They Drive by Night

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They Drive by Night

1940

1h 35m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Brothers Joe (George Raft) and Paul Fabrini (Humphrey Bogart), who are delivery-truck drivers, push themselves hard trying to run their own business. One night, a fatigued Paul falls asleep behind the wheel, demolishing the truck and losing an arm. Joe is then offered a job by a truck company owner (Alan Hale) whose wife, Lana (Ida Lupino), falls for Joe. Lana kills her husband to be with Joe, but when he refuses her advances because he loves Cassie (Ann Sheridan), Lana frames him for murder.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Oct 27, 2014

The pugnacity of Walsh's comic direction infuses turbulently free enterprise with tragedy.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Jul 6, 2010

Fast moving and actionful melodrama of long-haul trucking biz, They Drive clicks with plenty of entertainment content.

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Mar 25, 2006

For fanciers of hard-boiled cinema, They Drive By Night still offers an entertaining ride.

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Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Nov 11, 2024

3.5/5

George Raft, Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart star, but Ida Lupino steals the show in this tonally all-over-the-place film noir about the underbelly of truck driving.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Apr 25, 2024

4/5

They Drive By Night is a two-films-in-one title and features fine direction from Walsh as he makes the best use of his actors.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Apr 10, 2024

3.5/4

Decades before the life of a celluloid truck driver basically consisted of hauling contraband booze, talking on CB radios, and flipping off redneck cops, They Drive by Night depicted a decidedly darker lifestyle.

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Insomniac X

@RT03001349 Feb 5, 2025

Buddy movie about two truckers surviving on the brink. The camaraderie between Bogie and George Raft is contagious, and makes for an engaging first half. Unfortunately, the film's detour into murder mystery melodrama drastically alters its tone and lessens its impact.

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Russ G

@RT78760655 Aug 8, 2024

Another film starring Bogie of which you've never heard, because it's just a churn-em-out assembly line studio product. Nothing to recommend here besides Bogie alongside George Raft.

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acsdoug D

@acsdoug Jul 11, 2024

Usually when Ida Lupino makes her appearance the movie immediately improves. Not so here. When she arrives about a third of the way through the movie turns from a trucker movie to a noir/melodrama. It doesn't tank the film completely, just enough to keep me from recommending it.

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Joel P

@RT09818457 Apr 25, 2024

Plays like 2 different movies. First half, terrific. Drama about hardships of truckers. Bogart and Raft great, and Ann Sheridan sparkles with hard boiled dialogue. Second half near awfull, as usually convincing Ida Lupino saddled with over the top role as unfaithful wife, sex starved stalker. Sheridan and Bogart disappear from film. Plot becomes ridiculous. If it feels like a different film, it is. A remake of a previous Bette Davis film. Watch the first half.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Mar 17, 2024

I found it sleep inducing.

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David K

@RT61474040 May 16, 2023

This film is a trademark Warners entry...gritty, blue-collar, tough talking guys and the dames that love them. The cast is phenomenal - Bogart, George Raft, Ida Lupino, and Ann Sheridan. Lupino's courtroom scene is over-the-top, but the rest of the movie works well.

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Raoul Walsh

Director

George Raft

Joe Fabrini

Humphrey Bogart

Paul Fabrini

Ann Sheridan

Cassie Hartley

Ida Lupino

Lana Carlsen

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Synopsis

Brothers Joe (George Raft) and Paul Fabrini (Humphrey Bogart), who are delivery-truck drivers, push themselves hard trying to run their own business. One night, a fatigued Paul falls asleep behind the wheel, demolishing the truck and losing an arm. Joe is then offered a job by a truck company owner (Alan Hale) whose wife, Lana (Ida Lupino), falls for Joe. Lana kills her husband to be with Joe, but when he refuses her advances because he loves Cassie (Ann Sheridan), Lana frames him for murder.

Director: Raoul Walsh
Screenwriter: A. I. Bezzerides, Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay
Distributor: Warner Bros., MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Key Video, Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: Warner Brothers, First National Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 1940, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.37:1)

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