Classic Films in Focus: EACH DAWN I DIE (1939)

As its grim title suggests, Each Dawn I Die (1939) is an explosive drama awash in death and violence, as only Warner Brothers' 1930s gangster and prison films could deliver them. William Keighley directs the parade of brutal injustice with James Cagney and George Raft as the chief victims of a horrifically corrupt system that destroys human beings without regard for their innocence or rehabilitation. Cagney's journalist hero has chosen the moral high ground as a crusader against graft and crime, but he ends up in the same place as Raft's sympathetic gangster, and in prison Cagney learns the extent of systemic cruelty. At once a riveting drama about loyalty and a scathing critique of inhumane American prisons, Each Dawn I Die gives Cagney and Raft terrific opportunities to showcase their dramatic talents.

Cagney plays hard-driving investigative reporter Frank Ross, whose efforts to uncover political corruption put him on a crooked governor's hit list. Kidnapped and set up for a drunken driving manslaughter charge, Frank gets sent to hard labor in prison, where he earns the respect of other inmates for his tough, principled behavior. He becomes especially close to gangster Hood Stacey (George Raft), who appreciates Frank's refusal to snitch. When Stacey asks Frank to help him escape, he promises to work to clear Frank's name on the outside, but Frank suffers horrifically for his loyalty while Stacey waffles about keeping his word.

Although it features a daring escape, numerous scenes of shocking cruelty, and a wildly violent gun battle finale, Each Dawn I Die is deeply invested in its story of an unlikely friendship forged in the most intolerable circumstances. Both Frank and Stacey appear as fully realized, complex characters, despite their tough talk and glaring eyes. We come to understand that they are not so different, that both men have reacted to a corrupt, unforgiving world in the way that seemed available to them. Frank fights, Stacey assimilates, but they suffer the same fate because the system devours both its enemies and its own. Cagney and Raft deliver performances that make these characters feel very real; each has a dynamic arc that allows the actors to demonstrate their range. Cagney is especially powerful in Frank's moments of anguish and rage, showing the darkness that even a good man can embrace when his humanity is denied. Raft shines as a dangerous tough guy early on, but his slow awakening to Frank's worth reminds us that he is still a human being, too, one who has become a criminal because he thought that was simply the way of the world.

The stories of the secondary characters add nuance to the central plot, with several supporting players giving very fine performances. Jane Bryan is lovely and determined as Frank's girlfriend, Joyce, who never stops trying to save him. The couple's brief moments together at the prison are tearjerker scenes of love and misery, especially when Joyce comes to see Frank after his long, agonizing months in the hole. Maxie Rosenbloom adds a hint of comic affability to the tragedy of his character, Fargo Red, an inmate who is just another everyman chewed up by the relentless system. Louis Jean Heydt plays a similar character, but purely for tragic effect; his Lassiter becomes a victim of the sadistic guard, Pete, performed with vicious brilliance by John Wray. It's a thankless task to play the kind of villain Wray takes on in Pete, since everything about him is deplorable, but he perfectly embodies the cruelty of the system as a whole. George Bancroft has a small but important role as Stacey's lawyer, and Victor Jory makes a brief but memorable appearance as Grayce, the corrupt head of the parole board who ensures that Frank's petition will be denied.

For more gangster drama from William Keighley, try 'G' Men (1935), Special Agent (1935), and Bullets or Ballots (1938). Catch Cagney as the gangster in The Public Enemy (1931), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and White Heat (1949). George Raft, who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, always looks at home in a tough guy role; he's best remembered for his role in Scarface (1932), but don't miss him in They Drive by Night (1940) and Some Like It Hot (1959). If classic prison movies appeal, return to the big house with I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Brute Force (1947), or Caged (1950).

Classic Films in Focus: THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)

As a piece of classic cinema history, They Drive by Night (1940) makes an excellent study in the different ways in which some of our most celebrated actors became certified stars. Raoul Walsh's dramatic noir film about truck-driving brothers launched twenty-two year old Ida Lupino into stardom and helped build the career of the forty-one year old Humphrey Bogart, perhaps the most notable late bloomer in Hollywood history. Although its split plot gives the picture something of a multiple personalities complex, They Drive by Night makes the most of its excellent cast and offers viewers a very exciting, if somewhat convoluted, ride in the dark.

Joe Fabrini (George Raft) and his brother, Paul (Humphrey Bogart), work long hours as truck drivers in California. Paul would just as soon take a regular job, but Joe, the dominant brother, yearns for independence and success. When an exhausted Paul is maimed after falling asleep at the wheel, Joe goes to work for an old friend, Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale), to support himself and his brother, but Ed's devious wife, Lana (Ida Lupino), becomes obsessed with Joe. Even though Joe has already found love with another woman (Ann Sheridan), Lana hatches a twisted plan to win Joe for herself.

George Raft gets top billing, and the role of Joe is a noteworthy departure from his usual gangster type. A real straight arrow, Joe's only weakness might be his relentless desire to succeed on his own terms; he flatly rejects Lana's attempts at seduction and doesn't even drink, and his stand-up character attracts Ann Sheridan's frank, unsentimental heroine. Sheridan serves as a perfect foil to Lupino; where Lana Carlsen is needy, weak, and destructive, Sheridan's Cassie Hartley embodies feminine strength and support. Together they make a provocative variation on the usual good girl/bad girl dichotomy of film noir. Lupino, however, enjoys the best scenes in the picture, from her murderous moment with the automatic garage door sensor to her brilliantly deranged courtroom scene near the movie's end. Bogart has to take a backseat to most of this action revolving around Raft and the women, but he gives a very solid performance; Alan Hale, a go-to guy for loud, brassy characters, also has some excellent scenes as Lana's ill-fated spouse.

As a story, They Drive by Night proves less a straight road than a series of unexpected curves. At first, the plot focuses on the hard lives of truckers, promoting a pro-labor agenda and encouraging us to see Joe's independence as heroic. Later, it seems that Joe's refusal to work for a company was mere hubris, since his boss is a good guy who gives Joe every opportunity to do well, even though Joe only takes the job out of guilt over his brother's injury. The third act moves into the territory of women's melodrama with the love triangle between Raft, Lupino, and Sheridan, further supported by a subplot in which Paul's wife, Pearl (Gale Page), yearns to have a baby and rejoices in her husband's accident because it finally makes him stay at home. The mixed nature of the story has something to do with the fact that They Drive by Night is partly an adaptation of A.I. Bezzerides' 1938 novel, The Long Haul, and partly a remake of the 1935 film, Bordertown, which stars Paul Muni and Bette Davis in the Raft and Lupino roles.

Raoul Walsh went on to direct Bogart and Lupino in High Sierra (1941); he also directed the Cagney pictures The Roaring Twenties (1939) and White Heat (1949). For more of Ida Lupino, see The Man I Love (1947), Road House (1948), and On Dangerous Ground (1952). See George Raft in gangster mode in Scarface (1932) and Some Like It Hot (1959). You'll find Ann Sheridan in Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Kings Row (1942), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949). For more early Bogart, try The Petrified Forest (1936) and Dark Victory (1939). Alan Hale turns up in everything from Of Human Bondage (1934) and Stella Dallas (1937) to The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Destination Tokyo (1943). With nearly 250 film appearances to his credit, Hale is one of those character actors film buffs can hardly avoid, but he's always a pleasure to find.

An earlier version of this review originally appeared on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.