felt comfortable with. Granger replied with Cathy O'Donnell, who was also brought in to make a test. Both Granger and O'Donnell were under contract to Samuel Goldwyn and had limited acting experience behind them, Granger had been in two films before being drafted for World War II while O'Donnell had just made the classic The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) but Ray was fiercely loyal and fought for both of them. Granger later said that "[Ray] and John Houseman were among the few people who fought for me in my career. They said no, we will not make the film without him. When Nick believed in you, he was very loyal." In his autobiography, Granger lists They Live by Night as one of his two or three favorite films. Many of the supporting cast and minor characters were played by friends of Houseman and Ray, although RKO contract player Robert Mitchum expressed interest in playing Chicamaw, saying that like Ray he knew all about the Depression-era South and had once been in a chain gang. Mitchum went so far as to shave his head and dye it black for the role (in the original novel Chicamaw is an Indian), but because Mitchum was a rising star and had recently received an Oscar nomination, the role of a bank robber was deemed unfit for him. He and Ray did end up working together on projects, including The Lusty Men. The role of Chicamaw went to Howard Da Silva, who had made an impression in Marc Blitzstein's musical The Cradle Will Rock (1937), produced by Houseman. In portraying Chicamaw, De Silva wears a white eye cover to give the impression that he is blind in his right eye. Chicamaw's blind eye is not present in Anderson's novel. Other minor roles were played by people Ray knew from his time in the New York theater, including Marie Bryant from Beggar's Holiday (the nightclub singer singing Your Red Wagon), Curt Conway (the man in the tuxedo at the night club) and Will Lee (the jeweler). Byron Foulger appears as the owner of the cabin where the couple try to hide out. Filming On June 23, 1947, Ray began shooting his first film. The first scene shot was the opening scene, a tracking shot of Bowie, T-Dub and Chickamaw escaping from prison in a stolen car. Ray decided to use a helicopter, which had