All Night Long

About 20 to 30 minutes into the film, I felt like I was watching a play--a familiar play, at that. Thanks to IMDb, I learned it's inspired by Shakespeare's Othello. I haven't read it in 40 years, but at least that mystery was solved.

The mystery that's not solved for me is the actual genesis of this project. Whose idea was it to fashion a script loosely based on Othello against the backdrop of the late 1960s British jazz scene? The producer? The script's co-authors? Honestly, that's a head-scratcher, in my book.

As far as the music, it's never truly "featured" in this film. It's either used as a transition from one scene to the next or as a background element. Make no mistake: what performances we do get are high-end, time capsule-like delights; but they are often interrupted with storyline.

If you're a diehard fan of the jazz artists featured in this film or of some members of the cast, like Betsy Blair, Richard Attenborough, or Patrick McGoohan, you'll probably like this movie. And if you are into older movies that test the boundaries regarding interracial relationships, this one may interest you. It's good but definitely an oddity.

Just imagine: That Shakespearian bigger-than-life plot line, a sixties touch of psychoanalysis, a movie set entirely inside a party of swingers, great interludes featuring amazing jazz performances from some great artists such as Charlie Mingus(music scenes that also explain story line and characters), a slight bit of over-acting in colorful black and white, good filmmaking, interracial couples and drug taking in a 1961 movie, love, hate and, of course, jealousy. Who could possible miss out on these ingredients?

Just beautiful.

1st watched 11/17/2007, 6 out of 10(Dir-Basil Dearden): Interesting jazz soap-opera played out with many actual jazz superstars of the day is amazingly watchable despite the lack of acting talent on-hand. According to my cable on-demand info, the story is a re-telling of Shakespeare's Othello(a story that I'm not familiar with I'm sorry to say) and is played out effectively by everyone involved. The setting is a 1-year anniversary for a hot couple in the jazz world(Rex and Odelia) at a rich man's swank hideout that he uses exclusively for parties of this type. The rich man is played by Richard Attenborough, who is always good in his acting stints and this one is no exception. Everything appears peachy as the couple enters the scene, but there is a hint of scandal as his drummer schemes to start his own band trying to lure away his new wife to be a vocalist in it, although she doesn't appear initially to be that interested. The tangled web is weaved thicker and thicker as the night goes on as the believable antagonist plots everyone against each other for his own gain. This role is played very well by Patrick McGoohan as we can see the evil lurking behind his eyes and it is revealed increasingly as the film goes on. Behind all this is some of the hottest jazz musicians playing original tunes providing a very unique background to the storyline as individuals move in and out of the jam session providing them a break from the drama and being kind of an exit door for the characters in the play. All in all this is a very satisfying unique movie experience that is played out well and provides good background music as well. It is definitely, cool baby!!

I came to this little-known British movie after watching another film director Basil Deardon had made not long before called "Sapphire" which as its main theme addressed the issue of interracial relationships in today's England. Here, he returns to this territory as he not only transposes the main plot elements of Shakespeare's "Othello" to the then present day but also imaginatively sets it in the jazz world of the time.

I'm no jazz-buff but readily appreciate that for those who are, the presence of big names like Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and Johnny Dankworth in the cast will make this film a draw almost for that reason alone. Actually they none of them are on screen for long and only get a few cursory lines and some brief musical interludes between them, so that they don't affect the action elsewhere, but I guess they add a flavour of authenticity to proceedings.

That action revolves around Patrick McGoohan's conniving and devious drummer Johnny, whose only way to forward his career is to co-opt retired singer Marti Stevens into joining his band. To do this he has to remove the two men he sees are in his way, Stevens' former musical accompanist, trumpeter Keith Michell and her new husband, black band-leader Paul Harris.

It all kicks off at a swinging first wedding anniversary party for Harris and Stevens hosted by promoter Richard Attenborough, the guest-list of which includes big-shot record company executive Bernard Braden as Johnny gets to work spinning his web even if it means innocent people's lives will be destroyed.

Deardon daringly posits two mixed-race relationships in the film and laudably does so in a natural and unobstrusive way. The movie itself is very set-bound with the camera rooted in Attenborough's massive apartment, contributing to the theatricality of the piece. McGoohan dominates as the twitchy, scheming Johnny and certainly impresses with his drumming skills, but there's good support for him provided by Michell, Stevens and particularly Harris, who you could easily imagine portraying the tragic Moor in the original "Othello". Betsy Blair also contributes a brief, but telling performance as Johnny's overlooked wife. Interestingly, the tragedy of the original play is given a more Hollywood-style ending, which particularly to those of us familiar with the original, seems a bit of a cop-out, although I can perhaps understand Deardon's reluctance to openly vilify Harris's character, under the circumstances.

Like I said though, the music didn't move me much and the hep-cat jive talk of this cloistered world rather grated after a while, but all in all this was an interesting and provocative modern-day take on the Bard, with a good cast, solid direction and the additional ingredient of some contemporary jazz music for those who really care for it.

The film, based on Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best Jazz musicians of the period -- including Dave Brubeck and Charlie Mingus.

What is most interesting about this film is how it handles racial relations. That was an important part of "Othello", but really defined the 1960s. I love how 1963 was the year of the "I Have a Dream" speech, but already in England films like this had blacks and whites mingling without any sort of trouble. How much more mature they were...

The film was released by The Criterion Collection in January 2011, and it deserved to be. Criterion has done a great job of finding lost classics and cleaning them up -- the beautiful black and white cinematography deserves to be seen, and the jazz soundtrack deserves to be heard.