was killed in a liquor store robbery. In radio broadcasts, Bowie is again described as the ringleader of the robbery. In a heated conversation, Keechie reveals she is pregnant. The couple depart the resort and head east, traveling mainly at night so as not to be seen. Relenting on their secrecy, they decide to spend a leisurely time in public, visiting a park, and then a nightclub. In the club, Bowie is recognized by a gangster, causing the couple to flee again. Bowie suggests they escape to Mexico, to which Keechie agrees.

En route, Keechie grows ill, and the couple seek refuge at a motel owned by Mattie, T-Dub's sister-in-law. Mattie reluctantly allows them to stay. Bowie visits Hawkins, hoping he can help him and Keechie cross the border, while Mattie makes a deal with police that she will turn over Bowie in exchange for her convicted husband Robert's release. When Hawkins tells Bowie he is unable to help him, a bereft Bowie returns to the motel and informs Mattie he is going to leave by himself to ensure the safety of Keechie and their unborn child. Mattie encourages Bowie to say a final goodbye to Keechie. He agrees and writes a farewell letter to bring to her. As he is about to enter the cabin, police unexpectedly descend on the scene, provoking Bowie to draw a gun. The police shoot him to death. Keechie, kneeling over Bowie's dead body, reads the farewell letter he wrote for her.

Cast

Production

Development

The novel, Thieves Like Us , by Edward Anderson had been bought by RKO in 1941 for $10,000 (equivalent to $199,000 in 2022 [2] ). After numerous writers tried to make a screenplay out of it, nothing became of it. According to producer John Houseman, "I found the book and gave it to Nick to read, and he fell madly in love with it–as indeed I did, but Nick particularly was very familiar with that territory. He'd been there when he worked with the Lomaxes, he'd been there when he worked for the Department of Agriculture, and so on. And that whole Depression stuff was terribly his stuff. So he sat down and wrote the treatment. I'd come home at night and we'd go over it; I'd edit it a little, that's all, and it was very, very good." [3] Houseman would repeatedly send in treatments, fronting for the novice Ray. Houseman, who had considerable authority as a producer, was aware of Ray's passion for the project and there was never any doubt that Ray would direct the film.

Much to the dismay of Ray and Houseman, RKO saw no commercial value in the story, especially because Ray had had no film directing experience. In early 1947, producer Dore Schary became production chief over RKO with hopes of turning it into Hollywood's most adventurous studio. Schary became known for his liberal values and for giving novice directors the chance to make their debuts. Schary read Ray's treatment and on February 10, Ray signed a contract with RKO with a note by Schary specifying that "It is the intention to have him direct his first project Thieves Like Us."

Houseman hired Charles Schnee to write the screenplay, but Houseman was concerned that Schnee shouldn't alter Ray's treatment. Ray and Schnee worked together to make the treatment into a true script without any problems, and a completed script was submitted to RKO in May 1947.

Casting

Farley Granger recounted that he was at Saul and Ethel Chaplin's house for a party. Ray had also been invited and just sat and drank and stared at Granger. Granger asked Ethel Chaplin about Ray's behavior, and she replied that Ray was in the middle of casting his first movie and had taken a professional interest in Granger.[ citation needed ] Houseman arranged to have Granger test for RKO, which went very well. Ray was determined that he had found his Bowie. He then asked Granger if there was an actress with whom he felt comfortable working. Granger responded with Cathy O'Donnell, who was also brought in to make a test.

Both Granger and O'Donnell were under contract to Samuel Goldwyn and had limited acting experience behind them; Granger had been in two films before being drafted for World War II, while O'Donnell had just made the classic The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Nevertheless, Ray was fiercely loyal and fought for both of them. Granger later said that "Ray and John Houseman were among the few people who fought for me in my career. They said no, we will not make the film without him. When Nick believed in you, he was very loyal." [4] In his autobiography, Granger lists They Live by Night as one of his two or three favorite films. [5]

Many of the supporting cast and minor characters were played by friends of Houseman and Ray, although RKO contract player Robert Mitchum expressed interest in playing Chicamaw, saying that like Ray he knew all about the Depression-era South and had once been in a chain gang. Mitchum went so far as to shave his head and dye it black for the role (in the original novel, Chicamaw is Native American), but because Mitchum was a rising star and had recently received an Oscar nomination, the role of a bank robber was deemed unfit for him. He and Ray did end up working together on projects, including The Lusty Men . The role of Chicamaw went to Howard Da Silva, who had made an impression in Marc Blitzstein's musical The Cradle Will Rock (1937), produced by Houseman. In portraying Chicamaw, De Silva wears a white eye cover to give the impression that he is blind in his right eye. Chicamaw's blind eye is not present in Anderson's novel. Other minor roles were played by people Ray knew from his time in the New York theater, including Marie Bryant from Beggar's Holiday (the nightclub singer singing "Your Red Wagon"), Curt Conway (the man in the tuxedo at the night club), and Will Lee (the jeweler). Byron Foulger appears as the owner of the cabin where the couple try to hide out.

