They Drive by Night (1940) User Reviews

"If we go over a cliff, wake me up."

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 22 April 2014]

Two truck driving brothers (George Raft, Humphrey Bogart) get tired of being screwed over by bosses and decide to strike out on their own and start their own trucking company. But tragedy strikes and their dreams come crashing down. That's just the beginning of their problems.

Gritty, ballsy WB crime drama with a cast of colorful characters. Best truck driver movie ever. Raft and Bogart are great. This is Bogey pre-leading man but at least he's not the villain this time so he was making progress. Lovely Ann Sheridan is good as the tough working class dame who falls for Raft. Ida Lupino is particularly wicked as the sarcastic woman after Raft who goes completely bonkers before it's all said and done. Her performance is over the top in the best way. Great WB supporting cast includes people like Alan Hale and Henry O'Neill. Love getting to see the inner workings of the trucking industry back then and seeing how things have changed (and how they haven't). Love those old trucks, too. Fantastic movie. An underrated classic.

The Long Haul

[telegonus · 8/10 · 20 July 2002]

This is the kind of movie that makes movie buffs movie buffs. On the surface the story is routine (I'm tempted to say hackneyed), the psychology shallow, the acting variable, and the meaning, such as it can be said to have one, borderline moronic. Yet it works like a charm, and is a minor classic of its kind. This is a tough movie to categorize. Not that one has to. It's a long haul trucker movie. But is that a genre? It has comedy and romance but is neither a comedy nor a romance; and it has tragedy but is not a tragedy. Near the end it turns into a murder story, though I wouldn't call it a crime picture. Director Raoul Walsh had a flair for subverting genres anyway, and made basically Raoul Walsh pictures, whatever the putative genre, and this one's about as Raoul Walsh as you can get.

It's the story of two brothers, played by George Raft and Humphrey Bogart, who are wildcat truckers who don't want to work for anyone else. They'd like to own their own rig but can't afford one, and are in debt up to their ears half the time. As the story progresses, Bogart loses in arm in an accident, and the boys have to go work for the boorish if amiable Alan Hale, whose wife, Ida Lupino, has eyes for Raft. Ann Sheridan is also on hand, as the hash-slinging good girl Raft really belongs with. Nothing special here, no great drama, and certainly no surprises. What drives the film, literally, is its optimism, especially as it relates to "little guys" Raft and Bogart. Without being too emphatic about it the movie is like a cheerleader for these two from start to finish.

The dialogue is salty and well-delivered by all, even the usually tedious Raft, while the background stuff,--the diners, rented rooms and garages--is beautifully detailed and always believable. Director Walsh was made for Warner Brothers, the studio that produced the film. He had a feeling for regular people, informal surroundings, the hustle and bustle of working life. Nor was he the least bit pretentious. The studio's famous liberalism didn't seem to rub off on him. He remained a populist with an anarchic streak, and was never an ideologue, hence this movie's depiction of blue collar life rings truer than most, as we know that these little guys want to be big shots (as most little guys do), and that they mean it when they say they want to give everyone a fair shake. We know in our guts that if these two ever make it to the big time they'll be awfully nice guys to work for. It's not easy for a movie to convince a viewer of such things,--it's not easy for a movie to be convincing at all, but this one is. Thanks to Raoul Walsh, with a little help from his fine cast.

One of George Raft's best

[ROCKY-19 · 8/10 · 8 August 2006]

Let's get this out of the way first: Humphrey Bogart's legions of fans seem impelled to insult George Raft as often as possible, no matter how inappropriate or clearly wrong. Those not so blinded will thoroughly enjoy this odd, mixed bag of a picture. Raft and Bogey play brothers - very believably so - who are wildcat truck drivers trying to get ahead in a tough business during the Depression. The film is odd because it seems like two separate movies. It starts out as a seeming social commentary on the hard life of truckers with fine characterizations. But as soon as Ida Lupino appears it veers straight into film noir. I, personally, would have preferred a continuation of the tone of the first part of the film rather than be subjected to the "crazy b----" act that so many call "classic" and "stealing the picture." There either should have been more foreshadowing of this switch early in the film, or the screenwriters should have found something more consistent. At any rate, Raft and Bogart get to step away from gangster roles for a breather. They're still tough guys, but they're vulnerable to the whims of fate. Raft, in fact, is adorable here, uncharacteristically blue-collar and common, desperate to be in charge of his own life. He has instant chemistry with no-nonsense Ann Sheridan. Raft works so comfortably under Walsh's direction, it's rather refreshing. If rumors are true and Bogart and Raft were not getting along at this point, they were both professionals and hid it very well. Blame Lupino, but by the second half of the film, Bogart practically disappears just when we'd like to see more development of his very sympathetic character. For Bogart fans, this is not a "Bogey" film. He's simply prepping for legend-status just around the corner. It would have been nice to see more of Sheridan, as well. I don't recall Alan Hale ever being better than he is here - watch the small things he does with such a loud character. Lupino is definitely unforgettable, and her cult following will love this. Roscoe Karns is again a fun comic foil. The editing of the picture is sometimes a bit rough, and there is a telephone sequence that does not visually work. Arthur Edeson was a frustratingly inconsistent cinematographer, ranging from brilliant work like "Casa Blanca" to B level work. This is somewhere in the middle, but the road sequences are great.

