Review of All Night Long

Introduction

Man, this is one cool movie daddy-o! I`ve been looking forward to this release since viewing some teaser extracts of the BFI site …and I wasn`t disappointed. This 1961 black and white release is an ambitious and `creative` re-working of Shakespeare`s `Othello`, set in late 1950`s London at the height of the cool Jazz era. All the action takes place in a giant Warehouse apartment in the Dockland area of East London, an idea that didn`t really grow wings until three decades later, owned by wealthy Jazz enthusiast and benefactor Rodney Hamilton (Dickie Attenborough no-less). The first guests to arrive are (I kid you not, Jazz fans) Charlie Mingus, Johnny Dankworth and Dave Brubeck - who`s wearing those de rigour `geek` glasses that are currently enjoying a renaissance. They appear throughout the movie, peppering it with some excellent `cool` jazz and for many this should justify the purchase price alone. Nice!
But set against this groovy backdrop is some fine drama. The action is pretty much confined to the spacious apartment and it`s few rooms - and this makes the movie appear to be a little `stagy`.
Patrick McGoohan is great as a despicable scheming drummer who, fuelled by raging ambition, will stop at nothing to get what he wants. His drumming is impressive too, almost too real to be completely fake. Sadly the same cannot be said for his American accent which is of the same par as Dick Van Dyke`s cockney accent in Mary Poppins, so I guess that makes us even. It`s a convincing performance though and we also get some charismatic performances from Marti Stevens (Delia Lane) and Paul Harris (Aurelius Rex). Keith Michell does a fine turn as a moody saxophonist who is manipulated by the scheming Johnny Cousins (McGoohan) for his own ends.
For those undertaking GCSE`s, the parallels with `Othello` are anything but cryptic. Cousin/Lago, Rex/Othello, Delia/Desdemona, Cass/Cassio, Emily/Emilia and Lou/Lodovico all go through roughly the same motions. I guess the only significant change to the Bard`s original plot is the `happy ending` - though I don`t want to spoil it for you. Maybe it was the presumptuousness of this re-writing that made the movie a real target for reviewers on it`s release in the early `60`s.

Video

A great quality transfer, with high contrast black and white. Very few scratches and glitches and clear, sharp images.

Audio

The audio is of a very high quality. The dialogue is always clear, whether whispered or shouted, whether wide-shot or close-up. And there`s a wall to wall backdrop of first class jazz jamming to enjoy too. Surprisingly crisp and full.

Features

Described as a `Special Edition`, I suspect that`s not actually the version I got, unless one trailer and English subtitles constitutes `Special`. Check out the version you buy to see if it includes the advertised cast features …

Conclusion

This ambitious cool jazz era re-working of Shakespeare`s Othello is well-worth checking out. Apart from the wall-to-wall backdrop of first class jazz jamming, there are some sterling and dramatic performances from its cast. This stagy, low budget black and white movie may not have much in the way of effects and production value, but this is more than compensated for in atmosphere and high drama. With it`s high octane mix of jealousy, scheming, drugs, and violence - it could be seen as an early template for soaps like Eastenders. And despite the uneasy mix of Shakespeare and Jazz, you don`t have to be an aficionado of either to enjoy it. Another recommended release!