Filming

On June 23, 1947, Ray began shooting his first film. The first scene shot was the opening scene, a tracking shot of Bowie, T-Dub, and Chickamaw escaping from prison in a stolen car. Ray decided to use a helicopter, which had previously been used for establishing shots of landscapes, but never before had it been used to shoot action. This film is sometimes considered the first to use a helicopter for this purpose and predates James Wong Howe's celebrated final shot for Picnic by eight years. Four takes were required, with the second one being in the final cut.

For the rest of the day, Ray used the helicopter for other scenes of the movie. Making They Live by Night under Houseman and Schary's guidance remained probably the only time in Ray's career when he had complete creative control and, not unlike Orson Welles's debut Citizen Kane (1941), also made at RKO for Houseman, Ray experimented with sound and cinematography. Ray's biographer notes that "Only Welles similarly tried to define acoustic and even verbal textures as much as the visual." [6] Renowned film editor Sherman Todd also urged Ray to experiment and break rules. Exteriors were filmed both on location and at RKO's movie ranch in Encino, but Todd blended sequences so well together that audiences didn't notice the difference.

Filming completed in October 1947. Despite an excellent preview, the studio didn't know how to market the film, and Howard Hughes's takeover of RKO exacerbated the situation. Hughes shelved the film for two years, before releasing it to a single theater in the UK to enthusiastic reviews (one such rave review came from Gavin Lambert, who eventually became a screenwriter for Ray); it was finally released in the US in November 1949 under the title They Live by Night, after being changed from Thieves Like Us (the source novel's name), The Twisted Road, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, and Your Red Wagon. The title, chosen from an audience poll, was favored by Hughes.

During those two years, many wealthy persons involved in the entertainment industry of Hollywood had screening rooms and viewed the film, which led to further employment of its cast and crew. Alfred Hitchcock cast Farley Granger in Rope (1948) upon seeing this film, and Humphrey Bogart, greatly impressed by Ray's direction, hired him to direct his independent production Knock on Any Door (1949) at Columbia Pictures.

John Houseman later looked back on the film with affection: "Now [1973] it's being rediscovered and being called all sorts of beautiful things, but at the time it died a horrible death....I had great success in Hollywood, but somehow you always have a special feeling for your sick children—in my case, 'They Live by Night' and 'All Fall Down'." [7]

Release

Box office

The film recorded a loss of $445,000 (equivalent to $5.47 million in 2022 [2] ). [8]

Critical response

When the film was released, film critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a positive review, writing, "A commonplace little story about a young escaped convict 'on the lam' and his romance with a nice girl whom he picks up and marries is told with pictorial sincerity and uncommon emotional thrust in RKO's latest item, They Live by Night, at the Criterion. 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 ... They Live by Night has the failing of waxing sentimental over crime, but it manages to generate interest with its crisp dramatic movement and clear-cut types." [9]

Home media

The film was issued on Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection in August 2017. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Bad and the Beautiful</i> 1952 film

The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1952 American melodrama that tells the story of a film producer who alienates everyone around him. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, written by George Bradshaw and Charles Schnee, and stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland. The Bad and the Beautiful won five Academy Awards out of six nominations in 1952, a record for the most awards for a movie that was not nominated for Best Picture or for Best Director.

<i>The Killing</i> (film) 1956 film by Stanley Kubrick

The Killing is a 1956 American film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick and produced by James B. Harris. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson and based on Lionel White's novel Clean Break. It stars Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, and Vince Edwards, and features Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Jay C. Flippen and Timothy Carey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Houseman</span> British-American actor and film producer (1902–1988)

John Houseman was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane and his collaboration, as producer of The Blue Dahlia, with writer Raymond Chandler on the screenplay. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield in the 1973 film The Paper Chase. He reprised the role of Kingsfield in the 1978 television series adaptation.

Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed one feature film, Act One, the film biography of his friend, playwright and theater director Moss Hart. He became head of production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and replaced Louis B. Mayer as president of the studio in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Ray</span> American film director (1911–1979)

Nicholas Ray was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farley Granger</span> American actor (1925–2011)

Farley Earle Granger Jr. was an American actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Ryan</span> American actor (1909–1973)

Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film noir drama Crossfire (1947).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercury Theatre</span> Former independent repertory theatre company in New York City

The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also released promptbooks and phonographic recordings of four Shakespeare works for use in schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fleischer</span> American film director (1916–2006)

Richard Owen Fleischer was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.

