They Drive By Night (1940) ***

Release Date: August 3, 1940

Running Time: 95 minutes

Starring: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

It’s difficult to imagine in retrospect a time when Humphrey Bogart was not top billed in a film he starred in. Sur there were plenty of pictures in the 30’s where he was just a bit player but by 1940 he was a known commodity and, while his true box office draw was still two years off, he was a star on the rise. It was during this time that he took a co-starring role alongside George Raft in They Drive by Night, taking second billing to Raft who was definitely the bigger star at the time. Many of Bogart’s later rolls would be passed on by Raft paving the way for Bogart to cement his position in Hollywood history. Films like Dead End and High Sierra were originally going to be Raft films but went to Bogart after Raft turned them down. These films made Bogart a star and George Raft’s popularity wane. But in 1940 Raft was the bigger star and commanded the majority of the screen time here.

They Drive by Night is an interesting film in many ways. For the time it was atypical for either actor seeing the two of them as truck-driving brothers Joe and Paul (Raft and Bogart) barely scraping by working for a businessman who doesn’t pay them regularly and is willing to let someone else take over their delivery when they bust a tire rather than advance them their pay to get it fixed. This eventually leads the two to go into business for themselves buying their own loads of produce so they can profit from the deliveries rather than just taking a cut. Just as things are looking up though Paul falls asleep at the wheel and crashes the truck leaving them without their vehicle and profits as the product was destroyed in the crash. Worse, Paul loses an arm in the wreck leaving him unable to drive anymore. This forces Joe to take a job working in a trucking business for Ed Carlen (Alan Hale) and his wife Lana (Ida Lupino), a woman who has her eyes on Joe. Meanwhile, Joe has met Cassie (Ann Sheridan) hitchhiking earlier and intends to make her his wife. 

There is a lot of plot for such a film. It threatens at times to bog down the overall narrative yet it never does. For a film that is primarily about the trucking industry and the drivers who struggle to make a living it never gets boring. The film is peppered with colorful characters to liven up most every ensemble scene. Just in the diner early on we get treated to some comedic performances as characters hit on the waitress, Cassie, play pinball endlessly, and throw out a loan shark, Farnsworth (an uncredited Charles Halton) looking to repossess Joe and Paul’s truck for missed payments. Cassie stands out above all of them with her brassy no nonsense attitude and quips, eventually quitting and catching a ride with the brothers because her boss kept trying to tie her apron strings when she had no apron on in the first place. 

The second half of the film takes a hard turn however as the tone shifts from good natured humor into film noir territory. While there is some suspense in the first half it is nothing compared to after Ida Lupino steps in. We see her early on in the film and know immediately she wants to be with Joe despite being married. The levels she is willing to sink to to make it happen however only become apparent later in the film when we get a better sense of her marriage to Ed. The film takes a dark turn late into it and it never really lightens up. This tonal shift is abrupt but manages to not derail the film thanks to the terrific performance by Ida Lupino who portrays her deep unhappiness well. Her complete breakdown later is a little over the top and is the only weakness to an otherwise spot on performance. 

Bogart is also great as Paul. He is married to a woman who would do anything to not be so lonely while Paul is on the road. She longs for children but Paul feels they are too poor to afford it. His accident seems like a miracle to her when it only depresses Paul who feels he can no longer work. The role is small, much smaller than that of his brother, but Bogart imbues it with wit and sarcasm and just enough personality to make it a three dimensional character.

Raft is a little less engaging although not by much. He gets the lion’s share of the film and the most character development yet he seems to be basically the same at the end of the film as he is at the beginning. He has screen charisma and gains some confidence in his abilities outside of driving trucks but that is about it. This is the type of role that doesn’t really take any effort to portray and is consequently less interesting. One wonders how much better the film would have been Raft and Bogart switched rolls. 

This is a tricky film to get all the elements right and make entertaining. Raoul almost nails it completely. Where he struggles is in the final act. The tonal shifts and an uneven performance by Lupino in the final few scenes make the last ten minutes uneven and a little awkward. Ultimately though it is a fine film that showcases an early Bogart performance that proves he could be more than just gangsters and thieves. For that and some truly fun performances by a fine supporting cast this film excels when it could have easily stumbled.