L'Amour et la bête

Wagons Roll at Night, The (1941)

** (out of 4)

Circus promoter Nick Coaster (Humphrey Bogart) finds himself in trouble when a dangerous lion escapes his act but a grocery clerk (Eddie Albert) ends up saving the day. Nick, seeing the possibility for money, hires the kid on as a lion trainer but soon jealously gets involved as Nick's girlfriend (Sylvia Sidney) starts to fall for the kid but even worse is when his sister (Joan Leslie) falls for him. This film really comes off as a watered down version of Kid Galahad, which also featured Bogart in a supporting role. If you've seen that earlier film with Edward G. Robinson and Bette Davis (or the later Elvis remake) then you're going to know all the twists and turns that this film offers. The one thing this film has going for it is seeing the pre-fame Bogart playing this type of role so fans of the actor might get a kick out of this thing. I've read that Bogart really hated this film but he's actually not too bad in it. He certainly isn't giving a classic performance but he does a good job showing off his tough side and again, it's always fun seeing him in this type of role. Sidney ends up stealing the film as his troubled girlfriend who wants a better life outside the circus. She comes off very charming in her role and add a lovely realism to her character. Albert is also very good in his role and really comes across well as that bright eyed kid who is about to learn a lesson in life. There are some nice touches of humor thrown in including a great sequence when the lion escapes and wonders into Albert's grocery store. A woman is sniffing limburger cheese when she first sees the beast and Albert's reaction to what happens is great. It's also worth noting that this is the first film in which Bogart received top-billing so that's one historic reason, which might draw people to watch this.

A Lion escapes from Humphrey Bogart's circus during a performance in a small town. It wanders into a grocery store where Eddie Albert is clerking. He manages to trap the lion behind a counter and gets a lot of plaudits and an offer from Bogart to work in his circus.

But jealousy rears its ugly head as Bogart's sister Joan Leslie and his girl friend Sylvia Sidney both fall for who Bogart considers a nice kid, but a hick.

The Wagons Roll at Night was a transitional film between two acclaimed Bogart productions High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. It was NOT the first time Bogart received number one billing. He did in a few other films like Black Legion for example. But with the acclaim he got from High Sierra, Jack Warner put him in this before the highly touted Dashiell Hammett adaption, I guess as a trial run.

The plot is based on Kid Galahad where oddly enough Bogart had a supporting role. Eddie Albert shows only a bit of his incredible talent. Joan Leslie as the nice sister basically repeats the part she had from High Sierra. Sylvia Sidney does well as the love lost carnival fortune teller with eyes for both Bogart and Albert.

Personally though I've always liked what Sig Ruman did in this film as the drunken lion tamer whose place Albert took. The film is at its best when he's on screen.

I would wager that given the choice, Humphrey Bogart wouldn't have bothered making "The Wagons Roll at Night." I daresay he hadn't any option, since he had only just become a star when the film went out on general release and hadn't signed a new contract when he could have more of a say in his choice of films. The film is merely a remake of the masterpiece, "Kid Galahad." That is everything the above film isn't. The story is as about as dull and predictable as could be. Fans of Bogart might want to see this but only to see him. Joan Leslie was worthy of being in better films as well. The setting is that of a circus, where Humphrey Bogart as the owner, is struggling to make his circus successful. Then by accident, a young fellow proves he has what it takes to be a lion tamer (Eddie Albert). I'm grateful that the running time is quite short.

I liked this film. While a little predictable and such, it did offer Bogart and Sylvia Sidney, both of whom I admire a great deal. The scenes with the tigers were interesting. The film, while mostly melodramatic, was humourous in some portions. As a die hard Bogie fan, I can't say as to whether or not others would like this though. I am a tainted Bogie fan, and so my opinion is always slanted...

The film was nothing more than a remake of "Kid Galahad," with the hero (Eddie Albert) as a lion tamer instead of a boxer… Bogart walked indifferently through his role as the owner of a traveling carnival whose plot was borrowed from Howard Hawks' "Tiger Shark."

Sylvia Sidney appeared in the Bette Davis as Bogart's troubled girlfriend, a fortuneteller with the carnival… The film was a very disappointing follow-up to Bogart's triumph in "High Sierra," but better things lay immediately ahead as Bogart was now ready for a new image, an image which was to dominate the screen for the next years, an image which found its basic construction in John Huston's "The Maltese Falcon."