"They Live by Night" grabs you from the very first minute, with its strange and beautiful prologue. Some noir fans evidently find it jarring, a love story injected into a film noir. Why not? Other classic noirs do it. No noir is more noir than Jules Dassin's "Night and the City," and that certainly includes a tragic love. Nicholas Ray himself does it again with "On Dangerous Ground." There the love story is a story of redemption. Here it is a story of fatalism. The trick is to tell it without descending into the maudlin. No one did it better than Nicholas Ray. We know the lovers are misfits; they will come to grief. We never lose hope for them.
Ray had it easy with "On Dangerous Ground." He could count on two of the greats, Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino. Here he has to coax performances out of young actors. Farley Granger, in my opinion, gives his finest performance, far, far better than in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." Hitchcock seldom cared about depth of character, as long as he could spin a clever plot. Character was the heart of Nicolas Ray's work. Think again of "On Dangerous Ground." Or take the searing, sexually charged love-hate between Emma and Vienna in "Johnny Guitar." He draws from Farley Granger a quality he never equaled. As for Cathy O'Donnell, what a waste that she seldom found roles commensurate with her talent. The supporting cast is marvelous. Howard da Silva begins as his usual type. Chichamaw is loathsome and sinister. He changes. His weaknesses, alcohol and vanity, make him almost sympathetic. Jay C. Flippen begins as his usual type, gruff but good-hearted. He changes, an inveterate criminal who won't let Bowie off the hook. Ian Wolfe, an actor's actor, makes Hawkins, the cynical, half-malevolent half-pitying marriage salesman memorable. (Nicholas Ray used him again in "On Dangerous Ground.") He peddles hope. But he won't sell hope where it's hopeless. Byron Foulger, true chameleon among character actors, does a great turn as Lambert the loquacious motel-keeper. His irritating cheeriness makes Bowie and Keechie's downfall yet more dismal when it arrives. Near the end Bowie returns to find Keechie sitting on the bed with water all over the floor while Lambert and the plumber bustle about, chatting, banging on pipes. I'm thinking he's thinking: "Go away, please. Please. My life's hanging by a thread. I don't need this now." It drives me crazy just watching it. Whoever put the broken-pipe scene in the script was a genius.
Bonnie and Clyde it's not. I keep reading that association. It's not even close. Bonnie is a criminal, a willing participant in Clyde's mayhem. Keechie is gentle. She implores Bowie to stop. If there's a parallel in film it's "High Sierra." Marie (Ida Lupino), though somewhat an accomplice, frantically clings to Roy (Humphrey Bogart), hoping to find peace. The final scene prefigures the end of "They Live by Night." I always considered Lupino's performance ("free, free") unmatched. I still do. Cathy O'Donnell ("I love you") comes close to matching it.
Finally, I can't help reflecting on the idea of "film gris," a film noir incorporating a progressive social message. This is one if there ever was one. Thieves Like Us was the title of the novel. Us is us - everyone. Everyone, Hawkins says, is a thief. Those at the top steal legally. Those at the bottom steal as they can, at war with the world. "They Live by Night" was released in 1949, after HUAC had commenced its inquisition. But it was made in 1947, before, in fact just before, the Hollywood 19 then Hollywood 10 faced their inquisitors. Nicholas Ray escaped (I have never understood how). Howard da Silva did not. "Friendly witness" Robert Taylor named him. Helen Craig's Mattie informs on Bowie and Keechie. Don't feel bad, the policeman says. You've done us a service. "That won't help me sleep at night," she replies. I wonder if Robert Taylor saw "They Live by Night," and how he slept.
Death Rage (1976) 1080p
Read More »When a mobster is assassinated in Naples by the gangsters of Gennaro Gallo, the retired hit-man Peter Marciani learns that Gallo was the responsible for the murder of his brother. He travels from New York to Italy to revenge his brother and he hires the smalltime crook Angelo to work for him. Angelo introduces Peter to the dancer Anny and they have a love affair. Meanwhile the Italian police inspector unsuccessfully tries to anticipate Peter's move.