They Live by Night

I think I like Farley Granger more than most people.

Good cast, and sharply directed (with lots of cool helicopter shots). O'Donnell is excellent, and Granger is quite good as well (playing his trademark sensitive guy troubled by conscience). Problem is that the script tends not to know whether it wants to be a thriller or a romance. It starts out great (in classic noir style)...and ends that way too...but it comes off as rather diffuse in the middle (since the caper guys all disappear and we're left with only the two romantic leads).

i think ray's talent is what makes this movie a joy to watch, for the most part. granger is a little bitch but the girl was super sweet. and the one-eyed dude kicks ass.

Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell have no presence. Where this movie tries to work as romance, it's rather boring and flat. The darker elements are filmed well enough, and if they were the sole focus - maybe with a couple better leads - this would be a more than competent noir.

Ray's first film is possibly the most romantic crime film ever made.

Wasted due to lack of chemistry between Farly Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, which is weird cause they both act very well (particulary O'Donnell). It's just that there is no spark.

A film noir for sensitive souls.

It's a good little movie - working as a film noir on one level, and as a romance on another. None of the movie's elements are remarkable on an individual level, but they all seem to combine to form something just a slight bit greater than the sum of its parts. Granger is admittedly a bit dull, but he's always done decently as the straight man to the scene-chewing of antagonists - in this case, Howard Da Silva, in a performance that you wish got more screen time. Still, an enjoyable watch.

The DVD case says "one of the most unforgettable noirs ever made" and I have to agree. I tend to forget a lot of details about movies, but two years after my first viewing, much of this film stuck with me. The film has a thick aura of bleakness about it, and even the happier moments between Granger and O'Donnell are overcast with dread. Their doomed relationship is tremendously affecting and makes for not only one of the most unforgettable noirs, but one of the most romantic and lyrical.

This was not for me. I enjoyed Granger, O'Donnell and Da Silva, all of whom turned in solid performances, but the story was too silly for me and the lead characters lacked much depth to make them worth caring or rooting for. The narrative is clumsy, & what should be important story elements are introduced with zero or little fanfare. Ultimately, a very forgettable watch for me personally, and not a very fun one.

Ray's first film, a _Bonnie and Clyde_ precursor (not to mention its literal remake, _Thieves Like Us_), with a lyrical emphasis on Young Love, First Love, True Love. Granger and O'Donnell are awfully soft and dewy as the star-crossed couple, but fortunately there's also da Silva with his marled eye and boiling surface of pathology.

Farley Granger's doe eyes are so soft, so sad

Normally when I watch a film like this, I am thinking to myself "another re-make of 'Badlands', gosh!" But, of course, Ray's film was made 25 years before Malick's film, so instead I was thinking to myself "a pre-cursor to 'Badlands', interesting!" To be clear, it's not just the similarity in storyline and characters, but specifically the synergy between Bowie and Keechie is mirrored by the relationship between Kit and Holly. In particular, O'Donnell made an impression on me similar to Spacek.

Solid noir that works in every aspect but struggles to excel at any one of them. Ray shows some nice visual moments but the driving shots are a joke, the leads are sympathetic but too bland to care deeply about, the supporting cast doesn't have enough screen time and the story plays out just like you'd expect it too. On the whole it's a perfectly good film but I didn't see anything special in it.

Nicholas Ray #1

Kind of underwhelming and I want to chalk this up to distractions during my viewing experience but maybe I'm right. Oh well. Farley Granger was a cool leading man, if not a great one. Nicholas Ray was awesome, though.

# 490

A gentle, poetic film about doomed teenagers on the run, "They Live by Night" is romantic in the best sense of the world, seeing love as a force that--although it cannot alter circumstances or prevent tragedy--can still redeem and transfigure the souls of lovers. Cathy O'Donnell's sweetness and sincerity help us sympathize with innocent-eyed Farley Granger, and Howard DeSilva is outstanding as the petty, envious and cruel one-eyed "Chickamaw."

Great stuff

577

Perhaps this was viewed by some at the time as somehow a step forward, giving plenty of space for a tragic love story within a (rural) film noir setting that expressively traps its young protagonists “within the frame”. Etcetera. In fact, it’s draggy and sappy, with weak dialogue and performances (especially by Granger). Both Pauline Kael and Robert Kolker clearly vastly prefer Altman’s remake, THIEVES LIKE US, and it is hard to understand how anyone could disagree.

Deliberately over-the-top crime story. Next!

it's all in the early image of a wounded innocent faltering beneath a looming billboard as his hardened companions (Figures in a Landscape) soldier on across the brutal terrain of capitalist america. schematic by ray's standards (sell your soul, or live by night), but sublime: the church scenes are achingly bittersweet monuments to love amidst spiritual rot, and the hushed, doomed finale gracefully distils the post-war mood. you think it's over, but the letters from dead husbands keep on coming.

88.00

Patchy. The two main characters are well-written, with a nice balance of wide-eyed innocence and world-weary resignation, but the story is somewhat uninteresting and plods along without doing anything remarkable. That said, the cinematography is very elegant and it has a great ending.

Enjoyable romantic noir even with the not-so-convincing chemistry between the leads. Unfortunately, the supporting characters tend to overshadow them -- Da Silva is haunting, and I wondered if the "other woman" (Craig) could have had a longer side-story (enforcing how doomed the main characters really were).

watched: 2011, 2018

Code isn't an excuse for a predictable, SHITTY ending.

OK film noir but it lacks charisma and impact.

okay movie

I absolutely adore Nicholas Ray's woozy romantic side and this film is the most glorious expression of it. I could watch Cathy O'Donnell forever. Yet it still has room for Howard Da Silva's creepy one-eyed thug. Extraordinary film.

597

Solid but somewhat slight noir that lacks a bit in energy. I never really believed the impulsive romance between the leads. Ian Wolfe as the shady shotgun wedding officiator and Byron Foulger as the happy go lucky owner of the cabins the main characters (Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell) stay in have good performances. I didn't really care all that much about the leads, though. Ultimately just okay.

Romantic film noir. Powerful when it wanted to be. Sweet when it wanted to be. But always with the feeling of doom and hopelessness. Truly great performances from Farley Granger and especially Cathy O'Donnell as the angel that out of love goes with this misguided devil. There was times where it lived too much of their love for each other, slowing the experience down, but its overall impact was strong.

#605

Even Cathy O'Donnell's lovely face isn't enough to save the movie.