Best movie of this year hands down!

Pretty Good

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This Film-Noir-inflected directorial debut feature of maverick US filmmaker Nicholas Ray is headlined by two young stars on the rising, Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, as their escapist romance is par for the course of a sorry denouement which tallies with the now stock "lovers on the run" scenario, to today's audience, it is Ray's audacious craftsmanship leaving a hefty mark on the route. Adapted from Edward Anderson's novel THIEVES LIKE US (from which Robert Altman would regurgitate his own version using the book's original title in 1974), the storyline revolves around a young convict Bowie (Granger), who escapes from prison with two senior bank robbers, Chicamaw (Da Silva, flaunting with his snarky, one-eyed menace to great effect) and T-Dub (Flippen, sports a hostile ruggedness likens Michael Shannon). After falling in with Keechie (O'Donnell), the daughter of their accomplice Mobley (Wright), Bowie develops a liking for her, when a road accident leaves Bowie in the caring hands of Keechie, they decide to elope, leaving everything behind, whether it is police force or Bowie's partners in crime. Notably, the film vigorously lunges its opening gambit of chopper-aided aerial shots when the credits roll, quite a cutting-edge feat of its time, but if one thinks for granted that the movie would be heavy on the action front, a sly Ray proves otherwise, he spares us with all the robbery fracas and the upshots of peripheral players, because the movie's focus is unflinchingly zoomed in on the star-crossed lovers, close-ups expressively inspect their indecision, immaturity, callowness, but also their steely determination of finding a way out in spite of the mounting obstruction, Granger and O'Donnell both elicit emotively heart-rending renderings without any help of plot machinations, their ending is foreseeable miles away, they are mired in a cul-de-sac, catching up with a scintilla of hope and affection before it's too late. Which is to say that in Ray's fabrication, one cannot help but discerning an overt proclivity for fatalism, a heady profusion of gloom, angst, and agitation, that would evolve into Ray's trademark in the years to come. Even in the supposedly jolly strains of YOUR RED WAGON interlude, Ray manifestly shows us the singer (Bryant), cadging cash out of punters and then brandishing it in front of our eyes, that's the world which entraps the two lovebirds, materialistic, corrupted and voracious. Amongst the ragbag of supporting group, on the one hand, stage old-hand Helen Craig rounds out her celluloid debut with a stolid veneer cracked with tangible tinge of compunction in a femme fatale role; and on the other hand, productive character actor Ian Wolfe gives our two wet-behind- their-ears protagonists a good run for their money as the grasping matrimony officiator, who effortlessly hammers that last nail in their coffin without much of self-awareness. By and large, THEY LIVE BY NIGHT has professed to be an auspicious point of departure for an auteur-in-the- making, and of course, the best is yet to come.

They Live by Night, Nicholas Ray's directorial debut which he also co-wrote, offers an emotionally powerful storyline with a moody atmosphere film noir is known for. Young, naive and recently out of jail, Bowie (Farley Granger) has to survive robbing banks with experienced accomplices 'One-Eye' Chicamaw and 'T-Dub' Mansfield. Lying low from the police in a gas station, Bowie and Keechie (Cathy O'Donnell), daughter of the gas station owner, bond which develops into a run-away romance following an incident. Though their relationship is threatened by being 'chained' in a continuous struggle between their love and a world of crime.As a film noir They Live by Night goes beyond action-packed violence, tense confrontations and atmospheric settings. They Live by Night's genius was creating a hotbed of complex relationships filled with stirring emotions. Placing these relationships amongst a noir setting resulted in a bittersweet viewing experience because of Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell's chemistry. It was magnificent, both giving their characters a sense of nativity and innocence within their love for each other. Amongst the reputation Bowie receives for his criminality we see his true self, a young man engulfed in misdeeds trying to escape. Whereas Keechie is vulnerable to Bowie's world and inexperienced in general. Yet she is still of giving love wholeheartedly. Bowie and Keechie's journey was heartbreaking to see. These attributes also extended to the secondary characters. Adding to They Live by Night's atmosphere was Bowie's working relationship with Chicamaw and Mansfield. Howard Da Silva and Jay C. Flippen respectively offered a fierce intensity to They Live by Night emphasising Bowie's vulnerability by bossing him around with their hard-boiled nature which is typical of film noir. These tragic and fierce attributes went beyond characterisation. They Live by Night offered appropriate symbolism adding to Bowie and Keechie's dire circumstances. In a memorable scene where Bowie and Keechie are married, it takes place at a cheap chapel and cost $20 for a wedding license. The cheap tackiness is associated with the background Bowie and Keechie were attempting to escape. Wanting to lead suitable lives yet having to sink so low to achieve it. This underlines a depth towards They Live by Night's narrative surpassing into a fully-charged emotional noir.