Two Movies For the Price of One!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 24 January 2004]

"They Drive By Night" is really two separate stories. The first, has Joe Fabrini (George Raft) and his brother Paul (Humphrey Bogart) struggling to make a living as independent truckers in California hauling fruit. They are just making ends meet and staying one step ahead of money lender Farnsworth (Charles Halton) who is trying to re-possess their truck. At a truck stop Joe meets sharp tongued waitress Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan). Later the boys pick her up along the road and Joe strikes up a romance with her.

When they finally make enough to pay off their truck, tragedy strikes. While driving along, Paul falls asleep at the wheel and the truck crashes. Paul loses his right arm in the accident and the boys lose their truck.

Joe decides (in story #2) to go to work for ex-trucker Ed Carlson (Alan Hale) whose amitious young wife Lana (Ida Lupino) sets her sights on Joe. But Joe repels her advances professing his love for Cassie. In a plot to sway Joe, Lana murders her oafish husband and forms a partnership with Joe hoping that this will bring him around.

When Joe continues to reject her, Lana's conscience begins to bother her over her husband's murder and she slowly begins to lose her mind. She tries to have Joe blamed for Carlson's murder but becomes unbalanced on the stand.

This picture was designed as a vehicle for George Raft, however it is newcomer Lupino who steals the show. Her descent into madness is riveting, especially her breakdown in court. Bogart virtually disappears in the second half of the movie. Sheridan provides her customary ooomph as Raft's love interest. Hale is way over the top as the loud-mouthed Carlson. Roscoe Karns is along for comedy relief and George Tobias appears as a fruit wholesaler.

Raft in the following year would turn down two films that would catapult Bogey into stardom. The films: High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon.

Fantastic film noir

[The_Void · 9/10 · 18 November 2007]

The film noir 'genre' has delivered a lot of great films, but few top this one; and that's really saying something considering just how many great noirs there are. The film is something of an odd one with regards to the way the plot moves; it's really a movie of three sections, and the way it jumps from the first section to the second section is wholly unexpected. I suppose the way that the film moves may be the reason why this isn't universally accepted as one of the best films of its type; but if you ask me the strange plot is one of the film's strongest points - nobody wants to sit through a predictable movie, and They Drive by Night is anything but predictable. The plot focuses on two brothers - Joe and Paul Fabrini. The pair drive a truck delivering things to the market and not making a lot of money. They finally get a break when Joe takes a risk and decides to buy his own consignment; but their luck takes a turn for the worse when Paul crashes the truck and becomes unable to work. Joe then takes a job working for his old friend Ed's company, which brings about problems of its own...

One of the trademarks of the noir style of film-making is a thick foreboding atmosphere; this film features that and then some. They Drive by Night takes it further than most, and the film almost has an affinity with the horror genre for its dark atmosphere, plot and characters. Once the film moves into the second stage, the horror elements are rampant. The acting in the film is excellent; George Raft and Humphrey Bogart are entirely convincing as the rag-tag pair of brothers, while excellent support is given from two ladies; Ann Sheridan and Ida Lupino. It's Ida Lupino that really makes this film what it is for me; her icy cold persona is breathtaking, and she holds the screen excellently. The murder scene in this film is extremely effective also; and while not as spectacular as some of the death scenes in the gory horror flicks that I often watch, its subtleness makes it memorable. The final third of the film is a courtroom drama and it's the worst part of it for me, but that isn't enough to ruin what is a brilliant film and I certainly would not hesitate to recommend They Drive by Night to noir fans and everyone else.

Solid melodramatic entertainment which borrows the second half of its plot from Archie Mayo's "Bordertown."

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 16 April 2005]

Bogart had an opportunity for considerably more self-expression in "They Drive By Night," a film which has remained popular with audiences not so much for its story, which is rather trivial, but for the forceful performances contributed by all its leading players and the good direction by Raoul Walsh…

Raft and Bogart are brothers who wanted to start their own trucking business and eventually succeed, but not before Bogart loses an arm in an accident and Lupino nearly sends Raft to jail for a murder she committed… The trial sequence in which her latent insanity causes her to disintegrate into hysterics on the witness stand is one of the screen's best remembered moments…

Bogart was convincing in his role as he gave way to the frustrations and bitterness of a cripple and then back again to resigned self-satisfaction as he accepted the role life had given him to play out

Enjoyable, And Hard To Classify

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 5 March 2006]

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.

