Blues in the Night (1941)

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Edwin Gilbert (play)
Robert Rossen (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Musical

Tagline:

2 GRAND BANDS! JIMMY LUNCEFORD'S and WILL OSBORNE'S! MUSIC GALORE! (original print media ad - mostly caps)

Plot:

"Jigger' Lane forms a band that includes singer Ginger 'Character' Powell, wife of the trumpeter Leo Powelll...

Plot Keywords:

Band | Singer | Roadhouse | Boxcar | Blues Music

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Priscilla Lane	...	Ginger 'Character' Powell
Betty Field	...	Kay Grant
Richard Whorf	...	Jigger Pine
Lloyd Nolan	...	Del Davis
Jack Carson	...	Leo Powell
Wallace Ford	...	Brad Ames (as Wally Ford)
Elia Kazan	...	Nickie Haroyen
Peter Whitney	...	Pete Bossett
Billy Halop	...	Peppi
Howard Da Silva	...	Sam Paryas
Joyce Compton	...	Blonde dancing with drunk
Herbert Heywood	...	Brakeman
George Lloyd	...	Joe (St. Louis cafe owner)
Charles C. Wilson	...	Barney (as Charles Wilson)
Matt McHugh	...	Drunk

Also Known As:

Hot Nocturne (USA) (working title)
New Orleans Blues (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #7503) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Australia:G

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

John Garfield turned down the role of Jigger Pine. In Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Mr. Garfield would parody the already classic, Oscar-nominated song for 1941, "Blues in the Night" (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Johnny Mercer).

Soundtrack:

In Waikiki

Almost perfect drama

A band lead by Jigger (Richard Whorf) has trouble landing a job. They get involved with gangster Dell (Lloyd Nolan) who gives them a job at his club. His jealous girlfriend Kay (Betty Field) sets out to destroy the band. Will she?

I'm only giving this a 9 because of the overly familiar story. That aside this is incredible. Nobody in the cast was a name at the time, but they're all very good actors. Field has a fun time in her bad girl role. Nolan is just great as Dell. Whorf is OK as Jigger. Also in the cast (and band) is Jack Carson, future director Elia Kazan and Priscilla Lane (who does wonders with the thankless 'good girl' role). The film is beautifully directed in gorgeous black and white by Anatole Litvak--he makes good use of his low budget and has some very nice sequences using light and shadows. Also there are a few truly bizarre (but fun) montages--they're unlike ANYTHING you'll see in a 1940s film. Also there's some really great music in here.

So...great music, good acting, beautiful photography...and just an OK story.

Still, well worth seeing.

Strange thing about this film--everybody seems to know about it, but it's almost never shown! Try catching it on TCM--their print isn't that great (the image kept shaking) but it's still worth seeing.