Customer Reviews

All Through the Night - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne, Jane Darwell, Frank Mc Hugh, Jackie Gleason, Peter Lorre, Barton Maclane, William Demarest & Directed by Vincent Sherman

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of Bogey's best films, this action-comedy holds up now far better than a number of his better-known pictures.

A terrific, colorful cast of characters portray Broadway gamblers and Irish-American gangsters facing off against a Nazi spy ring in WWII New York City. A fast-moving story, a lot of great dialogue, and a glimpse of familiar faces like Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason in their salad days. Cast also includes wonderful Warner regulars like Peter Lorre and Conrad Veidt.

The reviews of this one have been mixed, so I thought I would add my two cents on the positive side. Like a number of other reviewers, I only recently stumbled on this film having never even heard of it before. Usually, a film being this obscure despite such a great cast means trouble and I can understand how it doesn't work for some people. The Runyonesque opening does grate a bit with the spy thriller the movie evolves into. But I enjoyed it immensely. It has that early WW II, we're all in this together boys -- petty gangsters or not! -- feel.

It probably helps that I'm a big William Demarest fan. Probably best known for playing Uncle Charlie on the "My Three Sons" sit-com, Demarest had a fine film career as comic actor. He was a regular in the great Preston Sturges films of the 1940s. It's good to see him here in a similar role. The presence of the young Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason is also a plus. Although the dialog in their scenes could have been better, you can still see hints of their later TV stardom. I was also impressed with Kaaren Verne as the female lead. She's very attractive and gives an adequate performance. I'm surprised that she didn't have a better career. Fun trivia note: She was later married briefly to Peter Lorre, who also appears in this film.

Finally, the print is really first rate. Kudos to Warner Brothers for doing a good job with this unjustly neglected film.

"All through the Night" is my favorite Bogart movie. It setting is the NYC, NY during WWII. The common American citizens and Bogart are going up against Nazi Spies and Saboteurs in NYC NY. The enemy thinks that American's are weak, fearful, and lazy. Bogart and the average American Joes show them how wrong they are. This film combines drama, action, and comic relief. A great supporting cast with the likes of Phil Silvers and a very young Jackie Gleason are some examples. This is a patriotic film from that period. I love it and I think you will too.

Released five days before Pearl Harbour, this movie's jokey tone and somewhat light take on foreign saboteurs didn't sit well with audiences once America entered World War Two. Still, this is a jolly and involving comic-drama that sometimes seems way, way ahead of its time in its combination of action and comedy.

Bogart, on the cusp of superstardom (High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon came out earlier in 1941, while Across the Pacific and Casablanca would be out within the following 13 months), plays "Gloves" Donahue, a loveable gang leader in New York. He's from the Damon Runyon school of loveable gangsters, and comes complete with a loveable, interfering Irish mother played by Jane Darwell, who'd recently won an Oscar for playing Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.

Gloves and his men stumble across a Nazi spy ring, and soon only Bogart and the daughter of a concentration-camp prisoner stand between New York and Nazi saboteurs, partially because the police are idiots. Boy, are the police idiots.

It's all played breezily and, if you've watched a lot of classic television, you'll note that a lot of supporting actors would go on to rewarding television careers, most notably Jackie Gleason (The Honeymooners), Phil Silvers (Sgt. Bilko) and William Demarest (the grandfather in My Three Sons). Peter Lorre and Conrad Veidt -- both of whom would reteam with Bogart in Casablanca -- and Dame Judith Anderson round out a surprisingly high-powered cast. Blink and you'll miss a miniature Nazi dachschund getting blown up.

Its great to listen to the banter in this movie, with lots of ganster slang, the film has some great comedy moments by Bogart, but he shows his action hero side as well, great entertainment.

The Times

1941 was one of the most hectic years for the US. The depression was over and an age of prosperity had begun. The United States industry was richer than ever before and Franklin D Roosevelt had secured the USA as the greatest superpower on earth, and in December of 1941 the US entered WWII after Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbour.
1941 was a great year for Hollywood too and every major studio easily managed to release a new picture every week. Cinemas would hardly have enough room to show all the films made and some of the great films only lasted a few days in theatres to make way for new ones. Stars were getting more freedom from their contracts and many studios scrapped the idea of forcing their actors into movies they didn't want to do. Biopics were the favourite genre at the time, but in the 40's the most major films were the propaganda films. Almost every film that came out had a star in it, and almost every one of those films showcased America's greatness, beauty and freedom. Whether it was a hard hitting war film, a musical drama or an espionage thriller, propaganda films were everywhere and immensely popular.

