Cathy O’Donnell and fugitive Farley Granger are on a bus when it makes a brief stop in some podunk town just before midnight. Across the street is a quickie wedding chapel, a house with a huge, blinking, neon sign in front blaring “MARRIAGES PERFORMED. ANY HOUR. DAY OR NIGHT.” So much is said in their faces as they sit side-by-side on the bus, her desire to tie the knot, his worry any additional attachment by her to him will only ensure her downfall. And yet, they have a rather elliptical conversation that leads to them inevitably getting off the bus and crossing that street, the soundtrack almost completely silent.
This scene perfectly encapsulates many of the characteristics which define 1948’s They Live by Night. This was the directorial debut of Nicholas Ray, who would go on to helm such character-driven noirs as In a Lonely Place and On Dangerous Ground.
Our leads here are in their early 20’s, but naive enough in some regards as to be almost childlike. Strange, but that aspect of these characters is what I found annoying about the leads in 1990’s Bright Angel. Somehow, this 1948 film is more believable, with Granger completely selling me on his being a prison escapee and bank robber who, when in a jam, crosses the fingers on both hands and quickly counts to thirteen. In one scene, a mirror breaks and he wails in despair, “That’s seven years bad luck!”
That he has been in prison since he was sixteen means he doesn’t have much experience with girls, so he finds himself drawn to O’Donnell in the hideout in which he and his fellow fugitives first take shelter. She is initially cold and hardened, dressed in the jumpsuit which is necessary for the work she’s doing around the place. We learn her mother ran way when O’Donnell was young, but I suspected other factors made her as hard as she is we first see her. I may be reading too much into it, but the way her drunken father (Will Wright) calls out for her in the night had me wondering if incest was suggested.
Her character has an interesting arc, as she goes from serious adult to being more playful and childlike. It is like she does a Benjamin Button and grows in reverse. I can relate to that, even if I do not regard myself as having a particularly difficult childhood. But my wife and I have both commented over the years how our lives seem to be playing out in reverse, with us eschewing children of our own so that the remainder of our days are exactly as we want them to be. We frequently speak of new things we want to try as being activities we never had the opportunity to do when we were teens and working jobs to partly support ourselves.
Unfortunately, the happiness of Granger and O’Donnell is imperiled by Granger’s fellow fugitives Howard De Silva and Jay C. Flippen. De Silva has one opaque eye, and his resulting outrage from even imagined allusions to it foretells the weak link he will prove to be in this trio of bank robbers. He’s also O’Donnell’s uncle. Flippen is the more grounded of the two men, but his steely resolve means he will be quite insistent Granger continue their partnership even after the man marries O’Donnell. Also, Flippen has a sister-in-law played by Helen Craig who just might be the toughest person in the movie.
This picture is very solidly noir, though it scans more as a romantic drama. The first few seconds had me confused, thinking I had accidentally chosen to watch the trailer instead of the film proper. Over a shot of Granger and O’Donnell embracing, there is a series of text overlays informing us: “This boy…and this girl…were never properly introduced to the world we live in. To tell their story…They Live by Night.” This was a curious production decision that I haven’t seen before and, honestly, hope to not see again.
Still, that is only a brief bit before the titles, and it was soon forgotten. In the end, I liked it more than a similarly-titled film I keep confusing it with for only that reason, and that is 1940’s They Drive by Night. Odd, but that title might have worked better than the one this was released under, as everybody here, indeed, ends up doing a great deal of travelling by automobile in the wee hours. O’Donnell and Granger even have this exchange as they see the Mississippi River at night: “Someday, I’d like to see some of this country we’ve been travelling through.” “You mean by daylight?” Another interesting aspect of the considerable driving footage are the shots obtained by helicopter, something I cannot recall seeing in a movie earlier than this one.
A title I would have given the movie is 10 Minutes to Midnight, as some important events in the film happen at that curiously precise time. We only know this because Granger keeps asking O’Donnell for the time in a recurring bit. I found it interesting there are other phrases and conversational prompts like this which repeat. Early on in the runtime, it seems like every question is countered with the phrase “could be”. A scene where our leads finally have a normal date has them frequently asking if each other if they are having a good time, as if they need constant reassurance. Another odd aspect of this date is they comment derisively on the activities in which others around them are engaged, such as golfing or dancing. The result is the couple is only talking about what people are doing, while not really doing anything themselves. Even if this rare moment where they can truly live, they still aren’t really living.
For a brief period, they get to play house at a cabin rented from Byron Foulger. This character actor is quite interesting in his brief time on screen, and he forms a kind of comedy duo with screen son Teddy Infuhr. The father is an affable and talky rube while the son is the wise observer of others. I suspect Infuhr deduces the nature of the couple, and I wonder how early he came to realize they were on the lam. One of my favorite exchanges in the film is between Foulger and Infuhr: “You see, newly married people want to be alone.” “I should think so!”
They Live by Night is a very impressive noir, though I almost hate to put it in that genre, as I feel that would pigeonhole what is a more complex and nuanced picture than that implies. It is not just chiaroscuro lighting and bank robberies. It is furtive glances and circular conversations. It is the sound of the wind whistling through the trees at night, whether it is making a jumpy Granger mistake the sound for that of sirens or as accompaniment for he and O’Donnell crossing the street to that neon-signed chapel. It is a world of those who had to grow up too soon and lives lived in reverse, of new lovers binding their fates to each other at a business with a sign advertising “rings for sale or rent”.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Starring Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard De Silva, Jay C. Flippen
Watched on Criterion Collection blu-ray