<i>Blood on the Moon</i> 1948 film by Robert Wise

Blood on the Moon is a 1948 RKO black-and-white "psychological" Western film noir starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan. Directed by Robert Wise, the cinematography is by Nicholas Musuraca. The movie was shot in California as well as some of the more scenic shots at Red Rock Crossing, Sedona, Arizona. The picture is based on the novel Gunman's Chance by Luke Short.

<i>Thieves Like Us</i> (novel) 1937 novel by Edward Anderson

Thieves Like Us is the second and last published novel written by Edward Anderson (1905–1969). It was published in 1937 by Frederick A. Stokes.

<i>His Kind of Woman</i> 1951 crime thriller movie produced by Howard Hughes

His Kind of Woman is a 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting performances by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr and Charles McGraw. The direction of the film, which was based on the unpublished story "Star Sapphire" by Gerald Drayson, is credited to John Farrow.

<i>While the City Sleeps</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Fritz Lang

While the City Sleeps is a 1956 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore and Ida Lupino. Written by Casey Robinson, the newspaper drama was based on The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein, which was inspired by the case of Chicago serial killer William Heirens. Five decades after the film's release, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Fritz Lang ('M') directs his most under-appreciated great film, more a social commentary than a straight crime drama."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roustabout</span> Worker with broad-based, non-specific skills

Roustabout is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who handled materials for construction on fairgrounds. In modern times it is applied to rural employment, such as those assisting sheep shearing, and positions in the oil industry.

<i>Thieves Like Us</i> (film) 1974 film by Robert Altman

Thieves Like Us is a 1974 American crime film, set in the United States of the 1930s. It was directed by Robert Altman and starred Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Edward Anderson, which also supplied source material for the 1948 film They Live by Night, directed by Nicholas Ray. The Altman film sticks much closer to the book. The supporting cast includes Louise Fletcher and Tom Skerritt.

<i>The Prodigal</i> 1955 film

The Prodigal is a 1955 Eastmancolor biblical epic CinemaScope film made by MGM starring Lana Turner and Edmund Purdom. It was based on the New Testament parable about a selfish son who leaves his family to pursue a life of pleasure. The film also features James Mitchell, Louis Calhern, Joseph Wiseman, Cecil Kellaway, Audrey Dalton, and Walter Hampden. Dancer Taina Elg made her film debut in The Prodigal.

Charles Schnee was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns Red River (1948) and The Furies (1950), the social melodrama They Live by Night (1949), and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), for which he won an Academy Award.

<i>Senso</i> (film) 1954 film by Luchino Visconti

Senso is a 1954 Italian historical melodrama film directed and co-written by Luchino Visconti, based on Camillo Boito's novella of the same name. Set during the Third Italian War of Independence, the film follows the Italian Contessa Livia Serpieri, who has an affair with the Austrian Lieutenant Franz Mahler. It was Visconti's first color film.

<i>Easy Living</i> (1949 film) 1949 film

Easy Living is a 1949 American drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Victor Mature, Lucille Ball and Lizabeth Scott. The film features the real-life Los Angeles Rams football team.

<i>Roseanna McCoy</i> 1949 film by Irving Reis

Roseanna McCoy is a 1949 American drama film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay by John Collier, based on the 1947 novel of the same title by Alberta Hannum, is a romanticized and semi-fictionalized account of the Hatfield–McCoy feud. The film stars Farley Granger and Joan Evans.

References

  1. 1 2 "They Live by Night". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ↑ Bernard Eisenschitz, Nicholas Ray: An American Journey. Faber & Faber, 1993. ISBN   0-571-14086-6 pg. 90
  4. ↑ Bernard Eisenschitz pg. 96
  5. ↑ Farley Granger, Include Me Out: From Goldywn to Broadway (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2007)
  6. ↑ Bernard Eisenschitz, Nicholas Ray: An American Journey (London: Faber & Faber, 1993) ISBN   0-571-14086-6 p. 102
  7. ↑ Drew, Bernard. "A Career Continues for John Houseman." Yonkers (NY) Herald-Statesman, 30 October 1973.
  8. ↑ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p239
  9. ↑ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times , film review, "They Live by Night, Starring Cathy O'Donnell and Farley Granger, at Criterion", November 4, 1949. Accessed: July 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ Lund, Carson (August 15, 2017). "Review: Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night on Criterion Blu-ray". Slant Magazine . Archived from the original on November 8, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.