SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

bob-790-196018 The song that Harold Arlen and Johnnie Mercer wrote for this movie turned out to be a gem. "From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to Saint Joe, Wherever the four winds blow, I've Been in some big towns, I've heard me some big talk, And there is one thing I know...." The music has real blues feeling, and the lyrics are as good as you'll ever find in a popular tune.So why is it that a movie which is named after the song and repeatedly alludes to it in its soundtrack never actually lets us hear the entire song from start to finish? The nearest thing to an extended performance is the rendition early on by the black man in jail. A good job, too, but cut short so we can return to the silly plot.There's also another good Arlen / Mercer song, totally different in spirit: "This Time the Dream's on Me." It's nicely sung by Priscilla Lane.There are interesting montages at two points in the movie, both created by Don Siegel. And the usual good performance by Lloyd Bridges.But for the most part it's a wildly arbitrary, melodramatic plot. The members of the band move about in unison, as if they were a flock of ducks. Two are named "Jigger" and "Character," a naive attempt to portray jazz musicians as colorful characters. Betty Field does a decent job with a part that makes her into a kind of female Iago. And Elia Kazan shows us why he ceased being an actor after this picture and focused on directing.

dougdoepke Great first twenty minutes: the hip dialogue, the jazzy atmosphere, the lively camera action, and especially the jailhouse scene where white men's ambitions meet up with black men's soul. I thought this would be something special, but the last half blows it. I'm guessing scripter Robert Rossen didn't know where to go with his novel characters and noirish ambiance. So he ends up with a melodramatic love affair that's neither believable nor well-acted.Ahh, but that first part. It's sort of like the 1930's meeting up with the 40's-- the jive band jumping aboard a freight train like any other footloose hobo. But they don't care; they're making cutting-edge music and it's a special bond. Halop and Kazan make great hipsters, as does Carson's shifty-eyed trumpeter. Whorf hasn't much range, but as a dreamy-eyed composer, he's perfect. Notice how up-tempo are the dialogue delivery and camera moves-- it's a super-charged atmosphere even as the the night hangs heavy over their vibrant little spark.Things go downhill once they hook up with The Jungle and Betty Field. The roadhouse is okay and a good fringes-of-the-law place for them to perform. But Field has all the seductive charm of fingernails across a blackboard, while having Whorf fall for her is totally out of character. Maybe if she had seduced him first, his obsession would make sense. But the way it's handled, his plight is little more than a poorly done contrivance. Maybe the plot jumps overboard, but the visuals remain fascinating They're exotic and artistically composed. And those surreal montages show real flair, especially Whorf's delirious fantasies. All in all, the movie's a genuine oddity, something like a noirish musical. But the only number played to completion is that novelty tune with the buck-toothed singer. So calling it a musical is a stretch. Actually, it's an animal without a pedigree. Nonetheless, there's a really compelling image that stays with me-- the band making with the blues in a boxcar as the train rolls on through the night, going who knows where. Now, there's a final note to ponder.

tbear_43 What an interesting idea: a film noir musical. While some of the acting was a bit over the top by today's standards, this film is a masterpiece of classic noir with great music, as well. The story line is formulaic, but weren't most of the in those days? I loved the song Bacall sang in THE BIG SLEEP, but BLUES IN THE NIGHT makes brings the music to the forefront, giving the viewer/listener a fuller experience. What a femme fatale Kay is, and she leaves us with no doubt about it: out for herself, jealous, envious, self pitying, willing to sacrifice anything for what she wants, but once she gets it, goes about making it as miserable as possible. Even her death at the hands of a man she scorns as unworthy in every way is poetic justice.I'm glad TCM is running BLUES IN THE NIGHT a bit more. I'm ready to see it again tight away!

edwagreen Interesting film by director Anatole Litvak creating film-noir with a musical.Two future excellent directors, Richard Whorf, who bore a strong resemblance to Robert Taylor, and Elia Kazan star. Kazan was also in Litvak's 1940 film "City for Conquest."The picture has an excellent cast. A group of musicians led by Jigger (Whorf) meet up with gangster Lloyd Nolan while hitching a ride on a train. Nolan likes them when they don't turn him in despite the fact that he holds them up for $5.00!He brings them to a Road House where the group perform. We have some great musical settings here and the various montage depiction is excellent.The film is extremely well paced. There is never a dull moment. He moves beautifully from film noir to musical and back to film noir again.In addition, there is a terrific performance by Bette Field as a Road House girl in love with Nolan, who spurns her. Whorf is hopelessly in love with her and her rejection of him leads to his mental breakdown. How ironic that 16 years after this film, Nolan and Field both appeared in the 1957 film "Peyton Place" but had no scenes together. Field is both catty and quite vicious in this film. It's her viciousness that shall prove to be her undoing.Jack Carson toots his horn and is wed in the film to Priscilla Lane. One major flaw of the film is their lack of emotional outburst when it is revealed that their baby boy has died.