Blues in the Night

A movie can be many things... and this movie certainly is many things. Comedy? Musical? Crime story?.. all this and more. It starts off jazzy and bouncy and ends with a fight and a manic car ride through a violent thunderstorm. Johnny Mercer/ Harold Arlen tunes meet double-dealing dames and some great surreal montages courtesy of Don Siegal (Yep. THAT Don Siegal). Look for Elia Kazan as a band member.. all this plus Lloyd Nolan, Jack Carson, Wallace Ford, Priscilla Lane, great camera angles and shadows... I loved this movie for it's sheer jazzy weirdness and noir imagery.The dvd is packed with great extra features. Two amazing musical shorts: The classic "Jammin' The Blues" (with Lester Young, Joe Jones, Sweets Edison, etc) and "Melody Maker:Jimmy Lunceford (whose orchestra features in the main movie). Also THREE hilarious Warmer Brothers cartoons: "Kitty Kornered" (Porky Pig vs. four ornery cats who wont be kicked out into the snow), "Crooner Swooner" (production at Porky's war-time chicken ranch is disrupted by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby crooning roosters) and "My Favourite Duck" (Daffy Duck turns Porky's fishing holiday into a nightmare) plus a big-band audio outtake of "Blues In The Night" that runs just under 2 minutes. Last but not least, you get the original movie trailer.Print quality is typical WB excellence. Grab it before it's gone... or becomes over-priced.

Somewhere between a musical & film noir, Blues In The Night is a very unusual & interesting B-movie melodrama about the ups & downs of a group of young musicians in the early 1940s who strike out on their own, riding the rails to gigs & eventually landing a job at a road house run by a shady grifter (Lloyd Nolan). The group's brilliant pianist later splits with the road house floozie & breaks into the big time, leading to his downfall. Made just prior to Pearl Harbor, the movie is an interesting time capsule glimpse of pre-WW2 Americana.If the story is a bit uneven in parts, the great characterizations more than make up for it. A good B-list cast of young actors like Richard Whorf, Wallace Ford, Jack Carson, et al, who later became familiar Hollywood faces, do a pretty convincing job. A decent script, a flawless print/transfer & very good audio quality make the period come alive. There's also a fascinating surrealistic montage depicting the pianist's psychotic breakdown.Though a fairly low-budget production, the sets, props & fashions nevertheless provide a pretty authentic look at 1941 America. Like most B melodramas, the acting can be a little arch at times, but no more than most B-films. The music is bluesy & authentic, featuring a few jazz staples of the era, like the Jimmie Lunceford band. But there's not enough of it to make the movie a true musical. The emphasis is definitely on the drama.While I wouldn't call Blues In The Night a great film, classic movie & Film Noir fans will find it an interesting & entertaining noir-ish melodrama, well worth-watching.

I had previously ordered this movie and after several delays the seller canceled the order. I was given a full refund, but because of the delays, I gave it a low rating.A few months later I ordered it again and it was delivered on time. This is an update of my previous rating.The acting and story line aren’t the best, but the music makes it worth watching. If you like Blues, Jazz, Swing, etc. you will enjoy this movie.

This is a good 40s B Film with a good cast which seems to forget the subplot of the husband flirting with the floozie as the story goes along, but that's okay-- this is a soap opera drama type of semi comedy that used to make up the second half of a double bill and gives us a glimpse into the world of hip jive jazz in the early 1940s. It's not a documentary by any means but its entertaining.

I first streamed this fascinating film on the Warner Archive channel available via the newest edition of ROKU received as a coveted Christmas gift December of 2013 .Yesterday I watched the picture again (I bought a copy) with my parents who were 10 (dad) and 13 (mom) when this picture sprang to life theatrically in 1941 . I was thrilled and excited all over again and my folks loved it .You'll find Howard Da Silva here . Jack Carson and Lloyd Nolan as well (in the role of a lifetime) The whole cast is fantastic in service of a super-duper-hyper-rat-a-tat script loaded with great enthusiasm and encouragement and hard truths and harsher actions . This picture screams life with spectacular montages and sweet and lovely playing and singing . The acting's uniformly superb and dynamic . See it if you can friends . See it if you can .

Having seen this film on TCM a few years back there were things about it that stuck with me. Definitely not an MGM film, as much of the action takes place in jail cells, boxcars and roadhouses, more in keeping with a Warner Brothers product, which it is. Not exactly a musical either, this in spite of the fact that music is the focal point of the film. Most of the characters here (incidentally, one of the characters here is actually NAMED Character, lovely Priscilla Lane) are down and out musicians, none of whom have two nickels to rub together most of the time. The lead musician is Jigger (Richard Whorf), a gifted pianist who is also something of a tortured soul, someone who lives for his artistry but tends to make bad decisions, particularly when it comes to women. BLUES IN THE NIGHT possesses a great cast, which includes Jack Carson, Lloyd Nolan, Elia Kazan (yes THAT Elia Kazan), Wallace Ford, Billy Halop (onetime Dead End Kid), Howard Da Silva and Betty Field (as the bad girl who sends Jigger off the rails). There's a lot I like about this film, brisk pace, snappy patter, vivid characters and an earthy lowdown ambiance that lends a noirish flavor to the proceedings. And the music's not bad either. Recommended.

I had seen an excerpt from this film on Youtube which made me look on the Net for the film itself. The excerpt was good and one expected the whole of the film to meet that same standard, which sadly, in my case it did not.I have a great interest in jazz and film noir so that this kind of film would appeal very much to me. Necessarily, one always takes a chance when purchsing something one has not seen before, and it is usually better to have seen the film previously on television or in the cinema so one knows more specifically its content.The test of a good film is the times one likes to view it - 'Dames', 'Gold Diggers of 1933', 'Palmy Days' - I have watched many times and the Fred Astaire RKO films - Casablanca', 'To have and have not' and many more. I was disinclined to view this film again. That being said, I recently saw a film again on television which I did record and found something more intereting about it than previously. It's the same with any art form - one's taste develops and sometimes changes with greater knowledge and experience.I could, therefore, see this film again in a few years' time and have a better opinion of it. It is of interest sociologically as it reflects certain ways of life during this tumultuous period in the USA's history. Perhaps if it had concentrated on being a film noir, or a musical, and not tried to blend the two, it may have been more successful. I often view films to develop my knowledge - even though sometimes it is hard work. I struggled to stay with 'Die Weisse Band' on TV this week - it was very dark and more in the genre of social realism than film noir. I discussed it later with a friend in Germany so this viewing had some value in my understanding the social scene at the early part of the 20th century.After all this, I should perhaps view this film again shortly and see how I feel.

this could have been a really good film noir but the over ripe dialogue,cop out ending and an extremely muddled scenario inbetween combines to make this into a strange unsatisfying whole.such a disappointment.im surprised that a movie like this has been issued on dvd when there are so many better films out there that are still waiting (like the wonderful St Louis blues with eartha kitt,nat king cole,pearl baily et al)

I am happy to add this copy to my DVD collection. I had seen the movie on Turner Classic Movies, and wanted my own copy. I am a fan of almost any movie with great music from the 1940's, and this happily delivers.

An old black and white classic about a group of people getting together to start a band. Great music and scenes that seem true today, highly recomended, one of best movie describing what it is to be in a band struggling to "make it".