All Night Long (1963)

I had not heard of this film prior to its being shown on Channel 81 Freeview recently. I was very much interested in seeing this as I love jazz as well as Classical Music especially Chamber and Leider and Opera so I was looking forward to seeing again on film many of the alumni I had seen in the Flamingo and Ronnie Scott's Old Place in the late 1950s and early 60s before I returned to Wales to do my first degree.I was delighted to see and hear Tubby Hayes - I remember him for playing tenor sax and not so much for playing the vibes as the main protagonist of that art was Bill le Sage who played mostly at the Flamingo.Dramatically, I found the film to be interesting and it moved very well - it was interesting to see the ubiquitous Richard Attenborough playing the millionaire in this film - his range was extremely extensive - it was pity he became a 'darling' in his old age.It did seem odd to see a flurry of jazz musicians flooding through the door of the auditorium - all dressed in the raincoats of the time - The film makes more sense to me now having noted your information that it was based on Othello - I played Brabantio in Othello some 10 or more years ago but I would not have connected this film with that drama.Dave Brubeck was able to give solo piece of a few minutes but Tubby Hayes had only a short time for playing the vibes - and many of the ensemble pieces were interrupted by the acting and the music instead of being in the forefront became only the background. It had not heard the trumpet player previously who was very good indeed - at the time I visited the modern clubs Kenny Baker was well known and also Joe Harriot whom I had the very good fortune to me for supper on evening at the invitation of a lady artist friend of mine - he was so humble and nice I am interested in who played the sax for Keith Michell - I know that he was a painter as well as an actor - and who sang the female vocals I shall do some more research.It was Glenn Miller's music especially the film that introduced me to jazz and my first love was Trad Jazz and I used to go to Club 51 and the 100 Club - after developing an interest in modern jazz I continued to go to the 100 club to dance the Trad Stomp.As I have recorded the film on my DVD player I will watch it again and try to evaluate more as a film rather than a piece of jazz history - it was great to see Tubby Hayes again even if only briefly.I am great fan of 30s music and I love Fred Astaire in Second Chorus the Artie Shaw band is featured and her again there was such a wasted opportunity - Fred could have been singing some wonderful songs with that great band but the opportunity was lost.The trouble in walking down memory lane is that it makes the present passage seem so dire and dirty - London in the late 50s and early 60s was a great place to be for young people - everyone was enthusiastic and polite and much more happy than today.Our politicians have created not so much a concrete but a plastic jungle - roll over McDonald's!

God knows over they years we've had some pretty pathetic actors in English movies - Maxwell Reed, Alan Lake, Michael Gough, Richard Todd, John Gregson, Keiron Moore, Richard Pascoe, Laurence Harvey, I could go on but you get the picture and I'm here to tell you that in this movie Patrick McGoohan makes all of the above look like Michael Redgrave and Donald Wolfit the epitome of subtlety. From his very first appearance all he needs is a sign on his back saying 'I'm the heavy here, Iago, get it?' It's cringe-making to watch and a Master Class in ham. Come back Arthur Mullard all is forgiven. On the plus side we do get to hear some tasty music from the likes of Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus and Eng. Lit. students can have fun with the links to Othello - Keith Michell, as the Cassio figure is actually called Cass and McGoohan's wife Emily (Iago's wife was Emilia).

(There are Spoilers) It at first looked like it was going to be a groovy and wonderful evening when jazz lover Rodney Hamilton, Richard Attenborough, invited the who's who of the London jazz community to his spacious East London loft to celebrate legendary black jazz pianist Aurellius Rex, Paul Harris, and his white wife singing sensation Delia Lane, Marti Stevens, first wedding anniversary.At the party jazz drummer boy Johnnie Cousin, Patrick McGoohan,tries to talk Delia into joining his new jazz band, as its lead singer, in order to get the some 25,000 pound sterling he needs to finance it. Delia who has since retired from show business to spend all her time with her husband Aurelius rejects Jonnie's offer that has top London music agent Lou Berger, Bernard Braden, drop Johnnie as a client. Trying to get Delia to join his band, and thus save his floundering career, Johnnie tries to start up trouble between the two love birds, Aurelius & Delia, by adding jazz saxophonist- and good friends of both Aurelius and Delia- Cass Michaels, Keith Mitchell,into the mix.As we've seen already Cass's relationship with Delia is both professional and purely platonic with him having a study girlfriend Benny, Maria Velasco, of his own who's ,like Aurelius, also black. This goes to show how liberal and uninhibited for the early 1960's both Cass and Delia are! Johnnie seeing an opening in breaking up the interracial couple uses Cass, whom he gets both drunk and high on pot, as a battering-ram to break them apart.To his credit Aurelius at first doesn't fall for Johnnie's sneaky and underhanded tactics but being the determined and manipulating creep that he is Johnnie goes a step farther with his state-of-the-art, for 1962, tape recording equipment that leaves no doubt, in Aurelius' mind, to his wife's infidelity. ****SPOILERS****This also leads Aurelius to completely crack up and not only attack a shocked and surprised Delia, almost strangling her, but knock Cass down a fifteen foot balcony, in Rodney's loft, almost breaking both his neck and back! It's only when Johnnie's wife Emily, Besty Blair, who had no idea what her crazy husband was planning came clean with what a lying and conniving rat he is, and alway was, that Aurelius came to his senses but not after all the damage was already done.Even though he was the villain in the movie Johnnie Cousin got away almost Scott/free in his instigating Aurelius to commit a number of violent acts that would, in real life, have but him behind bars for at least five years. It's true Johnnie lost his dream of becoming a big time band leader with his wife Emily, whom he more or less kicked out of his life, leaving him. The ending seemed a bit far fetched, or feel good, in Delia coming back to her uncontrollably violent husband Aurelius without as much as having him get help-or anger management- for his manic depression that was very obvious in the movie. He could very well lose it in the future, if he ever again becomes suspicious of Delia, and end up finishing what he started in ringing her neck! As for Cass he's left lying on the floor unable to move with his career as a saxophone player in doubt and even the apology from a tearful Aurelius doesn't seem to be enough to get him back on his feet again.

OK, maybe it's not perfect, but, this movie is so pleasingly NON-Hollywood. There are two mixed-race couples and it's never mentioned even once, WOW!. Then we get to witness two pot smoking musicians, with no COPS waiting in the wings to destroy their lives. Most of these musicians are good actors. There are no ridiculously stupid idiot characters, who could never make it in the real world, no bombs, guns being fired, car chases, stupid macho heroes defying all of the laws of physics, totalitarian law enforcers killing 'evil-doers' to protect the national security. The movie follows an outdated plot (even if this was made 46 years ago), but it flows and there's never a boring moment. There are some great jazz tunes and jams going on throughout most of the movie. And, of course, the movie had to made in England, since Hollywood has been, and still is, so scared of going outside of their own collection of simplistic formulas. Therefore, I must have this film.