Balas Contra a Gestapo

Vincent Sherman's "All Through the Night" has a feeling of a B picture, although probably was not intended to be that way. This 1942 Warner Bros. film is much more enjoyable than we suspected, because even though the film was supposed to tackle a serious problem, it has a lot of fun moments that make the film much lighter in tone than perhaps the film makers intended.

At the center of the story we find 'Gloves' Donahue, a small time gangster and his crew. They are a fun group that are drawn into an international spy story right in their own backyard. Ma Donahue comes to ask her son's assistance in trying to solve the murder of her baker neighbor, and the fun and games begin in full force.

There are a lot of good moments in the film, but it is dominated by Humphrey Bogart who runs away with the picture. His crew is also a great asset to the film, Frank McHugh, a fantastic actor, no matter in what picture is excellent, as well as William Demarest, one of the best character actors in the movies of that era. A much slender Jackie Gleason puts in an appearance as Starchy, a member of Donahue's team.

The heavies are amazing. Conrad Veidt is wonderful as the Nazi spy trying to blow up a ship in New York's harbor. Mr. Veidt was such an elegant figure in everything he did. Judith Anderson is seen as the mysterious assistant to Mr. Veidt's character. Ms. Anderson had a way about her that she dominates the scenes in which she appears. Peter Lorre does a lot with his small piano player, Pepi.

The film never ceases to entertain. Thanks to Mr. Humphrey and the wonderful cast assembled for the movie, it will not disappoint anyone with an open eye for a lighter take on a serious matter.

A very funny war era movie. Bogart had played a gangster in comedies (Brother Orchid with Edward J. Robinson), but played it straight as a tough guy. This movie highlighted Bogart's great comedic timing which was also evident in harder edged movies from the same period: The Big Sleep, Casablanca, and the Maltese Falcon. All Through the Night makes a fun companion piece to these movies and like the others, has a great supporting cast.

Not the typical Bogie film, but still with the typical Bogie... cracking wise and being a tough guy that is slower to catch on that usual. This is more of a romp with plenty of fun thrown in, almost akin to a Bob Hope style Ghost Busters or even a Bowery Boys serial. William Demarest plays a good supporting role for those of us that only remember him from "My Three Sons" replacement to Bill Frawley.

If you are a fan of the 30's and 40's style vernacular, you will enjoy this film more than most from the period as the lingo is fast and furious and many terms familiar with some new ones in there as well. Light humor, CORNY... but get a bucket of corn of your own to fight back with... and hiss the villain... Gee, I wonder if Bogie will come through in the end and get the pretty girl?!!?

When I was a kid a local station had a package of films from the 30's and 40's it would run constantly. My young friends and I developed 6-8 favorites we would all congregate together to watch- everything in the neighborhood stopped for Errol Flynn, (Charge of the Light Brigade, The Sea Hawk, Santa Fe Trail, They Died With Their Boots On, Gentleman Jim, Objective Burma), or Abbott and Costello, (Buck Privates, A&C meet Et Al). The one Humphrey Bogart feature that I remember from this package is All Through the Night. I saw him in this years before Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and the many other classics he was in.

I got my first chance to look at it in perhaps 40 years recently. It's a strange film in many ways, but still entertaining and a significant part of the Bogart film legacy even if it's far from a classic. We think the great stars just went from one classic to another because that's all we see but just as with modern stars, they made many movies like this between them that also rely on their appeal and mostly fulfill their assignment of entertaining the viewer. Those films should not be forgotten.

This film suffered from ill timing, taking a semi-comic spin on the Nazi threat only to be released just after Pearl Harbor. It must have been about as funny under those circumstances as Ishtar would have been on September 12th. As so many reviewers have commented it unites the Bowery Boys strain of humor, (by way of Damon Runyan) with a Fifth column plot such as we see in the same year's Saboteur, (both films make reference to the burning of the Normadie without actually naming it and say their set of villains was responsible). The Nazis seems to have seen Bogart's previous gangster flicks and consider him a dangerous criminal, (You're just like us…), but the film takes pains to depict him only as a gambler whose biggest vice is that he doesn't mind liberating out of town gamblers from their bankrolls with a crooked deck. He credits his skill with firearms to days he spent at Coney Island.

One interesting aspect is the reference to the Dachau concentration camp. I had thought the concentration camps were just rumored until they were liberated after the war. Maybe their true nature was not known until then. The heroine's father is supposed to have died of 'natural causes' there, if that's possible in such an unnatural place. This is surely the only time Dachau was ever mentioned in a film with any kind of comedic element.

The film is a mother lode of noted character actors and soon to be famous comics, including these future TV icons, Jackie 'C' Gleason and Phil Silvers. It has the pace of a 'B' but the length of and 'A' film. Towards the end you can't believe how much has happened and presume the film must have lasted 3 hours. Some of the dialog is corny but most of it is funny. Frank McHugh gets stuck on his wedding night hanging out with William Demarest and complains about it. Bill tells him 'I can cook!' Maybe he was looking forward to cooking for the Douglases on My Three Sons.

I was pleased to see how many reviewers noted the similarities in the plot of this and North by Northwest, with the auction scene and the police being led to the headquarters of the fifth columnists only to find nothing of interest. Always borrow from the best- or at least the pretty good, such as this.

Humphrey Bogart and a cast of comedians and character actors make it "All Through the Night," a spy story set in New York City. Bogart plays Gloves Donahue, a bigwig in the sports world - gambler, bookie, and he likes to get tourists involved in rigged card games. His boys include Jackie Gleason, William Demarest, Phil Silvers, and Frank McHugh - a bunch of characters right out of Damon Runyon if there ever were any. When the baker who makes Gloves' favorite cheesecake is murdered, Gloves is determined to find out what happened. The trail leads to a spy ring run by sinister Conrad Veidt with assistance from Judith Anderson, her dachshund Hansel, and Peter Lorre. Lorre doubles as a pianist for a nightclub singer (Kaaren Verne) whose father is in a concentration camp and being used as leverage so she will assist the spies.

This is a fast-paced, funny film made shortly before Pearl Harbor. Its underlying message is that the Nazis aren't going to be content with a few eastern European countries; they want it all. As propaganda, it goes down easily with a terrific cast and some hilarious moments, particularly when Bogart and Demarest attend a secret meeting posing as Nazis.

The plot, of course, is preposterous, and the notes that Bogart finds in Veidt's desk are, for some reason, written in English instead of German, but none of that takes away from the enjoyment of the movie.

The performances are all excellent, but Bogart is a wonder. His no-nonsense, honest delivery and perfect timing work beautifully in comedy as well as drama.

This is a delightful movie - don't miss it.