-
Wednesday, Jul 2, 2025
7 PM (95 mins)
Get Tickets
BAMPFA
They Live by Night
35mm Archival Print
-
Introduction and Post-Screening Discussion
David Thomson is a noted film critic and historian who has authored more than twenty books, including The Fatal Alliance: A Century of War on Film.
Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen,
Fugitive lovers on the run from nightmare America—drab, mercenary, and insanely competitive—create their own fantasy world full of charm and playful naivete in Nicholas Ray’s contribution to amour fou. Bowie (Farley Granger), an escaped convict, and Keechie (Cathy O’Donnell) are innocents who were “never properly introduced to the world we live in,” and their romance is their only defense against a cruel world. Already in this astonishing first film, Ray’s style is striking in its compactness and expressive mise-en-scène, and personal in its peculiarly nervous existentialism. The tenderness of the love story contrasts sharply with the noir elements of the genre.
FILM DETAILS
Screenwriter
- Charles Schnee
Based On
the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson
Cinematographer
- George E. Diskant
Print Info
- B&W
- 35mm
- 95 mins
Source
- BFI National Archive
Permission
- Park Circus
Event Accessibility
If you have any questions about accessibility or need accommodations to attend this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-1412 (Wed–Sun, 11 AM–7 PM) as soon as you can. Advance notice helps us fulfill your request.
Learn more about accessibility services at BAMPFA.