GurlyIamBeach
Instant Favorite.
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
mlink-36-9815
What i like about THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT is the authentic british dialogue.it wasnt rewritten to make it comprehensible to american audiences. thats its charm.
Robert J. Maxwell
In some respects it resembles Hitchcock's "39 Steps." Recently released from prison, Emlyn Williams is mistakenly blamed for the murder of an old girl friend. Knowing he will be accused because of his record, he takes off from London to Manchester and back again. Along the way he meets diverse types of people, some suspicious, some affable. Half the pursuit takes place at night in an effectively conveyed torrent of wind and rain. Very atmospheric.Williams enlists the help of a dance hostess (what is a dance hostess?) whom he has known for years. Together they try to find out who the murderer might be. The young lady is Anna Konstam, a friend of the victim. They worked together at the Palais de Dance.It lacks the minor humorous touches that Hitchcock would have given it, the embedded short stories like the cheap farmer and his wife in "The 39 Steps." It's all suspenseful and grim.Enter the murderer, Ernest Thesiger, or, if you prefer, Doctor Septimus Praetorius from "The Bride of Frankenstein." Thesiger was quite a character. He was from an aristocratic family and mostly gay. There is a charcoal sketch of him as a young man by John Singer Sargent.He brings light to a dark movie. The guy looks like he's made of sticks and the shape of his skull is that of a football. He should leave his skeleton to the Royal Anthropological Society. Thesinger's performance can't accurately be called over the top. He reaches for the moon.An ex teacher of psychology, he insinuates his way effortlessly into the conundrum of the loving couple. His speech rings with eloquence. When he describes the reason for his involvement in the case, "Let us say it is because of my interest in the crepuscular recesses of the human mind." I love that phrase. I'm going to write it down and use it myself. What the hell, why not? Williams, the soi-disant ex-con and bum, speaks the ordinary middle-class dialect of southern England but with a fake underground touch to it. He said "ain't" and "who done it," but he says it in a way that doesn't suggest it comes naturally to him.It's an engaging flick, full of suspense and, after Thesinger's entrance, oddities. It's no masterpiece but it's an enjoyable diversion.
Charlot47
Taut British noir. set mostly after dark and indoors, about an innocent man on the run for a crime he did not commit (Emlyn Williams), the girl who helps him (Anna Konstam with a blonde perm), not quite a tart but with a heart of gold, and a creepy serial killer (Ernest Thesiger). Interesting for its inversion of the usual values of 1930s British films, in which the lower classes tend to be either comic or villainous or both. Here the murderer has the accent, the education, the aesthetic taste and the comfortable house while virtually all the other characters share the camaraderie of the working class, which includes a disinclination to say too much to the police.A number of similarities with Hitchcock films of the period, in particular "Young And Innocent", which also has a falsely accused man and a girl who believes in him trying to find the real murderer in a transport café and a dance hall.
Film-Fan
"They Drive By Night" is difficult to find (as are many pre World War II British titles) but well worth the effort. What starts out as a standard crime drama takes a startling turn into horror in the final reel.Ernest Thesiger (best known as Dr.Pretorius in 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein") adds the most interesting element to the film and to share any more would ruin the fun.Emlyn Williams as ex-con Shorty Matthews carries the film. Pity this poor fellow...he has the worst luck in the world. Upon release from prison, his intention is to return to the arms of his girlfriend. Unfortunately, someone has murdered her that very day. Naturally, police think he is the killer.Shorty takes to the road, hitchhiking rides with truck drivers, hoping to stay free long enough for the police to find the real killer. One of the uncredited stars of this film has to be rain! The constant pouring rain accentuates Shorty's troubles as he tries to clear his name and (excuse the pun) adds buckets of atmosphere to the movie.Don't confuse the British "They Drive by Night" with the later US version starring Humphrey Bogart. The only thing they have in common is the presence of truck drivers.