Early to rise and early to bed, makes a man healthy, but socially dead.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 23 February 2011]

They Drive by Night (AKA: The Road to Frisco) is directed by Raoul Walsh and adapted by Jerry Wald & Richard Macaulay from the novel "The Long Haul" written by A. I. Bezzerides. It stars George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart. Adolph Deutsch scores the music and Arthur Edeson is the cinematographer. Plot finds Raft & Bogart playing the Fabrini brothers, two guys trying to make a living as truck drivers during the Depression era. Just about keeping afloat in a very competitive market, the boys find that they have to work longer hours to stay ahead in the game. But that brings fatigue and danger, and with the repo men after them they could do with a break; a break that comes by way of work for Ed Carlson (Alan Hale). But the fortune is short lived as trouble awaits, not only on the road, but also in the form of Carlson's wife, Lana (Lupino).

Warner Brothers produce a film of two differing halves that blends social realism with film noir edges. The script is tight as the narrative firstly deals in an adventure with period detail, then shifts to drama as bad luck and a bad woman come into play. There's zippy dialogue to digest, too, while Walsh keeps the pace brisk and provides good attention to detail in relation to the subject of the trucking industry. With Bogart a year away from leading man status (High Sierra/The Maltese Falcon), he was fourth billed for this movie. He gets relegated to the sidelines for the second half of the piece but by then he had made his mark. Sheridan is effective, in what ultimately is a love interest role, while Raft dominates as the centre piece character. But it's Lupino's movie all the way. True enough to say that her pivotal scene has a touch of the over theatrical histrionics about it, but it works in context to how she had formed the character up to then. Playing it man hungry and vixen like; yet with a sternness that oozes business woman sensibilities, her performance earned her a studio contract.

Two movies for the price of one, then, and nary a dull moment in either of them. 7.5/10

Oomph!

[B&W-2 · 10/10 · 6 April 1999]

You've gotta love the movie which gave Ann Sheridan her big break! She's wonderful here as a down-and-out waitress who falls for smooth roughneck Joe Fabrini (George Raft). Not to be outdone, Ida Lupino scores even bigger (THE DOORS MADE ME DO IT!) You'll never look at a garage the same way again! The Warner Bros. stock players are in incredible form (Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, George Tobias, etc.) and the script by Wald and Macaulay never lets them down for a second. It's mile-a-minute banter delivered by pros (this film played a big part in landing bigger roles for Bogie). Enjoy!

Pioneering Cast of Legends...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 9 August 2020]

If you could distil the essence of the actors in this quite ordinary film and add to it the forfeit George Raft paid for his poor future choices, the oyster and the world would be yours.

Before and after...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 13 August 2019]

... as in the two male leads - 4th billed Humphrey Bogart as Paul Fabrini, and top billed George Raft as his brother Joe. This film is a (very) loose remake of 1935's "Bordertown", and it is much better IMHO, because the plot at least makes some sense. Plus Warner Brothers is all over these working class melodramas - the truck drivers pushing their bodies to the point of disaster - as in falling asleep at the wheel, the hash joints, the bosses that won't pay up, the rough and tumble along the way. Paul and Joe are partnered in truck driving, and decide to leave behind a boss that cheated them for an old friend with a trucking business - Alan Hale as Ed Carlsen. But there is trouble brewing. Ed's wife, Lana (Ida Lupino), has been carrying a torch for Joe all of these years she was married to Ed, and yet she has the dexterity to simultaneously do some serious scenery chewing. Ed can't see he disgusts her, and Joe is blind to her true feelings for him until it is too late. I won't go into all the details, let's just say nobody does a 1940 working class Lady Macbeth like Ms. Lupino. She outshines Bette Davis' performance in the 1935 film.

Why my title? Before and After? Because this is a fork in the road for Bogart and Raft. They are great in their parts here, and at least Jack Warner lets Bogart do something here in his long apprenticeship with Warner's other than play Duke Mantee AGAIN. But the winds of fortune are about to change for Bogie exactly because Raft made some very bad career decisions. He turned down "High Sierra", "The Maltese Falcon", AND "Casablanca". Bogart got the parts instead and by the time they were released he was on his way to being Hollywood legend. Raft, unfortunately, was on the road to obscurity. He would never return to the heights of his 30s career. Raft made other mistakes along the way - let's just say I read his autobiography and the alternate title should be "Don't Let This Happen To You". He picked the wrong girl to marry who then wouldn't divorce him and left him on the hook for 46 years of alimony ( they were only really married one night!). And when he wanted out of his contract with WB Jack Warner named a figure and Raft thought that HE was supposed to pay WB! Jack did not correct Raft's impression!

