They Drive By Night (DVD)

George Raft and Humphrey Bogart share a driving ambition in They Drive by Night, a feisty tale of brothers trying to make it as independent truckers. Ann Sheridan plays a truck-stop waitress dishing both the daily special and the patter. And Ida Lupino is a headstrong executive mixing business and romance with murder. With Bogart again riding shotgun en route to leading-man stardom (which he would achieve the following year) and Raft at the wheel in one of his best roles, this fine example of Warner Bros social-conscience filmmaking (directed by Raoul Walsh) proved a sturdy vehicle for both. It proved even more fortuitous for Lupino: Her courtoom breakdown made her an "overnight" sensation that landed her a studio contract.