jersey_lightning

Does anyone know what the original reviews of "They Drive By Night" were? It was made by the Warner Bros.' Teddington Studios and intriques me because it is similar to the typical films Warners was making in the US at the time. Warners even recycled the title a few years later. Just curious if anyone has any background on this....

Regards,

Kat

theuofc

Hello, Kat,

This doesn't really speak to your question about contemporary reviews for Arthur Woods' "They Drive By Night," but I couldn't resist a comment on one of my favorite horror films. Emlyn Williams is excellent as Shorty, but Ernest Thesiger steals the show as Walter Hoover. The whole film is a gem noir lit and shot perfectly by cinematographer Basil Emmott. I realise that the intriguing, twisty "Dead of Night" has many fans, but in my book, They Drive By Night gives it a race for its money.

Have you had a chance to browse film magazines for 1938 and Williams' biography (if there is one) for contemporary comments on the film? The Brit TDBN had to have been better appreciated than the Hollywood 1940 version once they were compared, or I hope so.

Best,

Barbara

Nick Dando

Have you had a chance to browse film magazines for 1938 and Williams' biography (if there is one) for contemporary comments on the film?

I've read "George an early autobiography" but that finishes well before film work. I haven't got the later part of the autobiography, "Emlyn", but again that only goes up to 1935. I've got "Emlyn Williams A Life" by James Harding to read, but doing a quick check in the index brings up some information on the film on page 101. Emlyn's comment on the film: "Very nice, very sordid". The rest of the text is a brief precis of the film, and some comments about Ernest Thesiger.

By the way, Barbara, there's no mention of Dirk; sorry.

Nick

Rennie

http://www.shillpages.com/movies/the...ght1938vhs.gif

theuofc

Hello, Nick,

You have some wonderful reference books! I detect another book lover and especially of biographies. That's a great comment from Emlyn. May I ask what he said about Thesiger, such a fine character actor.

Yes, very few autobiographies have anything on Dirk which seems strange. In the three autobios that Lauren Bacall has written, I can't find a word on Dirk; yet he spent his last afternoon with her laughing and recalling past memories. I've decided, right or wrong, that Dirk's friends and acquaintances probably realised that he would detest his private life being written about so they didn't risk it.

Best,

Barbara

theuofc

Wonderful screen capture of TDBN, Rennie. Thanks for sharing it.

Best,

Barbara

jersey_lightning

Barbara,

I had the same Williams' bios and autobios previously cited, plus one by Richard Findlater, which doesn't shed any light on the film. I had only recently seen it for the first time, and it intrigued me for several reasons. It is an early noir example, and crosses over between a gangster picture and horror.

But it also seems to me that Williams's character, Shorty Matthews, is an early anti-hero type. Typically, the American actor John Garfield is pointed out as the first anti-hero on film for his appearance in "Four Daughters." Yet Williams's role predates that of Garfield's. So, was Emlyn Williams really the first anti-hero on film? It is interesting that TDBN was made by the British unit of Warners/First National, which was cranking out gangsters pictures in the States at the time. I could easily see Garfield playing the Shorty Matthews role.

It is interesting, too, that Warners swiped its own title and focused the American TDBN on the lives of the truckers at the truck stops, and not using them as background. I have not seen anything comparing the two films and doubt if many people realize there were two different movies with this title.

The one thing I did find amusing -- you could rest assured that when Bogart or Cagney or Garfield were released from jail, the first place they would go would NOT be the tea shop! But it was nice to see that even petty criminals in Britain could be civilized.

And, as you are the resident Bogarde fan, have you seen "The Epic That Never Was"? I have it in my Williams' collection, but Dirk narrates ....

Regards,

Kat in the US

theuofc

Hello, Kat,

You make so many interesting points, I'll separate my replies. About contemporary reviews: Charles Barr in "All Our Yesterdays" recounts the reception TDBY received in 1938: TDBY "was favorably received both critically and commercially. Even Aubrey Flanagan, London correspondent of the 'Motion Picture Herald' was thrilled into uncharacteristic enthusiasm, 'This canvas of rain and wind-swept highways, of dingy snack bars and hard-boiled Cockney artisans is both fascinating and convincing: the lowlife element has seldom if ever been handled with more naturalness and sympathy, whether by directorial treatment or individual portrayal."

It's interesting to note that at the time certain segments of James Curtis' novel TDBN were changed (censored) in Derek Twist's screen adaptation. To not upset the British censors, "prostitutes are dance hostesses, there is no police brutality, the middle-class rapists are reduced to a lecherous lorry driver." (289)

Just a few glimpses of how TDBY was received.

