They Drive by Night (1940)
The basic storyThe two brothers Paul and Joe Fabrini are working in the trucking business in California, mainly shipping fruit from farms to the markets in Los Angeles. Business is tough, with corrupt businessmen and intense competition, but Paul is trying to make a living for his family, and Joe is trying to start one with the former waitress Cassie Hartley.
Everything changes the day the two brothers take a chance and buy their own truck to start their own company. The truck crashes and Paul is injured and becomes unable to work.
To make ends meet, Joe starts working for his friend Ed Carlsen. Ed's beautiful wife Lana don't love her husband, but she is very interested in Joe. And so, the drama begins.
How was it?
Highly enjoyable!
It is one of my personal favorites. Not a lot of action, but a very human story about two brothers trying to make a living by hauling goods, and what life brings them. Part of what makes this work so well, is that it is not a simple story, but really three stories working in unison. This could have been a boring movie, had it been told differently, but this is just a compelling and entertaining story.
Rating
★★★★★
95 min.
Black and white
- Michael Pilgaard