But hey, nobody does the tough guy who knows the score who yet has a moral core like Raft and I always enjoy his films. This one is highly recommended.

Superb Use of Metaphor

[Tarasicodissa · 7/10 · 13 June 2005]

It has already been mentioned that Ida Lupino's character murders her husband because she despises his drunken boorishness and wants George Raft so I won't call it a spoiler. But the handling of it was a wonderfully done scene.

We earlier had the "prefiguring" scene where Alan Hale showed off his latest toy. A new seeing eye electric garage door opener.

Ida drives back from the party livid at her rejection by Raft. Her husband is passed out drunk in the seat next to her. They are parked in the garage. The engine is still running. She looks at him in disgust and wishes he could just go away. The engine is still running. Then you see the thought enter her head. She could just get up and go into the house and leave him there. No gun, no witnesses, no suffering. Being rid of him is as simple as that. This is a tragic accident waiting to happen. Let it happen. Honest, officer, it was an accident.

She gets out of the car, leaving the motor running and walks into the driveway. As she is about to cross the line of the seeing eye, she hesitates. She's selfish but she has a conscience. She hesitates at "crossing the line" of the electric eye to "shut the door" behind her. Crossing a moral line forever from petty selfishness to evil. Crossing the line for the rest of her life from flawed person to murderer.

She steels herself, crosses the line and the garage door shuts behind her.

Hard-bitten melodrama with intense Ida Lupino at her best...

[Doylenf · 16 August 2004]

Truck-driving brothers GEORGE RAFT and HUMPHREY BOGART not only have to put up with the hazards of wildcat driving but the manipulations of the scheming wife of boss ALAN HALE, played with intense conviction by IDA LUPINO.

But it's a plodding tale that takes awhile to work up any steam while director Raoul Walsh concentrates on the rough-housing camaraderie of the blue collar set before getting to the heart of the story involving two very different women--the good one, ANN SHERIDAN, and the femme fatale played with relish by IDA LUPINO. It is the romantic trio that ends in tragedy that gives the film its potent interest.

Lupino's mad scene on the stand is worth waiting for--although not entirely convincing. Nevertheless, she creates a vixen you won't soon forget.

George Raft ambles pleasantly through a rather dull role while Humphrey Bogart, as his brother, attracts more attention in a sideline role. Ann Sheridan is a sheer delight, adding her usual warmth and zest to a typical Sheridan role. The script crackles with tart remarks.

Not exactly great filmmaking--and too long in getting started--but worth the wait for some good performances. Only drawback seemed to be ALAN HALE as an oafish boss who becomes even more obnoxious when he's drunk. Hale overplays the role to such a degree that, in a way, it comes as a relief to see Ida knock him off with those car doors. "The doors made me do it!" is her scream from the witness stand.

Summing up: the kind of melodrama Warner was famous for in the '40s with the right cast doing it justice.

"Asleep at the wheel"

[Steffi_P · 4/10 · 20 October 2010]

The beginning of the 1940s in Hollywood sees the loosening of genre conventions as different movie formats began to interbreed. In particular a kind of gangster-flick meanness began to shove its way into regular drama, eventually producing the style we now call film noir. They Drive By Night is an odd little transition movie from this period, one of those awkward little steps in an evolutionary process.

The leading role went to George Raft, which was as good a way as any of sticking some gangland atmosphere into the picture. Raft can't act though, at least not very well, being at turns jittery and wooden – very much the poor man's Cagney. He should have gone into musicals like Cagney did, as he was a very good dancer. Raft is supported by Humphrey Bogart, who was at the time just on the cusp of becoming a major star, although no-one knew it at the time. It looks very odd to see him next to Raft, a bit like spotting Elvis Presley in somebody's backing band, since although he is rarely centre-stage he has fantastic presence, always on the verge of upstaging. They Drive By Night also features one of the earliest big parts for Ida Lupino, and I regret to say she is at her most hysterically bad. Admittedly bits of her performance look OK, but to see the whole thing shows it to be very forced and calculated, lacking in any kind of natural flow.

The director is Raoul Walsh, which is a bit of a mixed omen. Although Walsh was a fine craftsman, no studio ever gave him a really important project since The Big Trail in 1930 and nearly all his later pictures smack of potboiler. Still, a good man with a bad movie. In They Drive By Night he keeps his camera close to the action to elicit a feeling of intensity and restlessness. He doesn't over-emphasise interiors and doesn't clutter shots with props or shadows, but still the atmosphere is cramped with the way actors all seem to huddle together, filling the frame. He uses wider, open shots for emphasis at important moments in the same way another director might use a close-up. Still, the story lacks the free-spirited romanticism that inspired Walsh's most memorable moments.

