- The directorial debut of Nicholas Ray and based on a novel by Edward Anderson, They Live by Night relates the tale of two star-crossed lovers who find themselves on the run from the law. Bowie (Farley Granger) enters the film limping as the result of injuries sustained while escaping from a prison work gang. His accomplices, the unsavory one-eyed Chicamaw (Howard Da Silva) and the paternal T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen), drag him to an out-of-the-way gas station, where he is tended to by the sympathetic Keechie (Cathy O'Donnell). The two are immediately drawn to one another, although Keechie is understandably wary of Bowie's willingness to commit armed robbery with his confederates. Despite her hesitance and over the protests of her inebriate father (Will Wright), the two youths eventually run off together.
- Surprisingly Bowie and Keechie's wedding proves to be the most interesting and amusing scene in the entire film. The local fly-by-night minister named Hawkins (Ian Wolfe) operates out of a cottage furnished with a neon light that advertises "Marriages Performed". Thirty dollars will get you the deluxe package and twenty the basic wedding, complete with two witnesses, one of whom can't kiss the bride because he's got a cold. Incidentally, Hawkins knows where you could buy a used car, no questions asked, and even has some friends in Mexico, should the need arise. Like Bowie, Hawkins is a thief who doesn't seem to get much satisfaction out of his profession, even if he does find the income comforting.
- As is often the case with these sorts of movies, the robberies and relationships go from bad to worse, with both the law and Chicamaw threatening to cause problems for the increasingly unhappy couple. Complicating matters further is Keechie's pregnancy and the fact that a motel owner (Helen Craig) informs on the couple to pave her husband's way to parole. Honestly, I didn't find the interpersonal drama in They Live by Night to be all that compelling, although it is no fault of Granger's or O'Donnell's, both of whom deliver excellent performances. I think the whole thing just pales in comparison to the same year's absolutely electric Gun Crazy (which, oddly enough, starred Farley Granger's partner in crime from Rope, John Dall). Although this one has a few good character actors and a surprising overabundance of shots taken from a helicopter, there's not much else to set it apart from the average "couple on the run" film.
