They Live By Night: Nicholas Ray

They Live By Night demonstrates the brilliance of a new director desperate to prove himself. His first film, Nicholas Ray was given complete creative control of this adaption of Edward Anderson's novel Thieves Like Us. The film follows the story of "Bowie" Bowers (Farley Granger) and "Keechie" Mobley (Cathy O'Donnell), two young lovers on the run from the law. At the beginning, Bowie escapes from prison along with two bank robbers named Chicamaw and T-Dub. They find shelter with a gas station owner. The owner's daughter, Keechie, quickly falls in love with Bowie. They elope and run off to start a new life. However, Chicamaw and T-Dub find them and force Bowie to help them with one last score...The film was one of the first examples of the "couple on the run" genre that would later be perfected in such films as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Badlands (1973). Interestingly, Ray goes to great lengths to reassure the audience of Bowie and Keechie's innocence of most criminal activity. Bowie was initially imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Despite the fact that the two don't kill anybody, they are quickly blamed for several murders due to their notoriety. Even this early in his career, Ray demonstrates a marked distrust and disgust of authority figures. The tragic story of They Live By Night is accentuated by Ray's visual flair. For example, the opening scene was filmed from a helicopter. Until They Live By Night, helicopters were never used to film action scenes. Though generally overshadowed by his later work, They Live By Night is still a vital part of Ray's filmography as one of America's greatest cinematic iconoclasts.

7/10