And that's not all that's wrong with the story. They Drive By Night sets itself up, quite promisingly, as a gritty action drama about the lives of bottom-rung truckers. Then, halfway through, the plot is hijacked by Lupino and turned into some femme-fatale murder wotsit, and all the business about trying to scrape a meagre profit and stay awake on long hauls (not to mention Bogart's character) is forgotten. It's not that this is confusing, as both parts are fairly straightforward, it's just that neither of them is fully developed. Each bit looks like half a movie, the first one trailing off into nothing, the second boiled down into forty minutes of clichés.

Of course the device of slightly barmy yet beautiful women bumping off their husbands would become something of a film noir staple. But here is where They Drive By Night shows its primitiveness alongside later noirs. Raft resists Lupino like a saint, and stays true to goody-goody Anne Sheridan (and on the subject of Sheridan, why is she suddenly transformed from smooth-talking floozy to prim housewife-in-waiting?) Over the next two decades Fred MacMurray, Orson Welles and even Jimmy Stewart would be getting suckered in by the "wrong kind of woman" and being dragged down to a sorry end. And perhaps this is the final flaw in They Drive By Night. In pictures like this, we don't want perfect morals and cosy endings. We want the hero to take the bait hook, line and sinker.

"I Committed Murder To Get You."

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 14 November 2006]

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart are the truck driving Fabrini Brothers, a pair of owner/operators who when their truck is totaled in a bad wreck go to work for goodhearted Alan Hale who owns a trucking company. Hale's a decent sort, but kind of crude and that grates on his pretty wife Ida Lupino. She's got an eye on Raft. But Raft likes earthy, sexy Ann Sheridan.

They Drive By Night from the working class studio of Warner Brothers is one of the earliest examples of sexual harassment shown on screen. Ida will do anything to possess Raft even kill for it.

The film really belongs to the women here. Ann Sheridan and Ida really do dominate this film, especially Ida with an over the top performance of a woman driven mad by her obsession.

Back in the day it was the habit of studios to make sure they had lots of backup in their roster. Bette Davis was legendarily feuding with Jack Warner for better roles and she had staged a well publicized walk out on her contract. I have no doubt that this film was to build up Ida Lupino as a Davis alternative. The part Lupino does play has Davis written all over it.

My guess is that Davis would not have wanted to appear opposite George Raft any more than opposite Errol Flynn. So the part went to Lupino who recognized a good role and ran away with it.

Humphrey Bogart is totally wasted in the brother part. He loses an arm in the wreck and has little to do, but be supportive to his brother and resist taking charity. He and Lupino would both boost their careers in their next film High Sierra.

For those who like to see people crack up on screen, They Drive By Night is the film for you.

Evil Electric Eye Gets The Skippers Dad

[DKosty123 · 8/10 · 28 August 2009]

I get more respect for director Raoul Walsh with every film of his I see. In this one for Warner Brothers he does an excellent job with a strong cast telling a story about California Long Haul Truckers in the late 1930's. The realism is there all the way through.

This is one of George Rafts better performances, and Ida Lupino is excellent as the woman he scorns. Ann Sheridan is very good as the woman he loves. Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role is very good as Rafts brother. Alan Hale Sr. does a fine job as Lupinos husband.

The film gives the viewer a very strong flavor for what the early long haul trucking was like before World War 2. With the roads the way they were in that era, Long Haul in this is shorter than today & trucks were really just getting started, the railroads still dominated freight then in the US.

The story while more predictable than Dark Command which Walsh had just finished, still does a good job of pulling in the viewer with Raft & Bogarts characters flying on the edge of failure early in the film. The accident sequences are done crudely but this was in a day when the special effects were still developing. The main action in this film is truck accidents & a couple of fist fights.

This is a very fundamentally sound film as Raol Walsh always seems to deliver. In this case, the truckers deliver a good story.

Two Pics For The Price Of One

[Lechuguilla · 1 March 2010]

In a story about the over-the-road trucking business, two wildcat truckers, named Joe (George Raft) and Paul (Humphrey Bogart) haul apples, pears, and lemons, enduring hardship and erratic wages. Joe and Paul are the brothers Fabrini, and they dream of being independent from the big boss man.

A Depression-era story set in California, "They Drive By Night" taps into the theme of hard-working Americans who can't make a decent wage, as a result of greedy corporations. In a roadside diner, Paul expresses their frustration: "Hey, why do we stay in this racket? We aren't going to make enough out of it to buy ourselves decent coffins". But Joe and Paul are tough dudes, and they're honest. And they've got their dames, waiting either at home or in their dreams.

