All Night Long (1962 film)
All Night Long is a 1962 British neo noir drama film made by the Rank Organisation, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Patrick McGoohan, Marti Stevens, Paul Harris, Keith Michell, Richard Attenborough and Betsy Blair. The story, by Nel King and Paul Jarrico, writing under the name Peter Achilles, is an updated version of William Shakespeare's Othello, set in the London jazz scene of the 1960s. The black-and-white film features performances by several prominent British jazz musicians – among them Tubby Hayes and John Dankworth – as well as the Americans Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus, who were in the UK in 1961 when filming took place and were recruited to participate.[1]
All Night Long | |
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Directed by | Basil Dearden |
Produced by | Michael Relph Bob Roberts Basil Dearden |
Written by | Nel King Paul Jarrico |
Starring | Patrick McGoohan Marti Stevens Paul Harris Keith Michell Richard Attenborough Betsy Blair |
Music by | Philip Green |
Cinematography | Edward Scaife |
Edited by | John D. Guthridge |
Production company | Rank Organisation |
Distributed by | J. Arthur Rank (UK) Colorama Features (US) |
Release date | 6 February 1962 (UK) 17 April 1963 |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Plot
The musician Aurelius Rex and his wife Delia, a retired singer, are the recipients of a wedding anniversary party in London thrown by a wealthy music promoter, Rod Hamilton.
An ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin, wants to start his own band. He promises to persuade Delia to come out of retirement and resume performing, having been told that this is the only way his band will be backed.
Told in no uncertain terms that Delia has no intention of resuming her career, Johnny begins a series of machinations at the party designed to make Rex believe that Delia has been having an affair with Cass, the band's manager. He even alters a tape recording to distort the meaning of Delia's private conversation.
Johnny's back-stabbing costs Cass his job. Delia's performance of a song, rehearsed solely for the party, furthers Rex's suspicions that she is unhappy at home. Rex assaults Delia and makes public accusations about her fidelity. In the ensuing conversations, everyone, including Johnny's neglected wife Emily, eventually realises that Johnny has fabricated the entire story. It is implied that Delia and Rex resume their relationship.
Cast
- Patrick McGoohan as Johnny Cousin
- Marti Stevens as Delia Lane
- Paul Harris as Aurelius Rex
- Keith Michell as Cass
- Richard Attenborough as Rod Hamilton
- Betsy Blair as Emily
- Bernard Braden as Berger
- Harry Towb as Phales
- María Velasco as Benny
- Carol White as Lucille (uncredited)
- Dave Brubeck as himself
- Keith Christie as himself
- Bert Courtley as himself
- John Dankworth as himself
- Ray Dempsey as himself
- Allan Ganley as himself
- Tubby Hayes as himself
- Geoffrey Holder as himself (uncredited)
- Charles Mingus as himself
- Barry Morgan as himself
- Kenny Napper as himself
- Colin Purbrook as himself
- Harry Beckett as himself – trumpet player (uncredited)
- John Scott as himself
- Cilla Black as Twiggy
- Chas Hodges as Dave
- Dave Peacock as Chas
Home media
The film was released in the UK by Network DVD in 2007, and by The Criterion Collection in January 2011.[2] A blu-ray edition was released by Network DVD in 2016.
Original music
- Philip Green
- Tubby Hayes (additional music "The Chase")
- Kenny Napper (additional music "Sax Reference")
- John Scott (additional music "Scott-Free")
- Dave Brubeck (additional music, a new recording of "It's a Raggy Waltz")
- Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus (improvised composition "Non-Sectarian Blues" [as it is titled on Columbia Records releases])
References
- Dave Gelly, "Various artists, All Night Long", The Guardian, 11 April 2004.
- "All Night Long". The Criterion Collection.
External links
- All Night Long on IMDb
- All Night Long at the TCM Movie Database
- All Night Long at AllMovie
- All Night Long (OST) at Discogs (list of releases)
- Criterion Collection Essay