Synopsis

Gloves Donahue (Humphrey Bogart) is the kindest gangster around. He gives money to his friends, he's loyal to his neighbourhood and he stays in touch with his mum, and when Gloves doesn't get the proper cheesecake from Charlies Restaurant (supplied by Mr Miller's bakery for over 10 years), he gets angry.
Gloves is told Mr Miller (Ludwig Stossel) did not deliver his cheesecake. For now Gloves decides not to worry about it but is later contacted by his mother (Jane Darwell) and urged to come to Miller's Bakery quick. Gloves is told that Mr Miller hasn't been in all day and his mum has a feeling that something is wrong (and when she's got a feeling, she's got a feeling!).
Gloves finds Miller's body and is approached later by a mysterious woman named Leda Hamilton (Kaaren Verne) who inquires about Miller but before Gloves has time to question her she leaves.

Ma Donahue follows her to the Duchess Club, but starts disrupting customers so the club's owner Marty Callahan (Barton MacLane) calls Gloves to pick her up. As Gloves goes to pick up his mum he sees Leda performing on stage with her accompanist, Pepi (Peter Lorre). As he tries to talk to Leda, Pepi interrupts and begins to take Leda away so Gloves grabs his arm. A bouncer at the club, Joe Denning (Edward Brophy) orders Gloves out of the club and follows Pepi and Leda into the back room where he is shot and killed by Pepi.

Gloves is accused of the murder and Pepi takes Leda away with him. With the police after him, Gloves and his men Sunshine (William Demarest) and Barney (Frank McHugh) get a new car and begin following Pepi, where they are led to a toy warehouse.
While investigating the warehouse Sunshine is kidnapped and Gloves is almost killed. Gloves goes to the elevator to pursue Sunshine's kidnapper but discovers nothing but walls and he can't detect the false wall.
Gloves decides to enter the building next door, an antique auctioning society led by Mr Ebbing (Conrad Veidt). Gloves begins interrogating Ebbing and his assistant, Madame (Judith Anderson), but is knocked out by Leda as she and Pepi enter the room through the false wall leading to the warehouse.

Leda later enters the room where both Sunshine and Gloves are tied up and she frees them before leaving once more without any explanation. Gloves and Sunshine discover that Ebbing is the leader of a secret Nazi Organization. Gloves and Sunshine intend to stop Ebbing by acquiring a book containing a list of the group's members. Gloves is shocked to find that Miller and Leda were both working with them and escapes the building taking her with him.

As Gloves attempts to go to the police station, Leda reveals to him that she is working for the Nazis so that they may free her father and that Miller was killed by Pepi for not co-operating with the Nazis. Leda also reveals to Gloves that the Nazis are having a major meeting that night and that Gloves has to stop it.

The Nazis catch up to Gloves and recover the books that Gloves took, but as they are escorting Leda and him from the building the police come to arrest Gloves. Ebbing and the other Nazis leave, telling the police that Gloves was trying to escape and they simply held him there.

The police don't believe Gloves and Leda's story but agree to go with them to search the auctioning house and find all the Nazi rooms abandoned and boxed up. Gloves escapes from the police and returns to his gang at their safe house just as they are being raided by Marty Callahan and his gang for supposedly killing Joe Denning. Gloves explains the problem to Callahan and they all decide to join forces to assault the Nazi stronghold.

Pepi bails Leda out of Prison by Pepi and is subsequently kidnapped, so while Callahan and most of Gloves gang search for recruits, Gloves, Sunshine and Barney follow Pepi to the new Nazi hide out, a toy shop.

Gloves and Sunshine infiltrate the meeting and discover that the Nazis are planning to blow up a battleship in the New York harbour that night. Pepi sees the two men and goes to tell Ebbing just as he is interrogating Leda. As Ebbing confronts Gloves a crowd of gangsters enter the building and defeat the Nazi's in a huge brawl. Ebbing and Pepi manage to escape and Ebbing decides that they will carry out the plans alone. Pepi refuses to embark on a suicide mission so is shot to death by Ebbing who then makes his way to the docks.

Gloves eventually tracks down Ebbing and kills Ebbing during a climactic battle on Ebbings boat, which explodes with him still in it. Gloves name is cleared and he is commended for his work. Gloves starts a relationship with Leda and everything is calm, but then Ma walks in with another concern about the milkman, and when she's got a feeling, she's got a feeling!

