theuofc

Dear Nick,

You're a gem. Thanks so much for typing out the bits about Thesiger. What a great character, in several senses. The anecdotes about his school visit, the bus, and XMansions are priceless. I definitely have to get the Williams biography.

Much appreciated,

Barbara

jersey_lightning

First, many thanks to Barbara for doing yeoman service on her replies!

Now, on the anti-hero angle, take a step back from what has already been said about the wrong man and social/class issues.

An anti-hero is someone who is an unsympathetic, unenviable character, seemingly at first with little to no redeeming qualities, who rallies some sort of internal integrity to perform a heroic deed.

Shorty Matthews is, in American terminology, a bum. He's a petty crook, getting out of jail after an 18-month stint. And the first thing he does is go back to look up his old gang and openly states he's going back into the racket. When asked why, he has two simple explanations: it's all he knows how to do, and the fates would not let him go straight -- they've had it in for him since he was a kid.

This last is an extremely "Garfieldesque" statement, particularly in light of his Mickey Borden role in "Four Daughters." Borden constantly blames the fates for where he is, and isn't, in life.

For at least the first third of TDBN, Shorty does nothing to endear himself to the viewer. He finds his girlfriend strangled and takes it on the lam, knowing he'll be blamed (although I did wonder at the state of forensics in 1938 -- wouldn't Scotland Yard have realized the girl had been dead before Shorty got there?).

On his journey to escape, however, Shorty begins to exhibit heroics in spite of himself. The truck driver he has hitched a lift with finds out who Shorty is and says he will turn him over to the police. Yet after an accident that knocks the driver out, Shorty takes over driving the truck. He stops at one of the "caffs" along the way for aspirin, and there meets a girl he knew from London. When she is subsequently about to be raped by another trucker, he stops and beats up the trucker, taking the girl along with the injured driver.

So, Shorty does have some redeeming qualities -- a really complete bum would've knocked the driver over the head himself and probably raped the girl, too. But, despite the fact that Shorty knows he's being pursued, he stops to help others. Even when he holes up in the abandoned house, he shares his ham sandwich with some hungry kittens. And by the second day, he's had enough of a change of heart to admit his mistake in running away, and says he will go straight for the sake of the girl he saved, and who in turn has helped him out.

Not as dramatic a turn around as Mickey Borden crashing his car so his wife can marry the man she really is in love with, but certainly, I think, an early effort at showing that even a low-life bum can have a change of heart.

And to quickly address the Fugitive from a Chain Gang, yes, that was an American social problem of the time -- Muni's character is one of those World War I, post-traumatic stress victims who can't sit still, and keeps moving around, but whose life spirals downward and downward. You really need to see this one in the light of the time it was made -- the so-called "forgotten man" was a huge social problem in the US (interesting -- I never thought -- did this phenomena exist in England?). But Allen is not a bum -- he was a victim of circumstance -- this is more of the "society is to blame" type film that Warners like to make when they weren't churning out gangster films.


Kat in the US

theuofc

Dear Nick,

I became so interested in Thesiger after your quotes that I started looking for more on him. Before acting, he was a painter, probably well-known about him although I hadn't realised how good. Supposedly an "exquisite embroiderer", Thesiger wrote a book "Adventures in Embroidery." (1941) That I didn't know at all. What an unusual man.

Thanks,

Barbara

jersey_lightning

Barbara,

Between work and weekend chores, I haven't been able to spend enough time reading here! I appreciate your finding these critical references -- something virtually impossible to find in the US! It sounds as if TDBN was fairly well received. I daresay the American censors would probably have made the same changes to the original source material! I'd be curious to go back and try to dig up a copy of the original novel.

Thanks, too, for the information on Teddington Studios. Your "British Film Studios" book is another one I'd like to track down. I was familiar with the term, "quota quickies," but not entirely sure what the quota was for, so your answer helped clarify that. When you think about the cost of running a studio and turning out 100+ movies a year, how much was Warners' making on their US releases to cover that cost? In studying film, it is easy to lose sight of the business end, which is interesting in its own right. I'm curious now if the other Hollywood studios had British subsidiaries, or did they have other ways of releasing films in England?

Finally, the information on Thesiger is fascinating. In this country, he is relatively unknown except for his appearance in "Bride of Frankenstein." You mentioned his embroidery -- when I first saw TDBN, I noticed Thesiger had remarkable hands which added to the creepiness of his performance. It doesn't surprise me, then, to learn he was an artist and embroiderer -- he certainly had the long, delicate fingers for it!

Again, many thanks for all the tidbits of information, especially since they are so hard to come by in the US!

