Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

They Drive by Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Who knew automatic doors could be so scary?

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 5, 2024

Raoul Walsh's They Drive by Night is a lot of things: part suspense, part melodrama, and at least half of a proto-noir... but whatever the formula, the end result is still pretty damn captivating more than 80 years later. Featuring a stacked cast, sharp dialogue, and no shortage of twists and turns, the plot careens along a path that first-time viewers will absolutely not be able to predict. For lack of a better phrase, it's basically two movies for the price of one.

Our story begins with truck-driving brothers Joe (George Raft) and Paul Fabrini (Humphrey Bogart, a year away from The Maltese Falcon) hauling a load of produce to California while hoping to start their own business, rather than suffer under the thumb of loan sharks and middlemen. They quite literally run into trouble when a carload of joyriders forces them off the road, leaving the brothers with a busted wheel and no money to replace it. Regrouping at a nearby diner, Joe takes a liking to sharp-tongued waitress Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan), who later hitches a ride when her shift is mercifully over. She's soon part of their little circle, which also includes a few trucking pals and Paul's patient wife Pearl (Gale Page), and it's not long before Joe finds Cassie a room for rent close to him in Los Angeles and reunites with his old buddy Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale Sr.), whose young wife Lana (Ida Lupino) has been after Paul for years.

Caution: Mild spoilers and dangerous curves ahead.

Later on down the road -- and telegraphed several scenes earlier -- tragedy strikes when Paul falls asleep at the wheel, totaling their truck and injuring the brothers. Paul takes the worst of it by far, even losing his right arm, which all but ends his trucking career and leaves him a frustrated shell of his former self. Joe has no choice but to soldier on without his brother, but in a much less dangerous job: he now works for Ed as a suit-and-tie traffic manager while Lana tries to dig her hooks in from a close distance. Trouble returns during a party at Ed's lavish home when the boss gets drop-over drunk and Lana, furious at Joe's continued rejections, proves that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

End spoilers.

The narrative disparity of its distinctly different halves -- well, thirds, if we're being honest -- ensures that some first-time viewers will appreciate the first few legs of this journey more than its final destination. Its second half feels much, much closer to a proto-noir than the comparatively sleek and straightforward drama that precedes it and, from several angles, the way They Drive by Night is stitched together could have used a more careful touch. The good news is that it stays well above water thanks to the sharp dialogue, committed performances (which range from low-key and realistic to almost laughably over-the-top), and steady direction from actor-turned director Walsh, who had already impressed audiences with The Roaring Twenties a year earlier but would be better known for his 1949 masterpiece, White Heat. They Drive by Night isn't as good as either of those, but it's still a modest career highlight for all involved.

Ever the champion of deep-cut catalog resurrections, Warner Archive brings They Drive by Night to Blu-ray in grand fashion, replaced both their own 2017 DVD reissue of Warner Bros.' 2003 standard-definition disc. It's not quite as well-rounded as the boutique label's best releases but will still delight fans of this lesser-known classic.

They Drive by Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Another day, another five-star rating for Warner Archive's reliably great restoration work: once again sourced from a new and exclusive 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative and treated to a round of careful manual cleanup, They Drive by Night absolutely looks as good as expected. I've all but exhausted the adjectives typically used for these video write-ups -- outstanding, pristine, even revelatory -- but just know that this stands tall with the boutique labels best work, which has become so consistently great in recent years that I'm almost on auto pilot. As these screenshots suggest, die-hard fans and newcomers alike can look forward to a very clean and trouble-free HD presentation free with a thick and stable appearance that retains an authentic veneer of film grain and texture that feels true to its original source. Encoding is, as usual, perfectly handled and shows no apparent signs of banding, macro blocking, or other compression issues, with the whole show running smoothly from start to finish at a supportively high bit rate.

They Drive by Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio runs a respectable second with mostly clean, intelligible dialogue and good prioritization yet, like the majority of films from this era of sound recording, a thin layer of gauziness and mild hiss can still easily be heard much of the way. It's decently handled and I'd imagine that some of these age and source-related imperfections were left alone so as not to disturb the film's modest dynamic range, but in any case this is still clearly the best that They Drive by Night has ever sounded on home video and quite a capable effort, all things considered.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

They Drive by Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts of any kind. The extras largely feel like pre-show entertainment, but most are at least film-specific.

• Lux Radio Theater Broadcast (44:24) - Originally airing June 2, 1941, this abridged radio version of They Drive by Night featuring George Raft and Lana Turner; sadly, there's no introduction or cast credits.

• Divided Highway: The Story of "They Drive By Night" (10:35) - This DVD-era retrospective featurette briefly overviews the film's production and legacy with short interview clips featuring film historians Leonard Maltin and Robert Osbourne, as well as Bogart biographer Eric Lax. Lightweight but worth a look.

• Swingtime in the Movies (19:09) - An Oscar-winning Vitaphone short that concerns a despondent Western movie director who happens upon a wealth of musical talent at the studio cafe. Several prominent actors from this era, including Humphrey Bogart, appear as themselves in brief, uncredited bit parts.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1:51) - Roaring out of the darkness, and also available here.

They Drive by Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A frankly kind of baffling mixture of soap opera, straightforward drama, and proto-noir, Raoul Walsh's They Drive by Night nonetheless remains a solidly entertaining effort that holds up surprisingly well more than eight decades later. Featuring a committed cast and at least one unforgettably over-the-top performance, it's a lesser-seen classic that's well worth (re)discovering. Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray offers a good deal of support with yet another pitch-perfect restoration and a handful of lightweight but appropriate bonus features. Firmly Recommended.