Review

`All Through the Night' is a hard hitting, fast paced gangster film, but it is not your average gangster film because these gangsters aren't fighting the cops, they're fighting Nazis! Of course it is propaganda, but this film is a lot of fun and has so many great actors in it you just can't help but get into the picture. Vincent Sherman is great with comedy and his directing talent is nothing short of fantastic.

Making Of

All Through the Night was made in 1941 which was during WWII, but before the USA entered into the war. All Through the Night was made for the war effort, to showcase how great America is, even the gangsters are patriots!
This was the 3rd film that was offered to Humphrey Bogart after George Raft declined the roles (the first being High Sierra of 1941, the second The Maltese Falcon of 1941 and later Casablanca of 1942). Olivia DeHavilland was also offered a role in the film but declined. The film was one of the first major films directed by Vincent Sherman, who had originally been an actor on the stage and even understudying for Claude Rains.
Sherman got many contracted actors in supporting roles and many comedians for the roles of the gangsters.
`All Through the Night' was released on the 2nd of December, 1941: 5 days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Suddenly the war became a very serious thing and simple pro-America films wouldn't do. Comedies were out and especially when they were comedies about the war. Another reason it was unpopular was that it depicted the threat of Nazis and after pearl harbour US citizens were far more concerned about the Japanese aggressors then the Nazis in Europe. The film lasted only a few weeks before it went back to the shelves on the Warner Bros lot. After Bogart's success in `Casablanca' 91942 with Claude Rains), Warner's re-released the film in the hopes that wartime comedies were back in. The re-release was a huge success and audiences flocked to the film.

Cast & Crew

Vincent Sherman, the director: Vincent Sherman was a Jew born in Vienna in 1906 and became an actor on the Broadway stage in his teens after escaping a tormented childhood. Sherman worked as an understudy for character actor Claude Rains who helped give him his first directing role on a play in 1933. Sherman moved to films in 1939 where he directed `The Return of Dr X' (1939 with Humphrey Bogart) and was contracted by Warner Bros in 1940. Sherman made a few films in his career including his first major film, Saturday's Children (1940 with John Garfield, Claude Rains and George Tobias) where Rains actually had to help him with his directing as he felt uneasy telling his former superior what to do. Sherman's films included `Mr Skeffington' (1944 with Bette Davis, Claude Rains in an Academy Award nominated performance and Jerome Cowan), `The Adventures of Don Juan' (1948 with Errol Flynn and Alan Hale) and `Affair in Trinidad' (1952 with Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth). In the early 1950's Warner Bros fired him after federal agents began investigating him. Sherman was put on trial for communist acts and supporting communism by the House of Un-American Activities. Sherman denied the allegations but like many other actors, directors and writers during that time, was blacklisted for the remainder of his life from Hollywood. His name meant nothing to Hollywood anymore who refused to accept him, he went to prison for a year and was put under constant surveillance for the rest of his life. With his career in ruins because of the allegations of the government and the non-cooperative of Hollywood executives, Sherman went on to direct a few TV shows. Sherman passed away in 2006 aged 99.


