They Drive by Night

Nice crime thriller that almost seems like a lost Hitchcock film. Moody lighting contributes to the noirish atmoshpere. Ernest Thesiger turns in one of his creepiest performances.

As the Sydney nights draw in and winter approaches there are times I just want a good, solid movie to keep me entertained for 90 minutes. A story which ticks over, a touch of drama, actors who know their roles and the odd laugh is appreciated but not mandatory.

There aren't many laughs in this movie but it ticks all the other boxes. Shorty is just out of prison and barely finishes his first cup of tea before he is up for murder. If he can remain at large maybe the real murderer will surface. Unfortunately his record marks him down as guilty until proved innocent. The only people who believe him are dancing girl Molly and the foppish Mr. Hoover who steals the last 20 minutes.

You can glimpse into an older period where life was more simple, movies relied on plot over action and murderers hung from the gallows.

Emlyn Williams as Shorty plays a good bad guy. The age of this movie makes him look as if he has been on the run for a few days. The limited use of Ernest Thesiger as Mr Hoover is well timed as the character would lose its impact if he was introduced earlier.

Well worth a watch.

This is a somewhat "lost" film from England in the late thirties. It definitely does have Hitchcokian overtones as a young con just released from prison goes to visit a girl he knew, only to find her dead, and himself accused of the crime. The bulk of the film follows this young man as he tries to hide from the police by traveling North on a lorry(truck). From there he meets a female of his acquaintance, convinces her of his innocence, and they both embark on a quest to find the real killer. The film has a nice, tight directorial style that creates lots of suspenseful moments. The script is also pretty good. The biggest key to the film's success is the acting. Emlyn Williams does a good job in the lead, but acting honors easily go to Ernest Thesiger playing a highbrow, effeminate, erudite former teacher and student of psychology with a deadly secret. Thesiger's character acting is a joy to behold as he talks about the power of killing in one moment and then in another talks to pussycats in a baby voice. He is so wonderful with these kinds of quirky characterizations(a must-see in The Bride of Frankenstein). A good, old-fashioned suspense story.

"They Drive By Night" (not to be confused with the Bogart) had a rare showing in a New York theater in 2009, as part of a series on British film noir. The only reason the theater screening matters is because of crowd reaction. And the reaction to this film, especially the final sequences, was absolutely joyous.

The movie is at least 2/3rds over before one of the main characters appears, the former schoolmaster Walter Hoover, played by the unbelievably urbane, stick-figure-thin Ernest Thesiger. The camera starts on his hands, so you only see what he's doing-- pasting newspaper clippings about lurid murders into a scrapbook-- but when his face is finally revealed, the whole audience seemed to sit a bit straighter, and we stayed that way through the end, reacting with open delight to this character's every movement, his every phrase.

I mean to take nothing away from the star of the film, Emlyn Williams (who wrote almost as many films as he starred in), but Ernest Thesiger was capable of turning a lousy movie into a watchable one, and a good movie into an unforgettable one. This is definitely the latter.

They Drive by Night is directed by Arthur Woods and collectively written by Paul Gangelin, Derek Twist and from his own novel; James Curtis. It stars Emlyn Williams, Ernest Thesiger and Anna Konstam. Music is by Bretton Byrd and cinematography by Basil Emmott.

Just released from Pentonville Prison, Shorty Matthews (Williams) visits a lady friend and finds her murdered in her own bed. Pannicking and believing the police will have him marked for the crime, Shortie goes on the run in the hope that the real killer will be caught...

It's still something of a lost British treasure is Arthur Woods' They Drive By Night, it's a film that has gained justifiable high regard by those who have managed to track it down for viewing. Essentially a innocent man on the run picture at its plot core, it's the surrounding meat on the bones that lift it to classic suspense noir status.

The Thrill Of Evil.

It's a picture of persistent rain that lashes the streets and highways, the wind an aural accomplice of some magnitude. A tale infused with grim snack bars, gambling dens, abandoned buildings or artisan abodes that are inhabited by either crafty cockney's, spivs, macho truckers or camp fetishist maniacs! And of course our protagonist is up against it from the off, wherever he turns he seems destined to be the victim of fate and circumstance.

Sex In Relation To Society.

As a portrait of pre Second World War British society it's gloomy and unrelentingly bleak, with Woods (sadly to die in the War) and Emmott achieving a stunning sense of time and place by way of dim lights and contrasts that ensures moody atmospherics go hand in hand with the machinations of the story. This can very much be seen as a forerunner (influence) to some of the great British noirs that followed a decade later.

Studies In Murder.

Some scenes get under the skin and stay there, while others surprisingly enchant the soul; such is their beauty. Lead cast performances are mightily strong, with Thesiger the star as he enters the tale late in the day and turns in a creepy show that startles in the way that calmness of evil is portrayed. While Thesiger's facial features are used to maximum potential by the astute director.

Only real problem here is the musical score by Bretton Byrd. Too often the music is ill fittingly jolly, it immediately conjures up images (to those familiar with 1930s British comedy movies) of the films made by the great Will Hay. Sure enough on examination we find that Byrd did indeed provide the music for four Hay movies in the 30s, and it sadly shows in a film that doesn't deserve such jollification.

Musical problem aside, this is a ripper of a movie, worthy of better exposure and definitely of major interest to anyone interested in the early steps of British film noir. 8.5/10