a night to be remembered
Nel
King and Paul Jarrico (as Peter Achilles) (screenplay), Basil Dearden
(director) All Night Long / 1962
by
Douglas Messerli
for Sid Gold
How
could you not enjoy Basil Dearden's 1962 British
film which is basically a warehouse jazz session—with actual jazz greats such as
Charles Mingus (Bass), Tubby Hayes (Tenor Sax and Vibes), Bert Courtley
(Trumpet), Johnny Dankworth (Alto Sax), Kenny Napper (Bass), John Scott (Alto
Sax and Flute), Dave Brubeck (Piano), Ray Dempsey (Guitar), Barry Morgan (Bongos), and numerous
others—that is set against a retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello? Stir in
illicit drugs (only marijuana in this case), lots of liquor, inter-racial
relationships, and a sexy female singer, Delia Lane (Marti Stevens) who
everyone attending the all-night party would like to get their hands on, most
professionally but others sexually, and you have a hot mix of music and
political issues that few movies of the day could have dared. I might add that
along with Nel King, the writer of this remarkable film was blacklisted
screenwriter Paul Jarrico (writing under the name Peter Achilles).
The “palace” in which this Othello,
musician Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris), visits belongs to the music promoter Rod
Hamilton (Richard Attenborough). To some of the neophyte guests it may seem, as
they enter the bowels of the warehouse, like a grungy place to hold a party, but
by the time they get upstairs, they enter a two-story modern apartment with all
the amenities, including a catered affair with a more than full bar. And then
there’s all that jazz—just to celebrate the 2nd wedding anniversary
of Rex and Lane’s marriage. This Desdemona, having given up her successful
singing career, argues she is quite happy giving her complete attention to Rex.
Although there are rumors, just as in Shakespeare, in this case that she is
planning a come-back (based perhaps on the fact that she has been rehearsing a
new song to surprise Rex at this event), and that she has been visiting Rex’s band
manager, Cass (Keith Mitchell) (again in relationship to her new song). Cass (Cassio),
moreover, just as in Shakespeare, is Rex’s most trusted friend, a young man
(also a musician), who he as rescued from a drug addiction (again, folks, just marijuana
here).
The Iago, in this case, is the
more-than-ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan), who would love
to lure Delia back on the stage to perform with a band he is attempting to get
together. At least, in this version, Iago’s evil doings make some sort of
sense, as he gradually, over the evening, plants seeds of doubt in Rex’s head
about Delia’s faithfulness, lures Cass back into a marijuana smoke, and tapes
both Cass and his black wife, as well as Delia, altering their words to suggest
something that their own comments deny. Talk about false news!
Cass gets drunk and behaves badly,
forcing Rex to fire him. And the more that Delia attempts to intervene, the
clearer to Rex that she is actually having an affair with Cass. Indeed, the
joint soon is hopping with rumors, which the two visiting music managers even
note as people jump up like jack-in-the-box figures in order to settle personal
affairs.
By the time Delia gets around to singing
her beautiful new tune to Rex, he is so convinced of his wife’s guilt that he
can hardly sit still, crawling up the well-designed staircase, used effectively
throughout, convinced of his Delia’s duplicitousness.
Finally, breaking down, just as Othello
he attempts to choke her to death, but in this case is stopped by the entire
gathering as they each begin to perceive how Cousin has manipulated them, one
by one, his absolutely abused wife Emily (Betsy Blair) finally speaking out
about her husband’s inability to tell any truth. Sound familiar?
The party’s over, and gradually the musicians
and guests stagger out, Rex storming to the street in complete embarrassment,
but in this case, being chased by Delia, suggesting that, at least in this
version, Desdemona and Othello may go on to live a relatively happy life ever
after. Quentin Tarantino was clearly not the first to alter realities of the
past. Cass, we recognize will probably even get his job back and return to his
wife. Who knows, perhaps after his downfall, this Iago might even come to
appreciate the honesty of the woman he married as a teenager.
Many critics perceived Dearden’s ending
as a kind of cop-out. But I like to think of it, instead, as a kind of
redemption of the bi-racial relationships these couples have chosen in a rather
unforgiving society. And let us hope that soon after, or even ever-after, they
can come together many another “all night long” for sessions of great jazz.
Los
Angeles, September 4, 2019
Reprinted
from World Cinema Review (September 2019).
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