A film noir musical? Not quite, but Anatole Litvak’s thoroughly entertaining Blues in the Night about a struggling jazz band on the road features plenty of musical numbers woven into the plot, including several variations on Johnny Mercer’s Oscar-nominated title song, most memorably a jail cell version sung a cappella by an uncredited William Gillespie in his black and white stripes. In the relatively lighthearted first act, pianist Jigger Lane (Richard Whorf) forms a band with singer Ginger “Character” Powell (Priscilla Lane) and trumpeter Leo Powell (Jack Carson), among others, wandering from club to club looking for work. Once they’re hired by Del Davis (Lloyd Nolan) for a long-term gig in a New Jersey roadhouse called The Jungle, however, the bad guys arrive on the scene in the form of Davis’ criminal associates Kay Grant (Betty Field), Sam Paryas (Howard Da Silva), and Brad Ames (Wallace Ford). As feisty Kay sets her sights on Leo first, then Jigger, the darkness descends and the band’s unity is jeopardized by jealousy, betrayal, alcoholism, murder, and suicide. A Warner Brothers production through and through, the film’s screenplay was penned by regular noir screenwriter Robert Rossen who would go on to direct Body and Soul (1947), and Haller’s cinematography takes plenty of risks (Lane’s mental breakdown is a highlight) and makes the Warner sets shine, building to a crescendo in the long thunderstorm sequence. While future director Elia Kazan plays an important role as clarinetist Nickie Haroyen, extremely perceptive viewers may also spot future stars Fay Emerson and Faith Domergue in the background with no lines and no credit.
By Michael Bayer
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I’m sure this idea isn’t original to me but I have no idea where I got it from—that sometimes a critic just doesn’t like a movie and then goes hunting for flaws to rationalize his dislike.
I felt that urge with BLUES IN THE NIGHT. This movie should be right up my alley and I didn’t like it at all, and I’m having a hard time putting my finger on why.
I *could* say that the relationship between bandleader Jigger (Richard Wharf) and from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks Kay (Betty Field) doesn’t feel remotely real or seem remotely likely. I’d be correct about that, but the fact is that the movie wasn’t doing anything for me well before this subplot kicked in.
So rather than harping on this or that, I’ll just say that despite an Oscar-nominated theme song and a capable cast, BLUES IN THE NIGHT just doesn’t work. The musicians hit their notes; it’s the movie that’s flat.
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