Humphrey Bogart as Gloves Donahue: Humphrey Bogart was born on Christmas day 1899 and began regular stage performances in 1922. Bogart became friends with actors Spencer Tracy and Leslie Howard while on the stage and it was thanks to Howard that he landed a role in his first major film, `The Petrified Forest' (1936 with Bette Davis and Leslie Howard). Bogart was so grateful he named his daughter Leslie in commemoration. Even though he had a huge success in `The Petrified Forest', Bogie was signed into a contract as a supporting player and appeared in many great classics (so many I will not list the numerous actors and directors in which he worked with). Between 1936 and 1940 he appeared in `Bullets or Ballots', `San Quentin', `Dead End', `Crime School', `The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse', `Angels with Dirty Faces', `Dark Victory', `The Roaring Twenties', `The Return of Dr X', `Brother Orchid' and `They Drive By Night'. Bogie had 2 big breaks in 1941 and both were turn downs by actor George Raft. These films were Raoul Walsh's `High Sierra' (with Ida Lupino, Henry Travers and Jerome Cowan) and John Huston's `The Maltese Falcon' (1941 with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre). After that he had considerable success in (again so many memorable classics that I cannot go into detail) `Across the Pacific', `Casablanca', `Action in the North Atlantic', `Sahara', `Passage to Marseille' and `To Have and Have Not' where he met his wife, fellow actor Lauren Bacall. Bogart then appeared in numerous films like `The Big Sleep', `Dead Reckoning', `Dark Passage', `The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', `Key Largo', `Knock on Any Door', `In A Lonely Place', `The Enforcer', `Sirocco' and `The African Queen' for which he won an academy award for best actor (1951). After that role he stopped appearing so frequently in films but many of his films were still the blockbusters people expected from a Bogart film. Bogart became seriously ill in 1952 and continued to suffer throat cancer for the rest of his life. Bogart and his wife campaigned against Hollywood Blacklisting and led a parade of stars along Sunset Blvd in 1952 in protest to the House of Un-American Activities. His later films include John Huston's `Beat the Devil' (1953 with Robert Morley and Peter Lorre), `The Caine Mutiny' (1954 with Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray and Jose Ferrer), Billy Wilder's `Sabrina' (1954 with Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and John Williams), Joseph L Mankiewicz's `The Barefoot Contessa' (1954 with Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien), Michael Curtiz's `We're No Angels' (1955 with Basil Rathbone and Peter Ustinov) and William Wyler's `The Desperate Hours' (1955 with Fredric March). Humphrey Bogart died shortly after his last film `The Harder They Fall' (1956 with Rod Steiger). He was only 57.
Conrad Veidt as Ebbing: Conrad Veidt was a very small actor when he played Cesare (1920's `The Cabinet of Dr Caligari'), and it made his career in Germany. After the film he continued to act in Germany, and his fame rose to the point that when Universal Studios hired a German expressionist director (Paul Leni) to create a film for them, he chose Conrad as his lead. The film was The Man Who Laughs, 1928. After the Man Who Laughs Veidt stayed in Hollywood, and saw the move as a blessing, a way to get away from hyperinflation and political wars, and acted in many films, eventually landing a contract with Warner Bros. Veidt was a staunch anti-Nazi since before he even left Germany, and there were even attempts at his life by Gestapo agents, yet during World War II he always played the Nazi, sometimes comically like in 1941's All Through the Night. Veidt's most famous role is that of Major Strasser in 1942's Casablanca. Casablanca was Veidt's last film before he died of a heart attack while playing golf with Arthur Field (a Hollywood executive) and his physician, Dr Bergman. Conrad's legacy is still apparent today in Batman's The Joker, which was modelled off of Veidt's portrayal in The Man Who Laughs.

Jane Darwell as Ma Donahue: Jane Darwell was born in 1879 in Missouri. She made her stage debut when she was 33 and her first film when she was 40. She moved into sound films very easily and was typecast in kindly, motherly roles. In 1939 she had her first important role in `The Rains Came' (1939 with Tyrone Power, Myrna Loy and Henry Travers) and in Victor Fleming's `Gone With the Wind' (1939 with Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh and Olivia DeHavilland). Darwell won an academy award in 1940 for her role in `The Grapes of Wrath' (1940 directed by John Ford with Henry Fonda and John Carradine) and furthered her career with roles in William A Wellman's `The Ox Bow Incident' 91943 with Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn) and in John Ford's `My Darling Clementine' (1947 with Henry Fonda and Walter Brennan). Darwell was about to retire in 1957 when John Ford convinced her to continue and act in his next film, which she did. The film was John Ford's `The Last Hurrah' (1958 with Spencer Tracy, Wallace Ford, Basil Rathbone and John Carradine). She retired at the age of 80 in 1959 but came out of retirement twice for an episode of `The Alfred Hitchcock Hour' directed by Norman Lloyd in 1962 and for her performance as the Bird Lady in `Mary Poppins' (1964 with Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke), where walt Disney himself visited her house and pleaded with her to do the film as he couldn't picture the film without her. Darwell died in 1967 of a heart attack. She was 87.