The film's plot starts out okay with lots of highway action. But the midpoint plot turn sends the film hurling in an unfortunate direction. Enter Lana Carlsen (Ida Lupino), the irritatingly angry wife of a wealthy and irritatingly jovial corporate boss. The film's first and second halves are like two completely different films, each with a different focus, different tone, different style. The first half is gritty and noir-based. The second half is perfunctory.

The script is very talky. The best dialogue comes near the beginning when Ann Sheridan, playing a cynical waitress, tosses some really good zingers.

Characters are mildly interesting, except for the dreadful Lana Carlsen, whom I didn't like at all. Sue Carter (Joyce Compton) offers minor comic relief. And Ann Sheridan is a delight to watch.

Production design ranges from dirty and gritty in the first half to elegant and snazzy in the second. Those trucks the guys drive look like something out of "The Grapes Of Wrath" (1940). B&W cinematography is pleasantly dark in the first half, routine in the second.

The story's theme is appropriate for the era in which the film was made. But the plot is terribly bifocal. The viewer almost gets two films for the price of one.

Good cast & story, but how melodramatic!

[dougandwin · 7/10 · 30 August 2004]

When I first saw this, it was called "The Road to Frisco", and I often wondered why it was never shown on TV, until I saw it recently under its correct title. A very good cast (George Raft excepted) with Humphrey Bogart being forced into a secondary role, while Ann Sheridan does her usual good job as the diner waitress, and an old favourite of mine Gale Page getting a decent role at last! The story was good, but the highlight was the over-the-top scene with Ida Lupino in Court - by today's standards it was overacting, but at the time it was a brilliant performance. The supporting cast headed by Warner stalwart Alan Hale added a lot, and would have been a lot better with a capable actor in the Raft role.

Before Bogey was a legend

[DennisLittrell · 8/10 · 10 April 2007]

It was a pleasure seeing Ida Lupino in this, her first significant role at age 22. She is sexy, pretty and more than a bit nasty. Sometimes dubbed "the poor man's Bette Davis" she shows here that she could have handled some of Davis's roles very well.

The story itself is a tale about truck drivers that pits them against the loan sharks and emphasizes the danger of driving without much sleep on roads not yet of Interstate quality. It takes place in California in the late thirties. Lupino plays Lana Carlsen, the bored wife of the head of a trucking company who only has eyes for Joe Fabrini (George Raft), who only has eyes for Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan). Humphrey Bogart plays his brother Paul Fabrini and really takes a backseat. That would change beginning the next year when Bogey would star with Ida Lupino in High Sierra (1941).

It is interesting to contrast the two films both directed by long time Hollywood legend Raoul Walsh. They Drive by Night has a distinct thirties feel to it and not just because George Raft stars. The sense of the Depression is still with the characters in TDBN as the truck drivers and waitress Cassie worry about their jobs. There is a sense of identification with the working man that is absent from High Sierra, which really began Bogart's tough guy movie persona.

Alan Hale (235 acting credits at IMDb!) plays Lana's fun-loving and clueless husband, Ed Carlsen. Roscoe Karns provides some wise-cracking relief as Irish McGurn, truck-driving pinball wizard. The script by Jerry Wald is full of snappy one liners like this between Joe and Cassie. He asks, "Do you believe in love at first sight?" She counters with, "It saves a lot of time." Wald later became a producer of some of Hollywood's most memorable flicks including Pride of the Yankees (1945), Mildred Pierce (1945), Key Largo (1948), The Glass Menagerie (1950), etc.

By all means see this for Ida Lupino, who to escape from the typecasting that began with this movie later went on to become one of Hollywood's first woman directors.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Cherchez la boss's daughter.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 5 June 2007]

A pretty good Warner Brothers working-man flick, recycled though it is, that makes you feel for the poor guys driving those big rigs and trying to squeeze in as many hours on the road as possible. But that's only part of the plot. The main story has the slightly mad Ida Lupino, married to the boss, the good-natured airhead of Alan Hale, falling for George Raft's blue-collar kind of guy, who in turn is in love with foxy and sympathetic Ann Sheridan. Disgusted by Hale, Lupino does a monoxide number on him so she can be free to marry Raft. Raft, however, is an ethical guy and rejects her. Lupino then goes to the police in a major snit and blames Raft for forcing her to murder her husband. At the trial, she breaks down. Raft is freed and takes over the business. All's well that ends well.

I wonder how many legal-types have ever seen a witness break down on the stand. Did anyone ever cry, "Okay, I DID it, I DID it. She had it coming, but I didn't mean to kill her. It was an ACCIDENT, I tell you, an ACCIDENT! Understand?" Well, that's not exactly what Ida Lupino does on the stand here. Instead, she sobs, "The DOORS made me do it!"

