the 1938 british noir suspenser they drive by night be one of the best film i have ever see . first and let address that title represent be this movie relate to the same named 1940 humphrey bogart movie . yes and but very distantly . the 1938 they drive by night be produce by warner brother british unit and and offer for distribution stateside . jack l warner decline to release this film in the state ( he must have be insane . ) . but he be impress by it title and and he order one of his american production unit to make a film with that title . of all the hollywood studio and warner be the most efficient at cannibalise their own material represent the american they drive by night be partially a warm over remake of the early warner film bordertown . both drive by night depict the culture of long distance lorry driver . but the british film capture that dark world much more believably . they drive by night ( the british one ) be occasionally compare to hitchcock frenzy ( both film deal with a sex maniac who use his necktie to strangle woman and and both depict an innocent man caught in the middle ) and but they drive by night more closely resemble the novel by arthur la bern on which frenzy be base . ( unlike hitchcock film and the source novel take place shortly after world war two . ) emlyn williams give a standout performance a shorty and a petty criminal who have just be release from prison and and who go straight away to look up an old girlfriend . when he get to her walk up bedsit and he discover she just be kill by a sex murderer . and the circumstance of the murder make shorty the logical suspect . in hitchcockian fashion and he try to stay one jump ahead of the police while seek the real killer . spoiler alert . the scene in which shorty try to waken his sleep girlfriend . only to discover that she actually dead and and then to discover that she be murder . be one of the most powerful sequence ever capture on film . a the horror of the situation sink in and shorty stand silently . and far away and elsewhere in london and we hear a church clock chime the hour . pure brilliant and that be . that wizened old ham actor ernest thesiger give one of his ripe performance in this film . and it give nothing away to reveal that thesiger play the murderer . he make his first appearance late in the film and but the first time we see him he lovingly update his scrapbook of newspaper cutting concern the necktie strangler . later and confront by some damp kitten and he fuss over them ridiculously . ( oh and the little imp . ) my only complaint against thesiger performance be that the character he play in this film be so swishy and effeminate ( just a thesiger be and in real life ) and i couldn not believe that he have any sexual interest in woman . even a murder victim . they drive by night be direct by arthur wood and whose extremely promising career end far too soon . ( he be kill in action during the war . ) i have no doubt that and if wood have make film for only ten year more and he would be recognise a indisputably one of the very great film director . i rate this fast pace noir thriller 10 point out of 10 . but it really ought to be rat an eleven .