THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT: Blu-ray (Warner Bros./First National, 1940) Warner Archive

Director Raoul Walsh’s They Drive by Night (1940), usually gets branded as an American noir. But actually, its make-up, derived from a 1938 novel by A.I. Bezzerides, is more demanding and complex. The opening scenes, depicting the trials and tribulations of a pair of wildcat long haul truck drivers, the brothers Fabrini – Joe (played affectingly by George Raft) and Paul (less so, by a brooding Humphrey Bogart, eager to break free of his Warner Bros.’ typecasting as second-string) plays like a ‘road’ picture with screwball elements provided by wisecracking gal/Friday, Cassie Hartley (superbly rendered by Ann Sheridan). The fallow insert to follow this, depicting the brothers run up against a spate of bad luck, chiefly entertains the subtler domestic conflict between Paul and his wife, Pearl (Gale Page). Basically, she wants children and he prefers the open road. It’s as unprepossessing a slice-o-life as any ever depicted at the movies – Warner-produced or otherwise.  But then the Jerry Wald/Richard Macaulay screenplay really lights a fire on a sideline story, involving the Fabrini’s new boss, Ed J. Carlsen (Alan Hale) and his hot-to-trot wifie, Lana (figured with appropriate acrimony towards her guy by Ida Lupino, with lusty dollops of sex appeal telescopically directed at Joe). It all culminates with a deep dive into familiar ‘noir’ territory – a murder and the resulting trial, where Lana, unable to frame Joe for the crime, or possess him sexually, completely loses her verve as well as her mind on the witness stand.

Deliciously a mutt, though one that continues to work on almost every level, thanks to its snappy barbs, swift pacing and ever-evolving narrative running the gamut from points ‘A’ to ‘Z’, between which the entire alphabet intervenes, They Drive By Night is the sort of hot-blooded/high-styled programmer only a ‘ripped from the headlines’ outfit like Warner Bros., in its prime, could pull off and make entirely convincing, as well as totally compelling entertainment with a capital ‘E’! There are some nice touches scattered throughout, and familiar faces from the Warner stock company cropping up at every turn. Interestingly, the murder to cap off the picture, involving Lana’s deliberate carbon monoxide asphyxiation of her hubby, was not derived from Bezzarides’ book, but rather a total ‘lift’ from Warner’s own, Bordertown (1935), costarring Paul Muni and Bette Davis. In retrospect, They Drive By Night brings Bogart – fourth billed herein - one step closer to super-stardom, despite giving him precious little to do or say in the first act. It’s only after Paul loses an arm in a wreck and becomes Joe’s charity case that Bogart lets the character’s pent-up frustrations bleed with genuine bitterness, for which many of Bogie’s subsequent heroes and reprobates would be best known. Sheridan and Lupino efficiently straddle the polar opposites of Hollywood’s traditional virgin/whore model for females in a male-dominated society; Sheridan’s tough-talking, though good-hearted gal/pal, pitted in stark contrast to Lupino’s sexpot, stewing in arsenic.

They Drive By Night begins in earnest with our introduction to Joe and Paul Fabrini – indie long-haulers barely able to keep their loan shark, Farnsworth (Charles Halton) at bay. The pair are toting for Mike Williams (Charles C. Wilson) – a disreputable sort who tries to take advantage of the brother’s busted axel by sending Farnsworth ahead of the advance payment he owes Joe and Paul, merely to claim their truck and put the boys out of business for good. Nevertheless, the boys avoid incarceration and repossession of their vehicle, only to buy out their loan, but then suffering a horrendous wreck to deprive them of their livelihood. In the smash-up, Paul loses his arm. Nevertheless, Joe’s newfound prosperity after teaming with an old pal, Ed Carlsen, affords him the opportunity to look after his kid brother. Joe also finds the time to woo Cassie Hartley – a shoot-from-the-hip firebrand who quit her job at a roadside greasy spoon after the boss tried to get fresh.  When fellow trucker, Harry McNamara (John Litel) is killed after falling asleep at the wheel of his rig, Joe reasons trucking might not be in his future. To this end, Joe decides to work for Ed Carlsen. A load-mouth with a lot of cash, but little tact, Ed’s heart is basically in the right place. He values hard work and friendship. Too bad, Ed’s wife, Lana is more interested in kindling a new flame with Joe behind her husband’s back.