The film is more interesting than it is compelling. Of course we want the good people to survive and flourish, and we want the evil people to suffer and die a lingering death. Lupino's character is not exactly evil, though, which is one of the things that makes the movie interesting. She's a little impulsive and disturbed throughout, and at the end she turns into a complete fruitcake. While we certainly don't want her nefarious scheme to succeed, neither do we want to see someone who's obviously insane suffer more than they are already going to suffer in the days before phenothiazines.

No. Lupino has a tough enough road ahead of her in some psychiatric warehouse. We are spared at least seeing her led down the last mile and being strapped in the chair.

Warner Brothers ground out dozens of these kinds of flicks during the 1930s, often reworkings of the same plot, and they knew what they were doing. Very professional team at Warner Brothers. Jack Warner worked his major stars half to death and paid them about as much as waiters were paid at The Brown Derby -- and no tips.

The Doors Made Me Do It!

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 14 November 2006]

My father had certain movies that he liked to refer to with real or imagined quotes. MILDRED PIERCE was one ("Vita you slut!", he'd say as though it was said by Joan Crawford). But another one was the statement "The doors made me do it! The doors made me do it!". He was actually quoting (correctly, as it turns out) Ida Lupino in her climactic courtroom moment in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT.

I just have discussed the actual original version of this plot - BORDERTOWN (1935) with Paul Muni (awful), Bette Davis (fine), and Margaret Lindsay (above competent) in a romantic triangle, where (oddly enough) both women seriously lose out (Bette losing her mind, and Margaret her life). The films of all the studios had a habit of being reused if necessary. GRAND HOTEL became WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF. GUNGA DIN became SOLDIERS THREE. But usually a decade or more passed before such reuse occurred. Not so here - only five years.

Yet there are improvements. Muni's hammy performance as incompetent, overwrought Latino Johnny Rodriguez (certainly among his worst performances) was thrown out. All the characters in this film are Americans (except George Tobias as George Rondolos, but at least he sounds normal). The roadhouse story is dropped: now we are dealing with trucking, and actually this is a plus. Few of us run fancy roadhouse gambling establishments, but most have regular jobs like driving trucks. The screenwriters noted the problems of independent truckers, such as money lenders like Charles Halton (a nice wormy performance) who drain them dry. There are so many of these guys around they are cutting each other's economic throats. Both George Raft and his brother Humphrey Bogart (one of their two films together - the other is INVISIBLE STRIPES) do have their friends on the road (their is a tragic side plot about the death of their friend John Litel who falls asleep driving a truck for too many hours), but they have to fight for every cargo they can get.

Raft is able to tie up with trucking concern of Alan Hale Sr., and things improve for him and Bogart (who has lost an arm in a trucking accident). But like Bette Davis in BORDERTOWN, Ida Lupino takes a hankering for Raft, and does in her husband Hale using the same method (the closed garage with the car motor still running). The only difference is that the doors are electric doors (did they pick that trick from Stan and Ollie's misadventure with an electric garage door in BLOCKHEADS (1938)). When Ida turns on George after he rejects her advances, and tries to ensnare him as a co-conspirator, her mind collapses on the stand, and she starts screaming about the doors! No problem of Raft losing all sexual fulfillment here like Muni did - Ann Sheridan is available to take up with him now. No, this is a far more satisfying film than BORDERTOWN, but still (despite a grand Warner Brothers cast) it is a minor film for all that.

Solid Noir Entry - They Drive by Night

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 4 April 2022]

With a cast of Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, Ida Lupino and Ann Sheridan, it would virtually be impossible to make a mediocre film. And this is not mediocre. The plot of this film has several complications, which enrich the enjoyment of the movie. There are both dramatic and romantic surprises in the film. Enjoy these Golden Age performances by some of the best in the business. Good family fare.

"I Committed Murder to Get You! Understand, MURDER!!"

[ScottAmundsen · 10/10 · 11 January 2013]

Some films are simply greater than the sum of their parts. Ingrid Bergman went on record several times that no one on the CASABLANCA shoot had any clue that they were making a film that would rival the likes of CITIZEN KANE for the title of "Greatest American Film."

One suspects the same "business as usual" atmosphere prevailed on the set of THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, a noir melodrama directed by Raoul Walsh for Warner Bros in 1940. A partial reworking of an earlier film titled BORDERTOWN, this film follows the ups and downs of the Fabrini brothers, long-haul truckers trying to move up from dodging poverty and the bill collectors at every turn to sufficient success to allow one brother to marry and the other, already married, to start a family.

Good enough setup for noir melodrama, but it deviates wildly right in the middle of the picture into a crime drama. The crime in question is murder and the criminal case dominates the second half of the film. Somehow the transition from one kind of story to another works remarkably well, so well that I would consider it a classic of the noir genre.

