They Live by Night

1948

1h 35m

Crime

Drama

List

96%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

80%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Wrongly convicted for murder as a teen, "Bowie" Bowers (Farley Granger) breaks out of prison with two other criminals, Chickamaw (Howard da Silva) and T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen). While hiding out, Bowie meets Chickamaw's niece, Keechie (Cathy O'Donnell), and they bond. Wanting to clear his name, Bowie decides to participate in a robbery with the others, so he can afford a lawyer. As he gets drawn further into crime, Bowie contemplates running away with Keechie and starting over.

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Variety Staff

Variety

There's no attempt at sugarcoating a happy ending, and yarn moves towards its inevitable, tragic climax without compromise.

Oct 22, 2007

Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

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.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Nick Schager

Slant Magazine

Ray's plaintive artistry lends this weepy noir a melancholic beauty.

May 1, 2006

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Lacks the expected film noir curlicues and chiaroscuro, but the amusing coded queer subtext -- that Granger is too nelly and O'Donnell too butch to make it as a nuclear family -- keeps it moving.

Rated: A

Nov 23, 2022

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It’s a lovely, intimate film with a tragic story and one of the most poetic movies of the film noir genre.

Nov 13, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

More romantic than the typical film noir, but also just as fatalistic and hard-hitting.

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 8, 2021

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guiseppa p

Cathy O'Donnell from The Best Years Of Our Lives fame is the heart and soul of this film. Farley Granger delivers once again as the hapless love interest, trying hard to go straight after a wrongful conviction as a teen...both deliver emotional, believable, sympathetic performances. Excellent direction. Sad sad sad.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

paul d

Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night is a great film and a very fine example of tragic storytelling. It's a romantic melodrama that shines a light into the hard lives of young people on the edge of society. A youthful mistake from years ago has lead to a life of risk-taking and loyalty to a rough guys, criminals. Love creates hope for a better life, but the fates combine to ensure a different outcome. Great cinematography, a fine noir ambiance, two outstanding and believable performances by Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, and a remarkable supporting cast makes this a winner.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

deke p

INTERESTING, couple on the run from the law. Saw on tv 2021

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Director Nicholas Ray's debut film is steely in its depiction of the criminal elements in this story, yet sensitive in the telling of a tragic romance between a young couple, a rural, naive woman and an escaped convict. Cathy O'Donnell's performance as the helplessly in love woman is mesmerizing. Farley Granger is excellent as the complex fugitive desperately trying to find a way to provide safe haven.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

matthew d

Fade out with your love in your arms. Nicholas Ray's romantic crime drama They Live by Night (1948) is a peerless example of film noir with Ray's masterful directing style already developed for his directorial debut. It's heartfelt with real sympathy for this doomed couple on the run. They Live by Night is a phenomenal display of George E. Diskant's black and white cinematography and Ray's empathetic direction. Every eye glows and each face is lit with an ethereal warmth. Ray's movies are so raw and full of life. Writer Charles Schnee and Edward Anderson create a bleak worldview with raw violence and realistic grit to their crime narrative. They also capture a sincere romance with lovers in danger. It clearly influenced Bonnie & Clyde, Badlands, Thelma & Louise, True Romance, and Natural Born Killers with its likable couple entangled with robbery. Nicholas Ray is one of the greatest directors who ever lived for his feature films Rebel without a Cause as well as On Dangerous Ground. They Live by Night demonstrates how his natural relationships on screen display a profound sorrow and harrowing realism. He was ahead of his time even for his motion picture debut with They Live by Night. Cathy O'Donnell is amazing as the affectionate and shy girl Keechie who gets romantically involved with an escaped prisoner turned bank robber named Bowie. Farley Granger is thoughtful and nuanced as Bowie with his furrowed brow and soft words, which feels like a totally new character type for this era with a criminal anti-hero. O'Donnell and Granger have excellent, believable romantic chemistry that you really feel for their lovers on the lamb. Furthermore, Keechie is quite sensitive and worried, while Bowie is increasingly paranoid, yet finds new ways to be sweet and considerate for Keechie. Cathy O'Donnell is adorable and very realistic with her naturalistic acting ahead of her years after she had just been in The Best Years of Our Lives. Farley Granger portrays a genuinely thoughtful young man that shows how he would later dazzle in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train. Howard Da Silva is terrifying as the hothead gunman Chicamaw with his creepy one eye and gruff attitude. Da Silva gives his brutish robber Chicamaw serious gravitas with his every snarling word and angry movement. Likewise, Jay C. Flippen is unnerving as the wise mastermind behind the thefts nicknamed T-Dub. These fun gangster names all really standout in They Live by Night. You never confuse anyone thanks to these outlandish monikers. Helen Craig is pretty interesting as the rat wife Mattie. I must mention Ian Wolfe as the highly entertaining marriage "minister" Hawkins with plenty of jokes and sound advice. Leigh Harline's score is bursting with vivid energy and pulsing rhythms. It fits the hard edge attitude of They Live by Night perfectly. Adele Balkan's costumes look right out of the late 1940's with a cool style and natural appeal. Gordon Bau's make-up makes everyone look like a regular person instead of movie stars and starlets. The fake eye contact is something else to behold too. In all, They Live by Night is as shady, seedy, and dark as any classic film noir with a bleak outlook on life. Nicholas Ray gifted us with an iconic screen romance for the ages and slick film noir.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best thrilling romance movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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Nicholas Ray

Director

Cathy O'Donnell

Keechie

Farley Granger

Bowie Bowers

Howard Da Silva

Chickamaw

Jay C. Flippen

T-Dub

Helen Craig

Mattie

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Synopsis

Wrongly convicted for murder as a teen, "Bowie" Bowers (Farley Granger) breaks out of prison with two other criminals, Chickamaw (Howard da Silva) and T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen). While hiding out, Bowie meets Chickamaw's niece, Keechie (Cathy O'Donnell), and they bond. Wanting to clear his name, Bowie decides to participate in a robbery with the others, so he can afford a lawyer. As he gets drawn further into crime, Bowie contemplates running away with Keechie and starting over.

Director: Nicholas Ray
Screenwriter: Charles Schnee
Production Co: RKO Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 18, 2017
Runtime: 1h 35m