Peter Lorre as Pepi: Peter Lorre was born in Austria in 1904. Lorre ran away from home and pursued an acting career in Germany at a young age. As a young man he became a student of Sigmund Freud but ultimately abandoned medicine in the 1920's. He remained unknown until director Fritz Lang cast him in `M' (1931) as a psychopathic child killer. Lorre continued to appear in German films until the Nazi's came to power and he moved to Paris. Lorre then appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's `The Man Who Knew Too Much' (1934) and made his Hollywood debut in Karl Freund's `Mad Love' (1935 with Colin Clive). Lorre moved back to Paris after `mad Love' and appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's `Secret Agent' (1936 with John Gielgud). After the success of `Secret Agent', Lorre moved to Hollywood and was sought after by Fox Studios. During his time at Fox, Lorre made 8 `Mr Moto' films, where he played an Asian detective. The series was hugely popular and Lorre's distinct voice and face was imitated many times (most notably in Looney Tunes cartoons). Lorre became a very famous personality in Hollywood and on radio and in 1941 appeared in John Huston's `The Maltese Falcon' (1941 with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet). Lorre's other films included `All Through the Night' (1941 with Humphrey Bogart and Conrad Veidt), `Invisible Agent' (1942 with Sir Cedric Hardwicke), Michael Curtiz's `Casablanca' (1942 with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Conrad Veidt and Claude Rains), Frank Capra's `Arsenic & Old Lace' (1944 with Cary Grant, Jack Carson and Raymond Massey), Michael Curtiz's `Passage to Marseille' (1944 with Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Claude Rains) and a series of films between 1944 and 1947 where he teamed up with actor Sydney Greenstreet. This film duo was very popular and both men became firm friends. It was Peter Lorre who convinced Humphrey Bogart to marry Lauren Bacall. Bogart was concerned about their age differences and Lorre simply told him that, "Five good years are better than none!" In 1948 Lorre had to appear at the House of Un-American Activities to testify. Lorre was interviewed by investigators and asked to name anyone suspicious he had met since coming to the US. He responded a week later by giving them a complete list of everyone he knew. In 1951 Lorre directed, wrote and acted in his own film `Der Verlorene' which was a huge success in Germany. Lorre appeared a lot less as a villain in the 1950's due to the fact that he was a lot heavier after his visit to Germany. Lorre, in his later life, appeared in John Huston's `Beat the Devil' (1953 with Humphrey Bogart and Robert Morley), Walt Disney's '20,000 leagues Under the Sea' (1954 with Kirk Douglas and James Mason), Michael Todd's `Around the World in 80 days' (1956 with David Niven and 40 other stars) and Rouben Mamoulian's `Silk Stockings' (1957 with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse). In 1957 he attended the funeral of fellow horror actor Bela Lugosi and after seeing his body in his trademark Dracula cape, Lorre leaned over to Vincent price and asked, " Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?" Lorre worked with famous directors Irwin Allen (The Towering Inferno) and Roger Corman 3 times each for Allen in `The Story of mankind' (1957 with Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and John Carradine), `Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' (1961 with Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine and Henry Daniell) and `Five Weeks in a Balloon' (1962 with Red Buttons and Sir Cedric Hardwicke). He worked for Corman in 3 horror-comedies where he improvised many of his hilarious lines (some that caught co-stars so off guard you can see their reactions on screen). These were `Tales of Terror' (1962 with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone), Edgar Allen Poe's `The Raven' (1963 with Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson) and `The Comedy of Terrors' (1963 with Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone and Joe E Brown). Lorre's last film was the Jerry Lewis comedy `The Patsy' (1964 with Jerry Lewis, Everett Sloane, Keenan Wynn and George Raft). He died in 1964 of a stroke.
Jackie Gleason as Starchy: Jackie Gleason was born in 1916 and became a comedian in his youth. Jackie performed in carnivals and became a bar keeper in New York until he got work in the 1940's in films. In 1951 he starred as Ralph Kramden in 7 `Cavalcade of Stars' episodes and landed himself his own TV series with this character. The TV series was called `The Honeymooners' (1955-1956) and ran for 39 episodes. The Honeymooners storyline lasted many more TV series where Gleason reprised his role as Kramden in all 78 episodes of `The Jackie Gleason Show' (1952-1957), 3 episodes of `Jackie Gleason and the American Scene Magazine' (1962-1966), and all 82 episodes of `The Jackie Gleason Show' (1966-1970). He also appeared as Ralph Kramden in 3 films. Apart from Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason also appeared in `The Hustler' (1961 with Paul Newman and George C Scott) and in his later years as Sheriff Buford T Justice in all 3 Smokey and the Bandit films. He died in 1987 of liver cancer.

