1 September 2016

Review: All Night Long

Blu-ray: All Night Long (1962)

There is something magical about watching black and white movies. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch them very often so it’s a novelty, or it could be that there is something genuinely wonderful and classy about that era of cinema. The Artist from 2011 was a reminder of just how glorious movies can look in black and white without the need for huge special effects and bloated budgets, so I’m pleased to say that I had a real treat watching All Night Long.

The plot of All Night Long is fairly dense and complicated, in fact as I was watching I thought it seemed almost Shakespearean. I was intrigued and doing a bit of research I soon discovered that the story is actually based on Othello.

Set in the Jazz scene in 60’s London, as the title of the movie suggests, everything unfolds during one fateful night. Rod Hamilton (Richard Attenborough) is throwing a party to celebrate the wedding anniversary of two well respected jazz musicians, Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris) and Delia Lane (Marti Stevens). Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan) plays a talented but scheming drummer who wants to bring Delia out of retirement and in turn sign her to a contract making him wealthy in the process. What plays out is a series of events orchestrated by Johnny where he manipulates everyone around him to get what he wants.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed All Night Long is because of Patrick McGoohan. He is absolutely superb and I loved watching as he deviously and devilishly (as only Patrick McGoohan can do) gets everyone to dance to his tune. (Sorry about the music puns)! Watching him in All Night Long makes you realise why he was a perfect bad guy in many a Columbo episode because he is so calm and calculating whilst destroying other people’s lives.

I’m going to be perfectly honest and say that I have zero interest in jazz. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just prefer other genres of music. However, if names like Dave Brubeck, John Dankworth, Charles Mingus and Bert Courtley mean something to you, then you are in for a real treat.

The music features heavily in the movie and showcases the talents of some of the leading musicians of the time. Despite my lack of knowledge about jazz, I found that the music was perfectly suited for the movie and somehow helped to move things along at a nice hi-tempo pace.

I really enjoyed All Night Long and I have to say that the Blu-ray looks absolutely glorious. There is an original trailer of the movie on the disc and watching that crackly, grainy image, you can really see that a lot of work has been done restoring the image of the main feature.

Whether you’re a fan of jazz music or not I would absolutely recommend All Night Long, especially to see a fantastic performance by Patrick McGoohan.

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