Though Humphrey Bogart’s first film appearance occurred in 1928, he took years to finally achieve leading man status. As one of his final steps along that path, 1940’s They Drive By Night helped push him in that direction.

Brothers Paul (Bogart) and Joe Fabrini (George Raft) run their own trucking company. They work long hours and struggle to make this business into a success.

One night they pick up hitchhiking waitress Cassie Hartley (Ann Sheridan) and they witness a horrific event when a fellow trucker falls asleep at the wheel and dies a fiery demise. This impacts Paul, Joe and Cassie in a variety of ways, all with repercussions.

That synopsis makes Drive sound more harrowing than the final product becomes. In a lot of ways, it feels like a gangster movie that substitutes the world of truck drivers instead.

The movie’s leads add to this impression. Raft and Bogart spent plenty of time in notable gangster flicks, and director Raoul Walsh operated in that field as well.

Raft’s performance seems to lean much more toward his lead in 1932’s classic Scarface than one would expect from an Average Joe truck driver. Sheridan’s waitress Cassie also feels more like a sassy noir character than a diner waitress.

Drive also mixes in romance and comedy. This makes it a somewhat awkward melange of genres that can feel a bit scattershot.

Indeed, Drive bounces all over the place and rarely seems to know where it wants to go. In theory I appreciate the filmmakers’ willingness to combine genres, but the movie becomes so disjointed that it doesn’t quite work.

I tended to feel the same way about Walsh’s prior flick, 1939’s Roaring Twenties. Both come with a basic gangster framework but dabble in so many other domains that they seem less than concise.

Some of this succeeds, but I wish Drive could settle down and focus better. It seems unable to create a concise, clear narrative, so we find ourselves with an erratic tale.

Talented as they were, Raft and Bogart feel miscast. As alluded earlier, they seem more like gangsters than Average Joe working stiffs, and they simply seem wrong for their roles.

The female castmembers fare better. Though her role becomes less interesting as the film progresses, Sheridan’s Cassie nonetheless gives the film both spark and heart.

As the gold-digging wife of trucking magnate Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale), Ida Lupino delivers the film’s most “noir” character. Though this also can feel like an odd choice for a movie about struggling truckers, Lupino’s sizzling performance makes it work.

Though it never seems clear why Lupino’s Lana carries such a torch for Joe. It simply feels tough to swallow that babes like Lupino and Sheridan would swoon for ferret-faced Raft, especially because the movie fails to imbue his role with much charisma or personality.

In any case, Lupino delivers really punch to the conniving Lana. Lupino walks to the edge of hammy acting but she never crosses that line so Lana turns into easily the film’s most compelling role.

Sheridan and Lupino add enough zing to Drive that I wish I liked the rest of the movie more. However, the end result delivers only sporadic pleasures.

They Drive By Night appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Given the film’s advanced age, it came with anomalies, but it largely satisfied.

Sharpness usually fared well. A few shots came across as a little ill-defined, but the image stayed reasonably distinctive and concise.

I saw no problems with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. It maintained a decent layer of grain and showed no obvious print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, and low-light scenes demonstrated positive clarity. Overall, the image held up well over the years.

I thought the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack seemed dated but adequate. In terms of dialogue, the lines remained intelligible and offered reasonable clarity.

Neither music nor effects boasted much range or dimensionality, but both appeared clean and accurate enough, without distortion or problems. This mix felt more than acceptable for its vintage.

As we shift to extras, we get a June 2, 1941 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast. It goes for 44 minutes, 22 seconds and brings George Raft back to reprise his role as Joe. Lana Turner takes over for Ann Sheridan as Cassie, and Lucille Ball fills in for Ida Lupino as Lana.

Unsurprisingly, this radio version streamlines the movie’s narrative. Usually this process means the adaptation loses necessary information, but in this case, we get a story with tighter focus.

The Lux show barely involves Bogart’s Paul, so it concentrates largely on Joe and his love triangle. This creates a more coherent narrative that fares better than the hit-or-miss movie.

Raft’s performance works better on radio as well, perhaps because we don’t get the contrast between his less-than-handsome mug and the beautiful women who throw themselves at him. Interestingly, the film scene in which Joe pushes Cassie hard for some lovin’ gets tamed massively, as Date Rape Joe from the film turns into the passive recipient of Cassie’s low-key affections.

That becomes another improvement, as Joe comes across poorly during that film scene. Turner doesn’t offer as good a performance as Sheridan, though in her defense, the radio version gives her less personality.

Like Lupino in the movie, Ball threatens to devour scenery as the conniving Lana, but she stays on the right side of that line. Playing against the loveable wacky Lucy we all know now, Ball delivers a ferocious turn.

All of this adds up to one of the better Lux shows. Usually I appreciate these for their archival value, but this one actually succeeds as entertainment.

Note that while Warner Archive discs normally present unedited Lux broadcasts complete with introductions, chatter and ads, this one came from an Internet station. It lacks those elements and simply sticks with the actual radio play.

That’s too bad, partly because it means I have no idea who played Paul or any of the other roles. I also miss the corny banter between host Cecil B. DeMille and the actors.

Still, this may be the only surviving source of the broadcast. If so, it’s better than nothing.

Divided Highway offers a 10-minute, 35-second featurette. It offers comments from film historian Leonard Maltin and Bogart biographer Eric Lax.

We learn about the source and its adaptation, cast and crew, and the film’s reception/legacy. It becomes a rudimentary overview but it lacks much depth.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find a 1940 short called Swingtime In the Movies. It lasts 19 minutes, nine seconds and presents a musical comedy about a troubled film production and a director’s (Fritz Feld) new discovery (Katherine Kane).

Nothing about Swingtime excels, but it offers some minor charm. It also comes with cameos from Bogart and other stars like John Garfield and Pat O’Brien, so it offers an enjoyable trifle.

Note that Swingtime appears in standard definition with mediocre visuals. As a Technicolor production, this one would’ve looked good with a hi-def restoration.

An erratic mix of romance, comedy and noir, They Drive At Night doesn’t quite connect. Its two lead actresses add spark but the final product lacks consistency. The Blu-ray comes with largely positive picture and audio as well as a smattering of bonus materials. This winds up as an inconsistent flick.