They Live by Night (1948)

Directed by Nicholas Ray. Starring Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, Howard Da Silva, Helen Craig, Jay C. Flippen, Will Wright, Ian Wolfe

Young prison escapee Granger—who swears by his innocence—holes up with a couple of bank robbers and falls in love with the niece (O’Donnell) of one of the crooks. They share pie-eyed dreams, wed on the quick, run from the law, but there’s no avoiding the inevitable. Lovers-on-the-lam melodrama strikes an uncommonly sincere and restrained note; wisely doesn’t try to glam up the leads at their first meeting, which helps make them seem more earnest and authentic than the average doomed devotees. Some crudeness away from the moments of intimacy—crime and romance doesn’t always easily mix—but stays on the sure track to the emotional finale. Ray’s directorial debut, more audacious than the era’s usual first-timers but rough around the noir-ish edges despite some keen instances of camera placement. Based on the Edward Anderson novel “Thieves Like Us,” which was the name of Robert Altman’s second film adaptation in 1974. Though an American production, it debuted in London, and took over a year before it showed up stateside. Marie Bryant appears as a singer.

70/100