Best,

Barbara

theuofc

Hello, Kat,

What an interesting question to ponder: is Shorty of TDBY the first anti-hero on screen? He may well be. Yet, as I think about TDBN, I wonder if it isn't what some call a social problem film. Shorty, ex-con, a marginalized member of the lower class becomes a victim of the state/the law (with a good dash of horror at the end). Shorty runs because he senses rightly that the law will automatically think he is guilty.

A precursor to TDBN might be Paul Muni's earlier superb performance as James Allen in "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang" (1932), directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Ex-vet Allen rejects factory work and as a bum, again a marginalized member of society, is accused of robbery and wrongly convicted by the state. The fascinating difference in TDBN is the twist into horror, not shared in Chain Gang which has its own social horror ending.

On the other hand, John Garfield, dark, edgy, yet vulnerable, is a rebel who grinds his teeth in angst against society, years ahead of James Dean. His rebel in Four Daughters seems different from the Shortys and James Allens who are victims marginalized by class and trapped or oppressed by society and the law.

It's true that none of these men are heroes in the traditional sense of the word and are anti-heroes in that respect, but they seem to be driven by different forces.

Thanks for a wonderful subject. I loved thinking about it.

Best,

Barbara

theuofc

Hi, Kat,

Patricia Warren in her "British Film Studios" gives the history of Teddington Studios, where Warner had Arthur Woods film TDBN in 1938. In 1931 Warner leased and then bought Teddington to fulfill its obligations of making 120-140 low-budget, quota quickies between 1931-1939, which in turn would allow them to then screen their important American films in British cinemas. It was a great training ground and included, I believe, one or two of Michael Powell's qq's, as well as Woods' TDBN. (160-161)

That was an interesting bit of history about TDBN that I didn't know.

Best,

Barbara

theuofc

As you say, Warner Bros/First-National U.S. film TDBN (1940) had a greatly changed story from the UK social problem + horror film TDBN. What the U.S. saw was a melodrama of two trucker brothers portrayed by Bogart and Geoge Raft. Bogart and the scheming Ida Lupino give knockout performances. Did the Studio suits think that a melodrama with these top stars would appeal to American audiences more than the UK social problem plot? By all accounts, it did quite well. But waiting in the wings for American viewers was the superb social problem film that year, "Grapes of Wrath" with Henry Fonda's escaped-con Tom Joad and his homeless migrant family during the Great Depression.

Best,

Barbara

theuofc

Dear Kat,

Yes, wasn't Bogarde gorgeous in it? The Epic That Never Was (1965) was Bogarde in his prime, made the same year as Darling. It followed the earlier gutsy Victim (1961) and Bogarde's dark portrayal in The Servant (1963). Down the road still lay his European work, among it The Damned (1969) and Death in Venice (1971). I've spent a lot of lovely time with Dirk Bogarde's performances and writings and run a list devoted to discussing them. Time well spent. Thanks so much for asking. I always enjoy any opportunity to talk Bogarde.

It's also been lovely chatting with you about TDBN and the very fine actor, Emlyn Williams.

Best,

Barbara

Nick Dando

TDBN and Ernest Thesiger.
Here is what James Harding has written. from page 101.
"An excellent cast supported him (Emlyn), among them that magnificent grgoyle Ernest Thesiger, here displaying his talent for the Gothis as a crazed assassin. Every Performance by Thesiger - and he appeared in scores of films and plays over the years until he reached a great age - was a tour de force made memorable by his cadaverous profile and shrivelled stature and mincing diction. He was just as baroque off-stage. One day, on a visit to his old school Marlborough for dinner with the Senior Master, he could not keep his eyes of a particularly well-built sixth-form lad. He afterwards confided in his host: "I'd give *anything* to be that boy's mother." In London, much encumbered with parcels, he was about to board a bus, one foot on, one foot off, when it suddenly started and began dragging him along. "Stop! Stop!" he fluted loudly, "you're killing a genius!" The conductor heard him and Thesiger was saved by the bell."
From page 117.
"He reported that Ernest Thesiger had been observed hurrying down a side street and muttering: "I'm off to see if X Mansions is really razed to the ground, as I have an uncle who lives there and I know I'm in his will!"

Nick

Steve Crook

I think one of Ernest Thesiger's finest performances was in Michael Powell's quota quicky The Night of the Party (1935). Thesiger played a "theatrical" type at the posh dinner party where a murder has been committed. He's camp as a row of tents throughout and he does a great OTT melodramatic/hysterical finalé.

Steve

DB7

Can't really see anything anti-hero in the role; it's a forumla Hitch used on Young and Innocent and would use again right up to Frenzy. The wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time with a fear of the police goes on the run until the final denouncement. All use the same start point of a strangled female that knew the protagonist.