They Live by Night (1948)

 

An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.

Excellent tough and romantic crime drama relentlessly drives its narratives and its heroes into their own doom.

Halliwell*: "Well-made if basically uninteresting melodrama with a draggy romantic interest; its 'realistic' yet impressionist style drew attention on its first release, and it was remade in the seventies as Thieves Like Us." 

Maltin***1/2: "Director Ray's first film is sensitive, well-made story...Set in 1930s, it avoids cliches and builds considerable impact instead."