They Live By Night (AKA: The Twisted Road) is directed by Nicholas Ray and written by Ray and Charles Schnee who adapt from Edward Anderson's novel Thieves Like Us. It stars Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva & Jay C. Flippen. Produced by John Houseman out of RKO, it's photographed by George E. Diskant and music is by Leigh Harline.Ray's debut feature (it was actually wrapped in 1947) is a potent piece of film noir set during the Great Depression. Story follows Bowie (Granger), a naive young man who escapes from prison with two hardened criminals, Chicamaw (Da Silva) & T-Dub (Flippen), and finds unexpected love in the form of the almost saintly Keechie (O'Donnell). However, he finds that no matter what his good intentions are, crime just wont leave him be and with Keechie in tow, goes on the run to hopefully find a better life.It's a pretty simple story all told, one that has been well represented in film over the years with the likes of You Only Live Once, High Sierra & Gun Crazy. But as simple as the tale is, Ray's film is very much a leading light in the sub-genre of "lovers on the lam" movies. First thing of note is that there's a movement away from the normal characters that had frequented the noir driven crime world up till now. The protagonists here are not gangsters or private investigators, they are thieves, and country folk too. This offers up a different viewing character wise. Admittedly the protagonists are shrouded in classic film noir hopelessness, where the air of desperation hangs heavy throughout, but the characterisation shift gives the simple story a lift.From the outset it's evident that this is an intriguing, even curious, picture. A shot of our loving couple sharing a kiss is accompanied with a title card telling us that they were never properly introduced to the world we live in. A blast of Harline's music startles them and we then cut to an aerial shot (Ray leading the way for helicopter shots) of the three escapee's in the getaway car. In those 30 seconds Ray has managed to convey that his film will be an energetic, yet doom laden, love story. Quite a feat for a fledgling director to be unique right from the off. It's interesting to note that Ray himself said that he wasn't trying to make a film noir movie, he was merely telling a tragic love story. Just another point of reference as to why the film is so fascinating.Be that as it may, They Live By Night pulses with noir blood. From its perpetual moody atmospherics, to the romantic narrative being punctured by moments of violence, it deserves its classic film noir status. 8/10

A couple fall in love, rob banks, go on the run and die in a hail of gunfire. Sound familiar? "Bonnie and Clyde", "You Only Live Once", "The Getaway", "Badlands", "Person's in Hiding" and "Thieves Like Us" all cover this material in a much more substantial way.What's interesting about "They Live By Night", though, is the way in which the film offers a template against which Altman's "Thieves Like Us" can be read.Altman's film uses "They live by Night" as a springboard to deconstruct the entire "couple on the run" gangster genre. Comparing the first shot of both films is useful in demonstrating Altman's work methods. "They Live by Night" begins with a car racing speedily down a road, a helicopter mounted camera tracking it as it moves. In contrast, "Thieves Like Us" begins with a fixed tripod mounted camera tracking a small boat as it glides lazily across a lake. Reversals like this occur throughout Altman's film on an almost scene by scene basis, the director using irony and humour to force his audience into the position of meditating upon genre rules and expectations.6/10 - This was Nicholas Ray's first film as a director. It's a good film, and in many ways laid the foundations for the "couple on the run" genre, but when viewed alongside such fare as "Badlands", "Gun Crazy" and "Thieves Like Us", the film is positively archaic.Note: this was one of the first films to make extensive use of helicopter shots.