Just outstanding - just watched this movie on DVD, first time I've seen it in years. I've seen Lupino in "High Sierra" - also with Bogart but I think she's better in this.
The doors made me do it, indeed.
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I fell in love with her thanx to this movie.
Beautiful and outstanding actress!! and director too!!
good times of Hollywood
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I've always liked Ida myself, and just got done watching this movie again. My favorite part is the close-up of her face when she realizes she can kill Ed. That whole change in her eyes is amazing.
shareYeah, it's a great scene. And my favorite line is when Ida drives that big Buick convertible into the garage with the besotted husband leaning against her, and says: "Get off me you drunken pig!" (Right before she decides to kill him.)
After I saw this movie, I walked around the house for weeks, shouting: "Get off me you drunken pig!" to everyone I ran across, including the cats. It's a very satisfying line to snap out unexpectedly every five minutes or so. (If your family can stand it.)
Oddly enough, being a huge Bette Davis fan, I'd never seen "Bordertown" which I stumbled onto after I'd seen "They Drive By Night." It's the same story. Ida's is clearly the better movie, but Bette does a good job in portraying the same nasty character.
I've seen a few posts from viewers who find Lupino's mental meltdown on the witness stand overblown and unconvincing, and if you think about it, they have a point in light of what we know about mental and psychological disorders today; the femmes fatales of the honest-to-goodness noirs that came later such as DOUBLE INDEMNITY seem closer to the mark of the predatory female.
But this was 1940, and while perhaps psychology and psychiatry were not quite still in their infancy, it is really only in the past thirty years or so that the most significant strides in diagnosis and treatment have been made.
Besides, Lana Carlsen isn't a psychopath; she's a predatory (and probably spoiled) woman who develops a neurotic attachment to a man who will have none of her. In the end she literally drives herself over the edge. And what makes it most convincing, to my mind, is that it does not just happen out of thin air: Lana is clearly headed for disaster long before she actually gets there.
This is also not the first time we have seen the "neurotic-love-as-self-destruction" theme; it is as old as Romeo and Juliet and Lupino's performance here is particularly interesting if you watch it back-to-back with Natalie Wood's Wilma Dean Loomis in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS.
Never mess with a middle-aged, Bipolar queen with AIDS and an attitude problem!
roflol ><
Actually, Ida was the weakest part of the film. The others were great, but she stank. But then she had the only poorly written part. The other characters were all very believable, whereas her "psycho" character was just too poorly written to be believable.
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time
that's not funny!
lol. all the critics praised Ida's portrayal of the crazed dame when this movie was released... and now people still praise her performance, but hey, drystyx says she was the only thing wrong with the film..
hmmmmm.. who shall we believe..
get real, Ida rocked this movie. Her performance outshined every other, including Bogie/Raft.. you obviously didnt see the film..
-- “A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Humphrey Bogart
I have to agree with drystyx on this. I thought Lupino was the only real flaw in the film, as she was just too melodramatic.
shareCan definately agree with the OP there.
First saw High Sierra and was very impressed with Lupino and ideally I wanted to check out more of her movies. I was hoping this was not her only great performance and was also hoping it wasnt a fluke that she had impressed me, so then I checked out They Drive By Night and definately also thought she was a bit better in it then High Sierra.
She was amazing. I have to see more of her work. She was very impressive. I liked her in High Sierra too, but she was better in this movie.
shareI am going to go a little bit against the grain here on Ida Lupino's performance in this film. For the most part, her performance in this film is very very good. Most of her "crazy" scenes are very believable. The one scene I have trouble with is the courtroom scene. To me, she is just way too over the top "crazy". A much more subtle, subdued murmuring of "The doors made me do it", would have been a whole lot more effective and chilling. Madness is so much better portrayed quietly than with a lot of noise and carrying on. That's just my opinion though, for what it's worth.
shareI saw it on TCM today....the scene where her character melted down on the witness stand was a classic case of overacting.
sharedrystyx (Thu Dec 10 2009 12:24:29)
Actually, Ida was the weakest part of the film. The others were great, but she stank. But then she had the only poorly written part. The other characters were all very believable, whereas her "psycho" character was just too poorly written to be believable.
dockbennett (Tue Mar 23 2010 14:55:19)
I have to agree with drystyx on this. I thought Lupino was the only real flaw in the film, as she was just too melodramatic.