Regards,

Kat

theuofc

You are most welcome, Kat. I had to place a special order and pay way too much for the reference books but they're very helpful, particularly the Warren text. The Charles Barr text is a collection of essays by different film critics, historians, and so forth on various aspects of "90 Years of British Cinema."
They are quite good except for the odd theory one might not totally agree with. (I've never found a theory I didn't want to instinctively--perversely?--dispute.)

Yes, Thesiger seems like a lovely character and quite talented. I put a note in the biographies wanted thread with the hope that someone will write a bio on him. His 1927 autobiography is almost impossible to find or at least to afford!

Lovely chatting with you,

Barbara

theuofc

Hello, Kat,

I've ordered "Chain Gang" from the library so I can have another close view of it next to "They Drive By Night". It's been a while and memory isn't always willing. The wonderful problem with an intelligent, well-developed post like yours is that a simple answer definitely is not adequate in responding to you. So I'll come back to this later.

As a quick note: given the above definition of an anti-hero, Shorty seems to fit the bill, but my gut instinct is that there are several definitions of anti-hero out there, and while Shorty fits one or all, the over-all context and thrust of "They Drive By Night" are larger, more social ones.

But as I say, best I look at the films first. It'd be interesting to hear DB7 on this also.

All the best,

Barbara

Giltkid

Hello all,

I'm new on this forum but am very interested in this film, and in particular James Curtis, who wrote the original novel and co-wrote the screenplay. I have to say that while the first part of the film is quite true to the book and its milieu of lorry drivers –plus the plot strand of Shorty Mathews being unjustly suspected of his ex-girl's murder – the film veers off into horror territory once Ernest Thesiger appears (still very entertaining, though, as Thesiger is, as always, fantastic). In the book, the corresponding character is more of a classic serial killer, and the general tone throughout conforms to the low-life genre of which Curtis was the prime exponent.

Also noteworthy is that in the novel Shorty certainly fits the anti-hero type – he's an undoubted criminal (and ends up back in prison), but is the character with whom you most identify. Curtis was apparently extremely anti-establishment and especially hated the police – a fact that's apparent in his books. (TDBN includes several scenes of Mathews hitting policemen). If you can track down any of his novels, they're a fascinating, and just about unique, insight into London's low-life in the 1930s? I know people claim Patrick Hamilton as that era's prime chronicler of low-life. Hamilton's brilliant – but Curtis is the real deal if you're looking for a hard-hitting view of life at the bottom of society in that period.

One more note – a film was also made of Curtis' boxing opus There Ain't No Justice. Can't find any reference to it on this board. Anyone out there seen it?

DB7

Maybe an anti-hero in part as Shorty is an ex-con but he reminds me again of Hitch's 'wrong man' protagonist - somebody in the wrong place at the wrong time.

ChristineCB

I have read this Anti-Hero chronology with great interest. Thank you. I know the '70s were a time where this phrase "anti-hero" was bandied about but there were obviously many prime examples in earlier decades.

Hackett

Your right not cheap $275.00 plus shipping on abebooks.com

Joenoir

THE
Monthly Film Bulletin
Published by
The British Film Institute
Volume 6, No.61, January 1939, page 2
THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1939)
Murder-mystery melodrama. Shorty Matthews comes out of prison and finds Alice, a girl he had once known, strangled. Terrified of the possibilities of circumstantial evidence, he bolts. A lorry driver gives him a lift north. On the road he meets Molly, a girl friend, and rescues her from a brutal lorry driver. The police catch up with him, but Shorty escapes from them, and doubles back to London. There Molly hides him in an empty house. To the dance hall where she works comes Mr. Hoover, a "student of psychology". He tells Molly that he believes Shorty is innocent, but follows her and discovers Shorty's whereabouts. Hoover insists on their both going back with him to his flat. There he attempts to strangle Molly, and the identity of Alice's murderer is discovered.
This gripping and exciting thriller has been admirably produced and directed. Great care has been taken with the backgrounds, which are strikingly realistic. The strange night life on the trunk roads with the open all-night cafés (pronounced "caffs") is contrasted with the gay and flashy palais de danse. The cheap lodging-house is set over against Mr. Hoover's luxurious but eerie flat. The sinister opening - a group of people waiting outside a prison for the bell which tolls for the execution of a murderer - is repeated in the closing sequence, after a climax in the Grand Guignol tradition.
The cast has obviously been most carefully chosen. Emlyn Williams has a part after his own heart, and plays it admirably. Ernest Thesiger is effectively sinister and creepy as the homicidal maniac who is definitely but not obviously insane, and gives a very clever performance. Anna Konstam is a promising newcomer. Helped by natural and racy dialogue the supporting players do almost equally well. The quality of the night-photography is excellent.

DB7

Thanks for that Joe. One of my favourite atmospheric thrillers and one I often return to.