All the more remarkable when you realize that this was a B picture. Shot on a budget of $400,000.00, a modest sum even in 1940, with a cast of Warner Bros stalwarts, none of whom were great stars at the time.

Joe Fabrini, the older, unmarried brother, is played by George Raft. Raft was in fact two years younger than Bogart, but his character is definitely the alpha dog, calling the shots and looking out for his brother in the time-honored manner of older brothers everywhere. Raft was never much of an actor, and never quite made it out of the B pictures, but in the right part, with the right director, he could be quite good, as is the case here.

Brother Paul is played by Humphrey Bogart, who in 1940 was still a couple of years away from his eventual superstardom. Bogart displays a gentleness and sensitivity that he seldom got to show once he became a big star.

The rest of the men in the cast are Warner's contract players, solid character actors all. It's the women who really elevate the piece to near A status.

Ann Sheridan plays Cassie Hartley, a wise-cracking, down-on-her-luck waitress with whom Joe falls in love almost against his will, focused as he is on the trucking business. Sheridan brings her usual "oomph" to the role and gets most of the best smartass lines.

Paul's wife Pearl is played by Gale Page, an actress of decent ability whose career was pretty much spent in B pictures, probably because she excelled neither in dramatics or in beauty. But Page is just right here; putting someone with bigger acting chops or greater beauty in this role would have thrown the picture badly off balance.

Then there's Ida Lupino as Lana Carlsen, the wife of a friend of Joe's who owns his own trucking company and who secretly lusts after Joe despite his repeated curt rejections; he admits she's attractive, but he's a man of honor: he will not betray his friend by sleeping with his wife. Ever.

Lana's passion for Joe is ultimately her undoing. She does not love her husband, and probably only married him for his money, so one night after a party at which he gets sloppy drunk, she puts the car in the garage, leaving it running, and closes the doors. Her husband, dead drunk, dies of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The DA rules it an accident, so Lana cons Joe into coming into her late husband's business as her "partner," though it is clear that her use of that word implies more than just business. Joe reluctantly agrees, mainly so that he can give a job to Paul, who in the middle of the film loses an arm in a wreck after falling asleep at the wheel.

Lana thinks she's got him. But he still wants nothing to do with her, partly because her late husband was his friend but because by this time he has decided to ask Cassie to marry him. Driven to desperation, Lana confesses her crime to Joe in a misguided attempt to show proof of her love for him. Appalled, Joe makes tracks, and Lana, not about to be outdone, decides to tell the DA that yes, she killed her husband, but she did it because Joe Fabrini told her to.

The trial that follows is pretty standard stuff for a noir melodrama, until Lana takes the stand. What happens in these few minutes should have garnered Lupino an Oscar nomination, but she was still a B actress being groomed as a possible foil for Bette Davis. In fact, watching this film, I thought what a great part Lana would have been for Davis. I don't know if it was ever offered to her, but if it was and she turned it down, it was a happy mistake, because as much as I love Bette Davis, Ida Lupino is so perfect, so compelling, and at the end so utterly chilling in the part that she OWNS it. And then some.

Not bad legs for a B picture; it was a huge hit that propelled Bogart toward full stardom. Unfortunately it did not do the same for Lupino, a brilliant and gifted actress whom the studio cruelly misused; with her titanic talents, she could have given even La Davis a run for her money if the studio had only allowed her to.

This is one of those movies that I always simply MUST sit down and watch whenever it comes on. It is a great demonstration that it is not always necessary to break the bank to make great entertainment.

Continually smart, punchy dialogue...but the second-half is almost another picture entirely

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 17 August 2011]

Truck-driving brothers George Raft and Humphrey Bogart have nightly adventures hauling produce to local markets until Raft lands himself a position in the office; unfortunately, this means having to mingle with the raucous boss and the boss's wife, a scheming shrew with murder on her mind. Raoul Walsh ably directed this quintessential Warner Bros. drama, hard-bitten and yet humorously disengaged. However, one can easily sense the narrative coming unhinged in the second-half, which leads to a jailhouse-and-courtroom finale that seems to have nothing to do with the promising earlier scenario of working stiffs on the open road. The pungent, pithy dialogue from screenwriters Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay (working from A.I. Bezzerides' novel "Long Haul") can't camouflage the shift in priorities, and the 'winking' tag seems like a put-on. Still entertaining, with Raft a smoldering (if somewhat stationary) screen presence. **1/2 from ****

Ida Lupino just wasn't very convincing

[smatysia · 5/10 · 27 December 1999]

Just didn't care much for this film. Bogart was Bogart, but he was not the star here. Ida Lupino just wasn't very convincing in her madness. I know that old movies tend toward the melodramatic, but it just didn't seem to work here. Ann Sheridan's performance was the best part of this film.