Which 1949 film noir stars Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell as fugitive lovers?

The 1949 film noir starring Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell as fugitive lovers is They Live by Night.

Directed by Nicholas Ray, the film follows Bowie Bowers, an escaped young convict, and Keechie Mobley, who fall in love while Bowie remains hunted by the law. Their attempt to build an ordinary life is repeatedly threatened by crime, betrayal, and the consequences of Bowie’s past. Granger and O’Donnell give the central relationship a vulnerable, youthful quality.

The film is adapted from Edward Anderson’s 1937 novel Thieves Like Us. It was produced at RKO, completed in 1947, released theatrically in Britain in 1948 under the title The Twisted Road, and finally opened in the United States in November 1949 as They Live by Night. That release history explains why references may call it either a 1948 or 1949 film.

It is often described as an early prototype of the “couple on the run” story and an influence on later films such as Bonnie and Clyde. Robert Altman adapted the same source novel in 1974 as Thieves Like Us.