Lana cannot abide her husband’s grotesque ostentatiousness. She considers herself ‘high class’ to Ed’s lowbrow good nature, endeavoring to be everyone’s best pal.  Having brought Joe into the fold, Ed makes him a traffic manager at Lana’s behest. The move allows Lana to be near Joe. But Joe will have none of it. After Ed invites everyone to his lavish mansion, showing off for the crowd his new automatic garage door opener, still without conceit or malice, he becomes intoxicated to the point of passing out. At party’s end, Lana drives her husband into their garage, leaving the car engine to idle while the automatic door closes behind her, allowing Ed to succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning. Deemed an accident by the police, Lana wastes no time in promoting Joe to half-partner within Ed’s company, hoping this will allow her to pursue him romantically. Instead, Joe informs Lana he plans to wed Cassie. This incurs Lana’s ire. Love turns to hate, and Lana plots to frame Joe for Ed’s murder. However, at trial, Lana suffers a complete mental breakdown, confessing her dire hatred for all to see. She is judged insane and the case gets dismissed.  Joe ponders returning to the open road. But with Cassie’s guidance, he pursues his dream of owning a trucking company. Paul will serve as his traffic manager and Cassie agrees to become his bride.

They Drive By Night was a big smash for Warner Bros., showing a whopping profit of $4 million on the studio ledgers. The picture’s strengths far outweigh its weaknesses; the appearance of a very familiar stock company, capped off by stellar performances by Bogart, Raft, Sheridan and Lupino, results in a wholly pleasurable experience some 84 years after its theatrical debut. Apart from the stellar company director, Raoul Walsh is keeping in front of the camera, much is owed the Wald/Macaulay screenplay – a veritable convoy of ripostes and sexy one-liners to puncture the balloons of hypocrisy and sham, with a hearty layering of more darkly purposed melodrama. There is never a sense of unease as the plot unpredictably transitions from straight-forward actioner into atypical noir/love triangle. Walsh is a master craftsman at this sort of slickly constructed, occasionally soapy, but always fast-moving roller coaster ride. The improbable twists and turns it takes to link the bits of screwball to suspense-laden noir are flawless rendered, yet mere crisper for the bravura acting by Raft, Sheridan, Bogart and, particularly Lupino who, poured into Milo Anderson’s stunningly handsome wardrobe, in an Oscar-nominated role no less, truly delivers bone-chilling brilliance to this woman on the edge of reason at the climactic trial.

They Drive By Night debuts on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive (WAC), in a beautifully rendered 4K scan from a B&W master curated to perfection. Yes, there are a handful of shots scattered throughout to appear just a tad softer than anticipated, suffering minor loses in clarity and fine detail in Arthur Edeson’s cinematography. But the bulk of the piece looks immaculate and sharp, with excellent contrast, deep blacks, pristine whites and a total absence of age-related dirt and debris. The 2.0 DTS mono accurately captures the virtues, as well as the limitations of vintage Westrex sound recording technology, minus any discernible hiss and pop. Extras have all been ported over from the previously issued DVD, and include the Lux Radio adaptation starring Raft alongside Lana Turner, the brief featurette, Divided Highway – to offer a mere thumbnail on the making of this movie, a short subject – Swing Time in the Movies; a two-reel comedy costarring, John Carroll and Fritz Feld, and finally, a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: at barely an hour and thirty-minutes, They Drive By Night is high octane cinema art with guts as well as class that satisfies on virtually every level. The Blu-ray is excellent to a fault. A ‘must have’ for cinephiles.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5

EXTRAS

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