Phil Silvers as Waiter: Phil Silvers was born in 1911 and began acting in his 20's. Silvers had an unimportant career until he won a Tony in 1952. After he won his first Tony award he was given his own comedy TV show (The Phil Silvers Show 1955-1959) playing Sgt Bilko. Silvers also appeared in `It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World' (1963 with Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney and Terry-Thomas) and in his later career appeared in a memorable episode of `Kolchak: The Night Stalker' (1974-1975). Silvers died in 1985 after a lengthy film and TV career.
Wallace Ford as Spats Hunter: Wallace Ford was born as Samuel Jones in 1898 in England, and separated from his parents from a young age. Samuel lived in a strict, dictatorial orphanage and was transferred to the Toronto branch of the orphanage when he was 7. After that he lived with 17 foster families, the last of which being a farming family that used him as a slave. Samuel escaped the farming house when he was 11 and joined a vaudeville group called the Winnipeg Kiddies, in which he stayed in until 1914. Samuel took his name in honour of his friend called Wallace Ford, who was crushed to death by a railroad car. The two had `hoboed' their way into the USA across the trains and the Samuel (now Wallace Ford) managed to get work in theatrical groups and eventually in Broadway. Ford found work in Hollywood alongside Joan Crawford in `Possessed' (1931). Ford never played the leading man, but always played the wise-cracking, friendly faced character, and eventually landed supporting roles in 13 John Ford films. In the mid 1930's Wallace began a search for his birth parents, a search which drew world headlines. Ford found his birth parents and returned to Hollywood in 1936. Ford became a leading actor for a string of B pictures between 1940 and 1950, and returned as an A-list supporting actor as stocky, grizzled old timers in many westerns, political dramas and his last film in 1965 as Old Pa in `A Patch of Blue' (1965, with Sidney Poitier). Ford died in 1966 a few months after his lifelong partner, Martha Harworth died.

Barton MacLane as Marty Callahan: Barton MacLane was born in 1902 on Christmas day and started out as a musician. He published many of his works and played the violin, guitar and piano. MacLane became synonymous with the `heavy' good guy, the tough detective or cop who knows nothing but the law. MacLane was the epitome of the law that it was common slang for criminals to say to cops when they were caught, "Don't give me that Barton MacLane." MacLane appeared in mainly gangster films in William Keighley's `G Men' (1935 with James Cagney), William Keighley's `Bullets or Ballots' 91936 with Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart), Fritz Lang's `You Only Live Once' (1937 with Henry Fonda, Jerome Cowan and Sylvia Sidney), `San Quentin' (1937 with Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan), Raoul Walsh's `High Sierra' (1941 with Humphrey Bogart, Joan Leslie, Ida Lupino, Henry Hull, Henry Travers and Jerome Cowan) and he appeared in 6 Torchy Blane films between 1937 and 1939 as Detective Lieutenant Steve MacBride. MacLane also had a few considerable roles in non-gangster films (though not necessarily against his typecast of detective) such as his roles as Detective Lieutenant Dundy in John Huston's crime drama `The Maltese Falcon' (1941 with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Jerome Cowan and Elisha Cook Jr), John Canty in William Keighley's `The Prince and the Pauper' (1937 with Errol Flynn, Claude Rains and Henry Stephenson), Inspector Walgreen in the Universal Horror `The Mummy's Ghost' (1944 with Lon Chaney Jr, George Zucco, Frank Reicher and John Carradine), McCormick in John Huston's epic `The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (1948 with Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston in an Academy Award winning performance and Tim Holt), General Hap Arnold, USAAF in `The Glenn Miller Story' (1954 with June Allyson, James Stewart, George Tobias and Louis Armstrong) and Police Commissioner Green in Frank Capra's `Pocketful of Miracles' (1961 with Glenn Ford, Bette Davis and Edward Everett Horton). MacLane stated in an interview that he enjoyed being typecast as a detective saying, "You get so used to it you end up representing the law everywhere you go." MacLane had a steady career up until his death in 1969. MacLane is perhaps best remembered for his role as General Peterson in the TV series `I Dream of Jeannie' (1965-1970).

THE DVD

The DVD I have is a slim cased Warner Bros DVD. It is region 1, meaning it won't play in most Australian DVD players and is not available in Australia. The special features include a commentary by the director Vincent Sherman and Humphrey Bogart biographer Eric Lax. The special features also include Warner Night at the Movies just like many other Warner Bros classic DVD's. Warner Night at the Movies includes a vintage newsreel, a popular Joe Doakes comedy short (So You Want to Give up Smoking?), a cartoon (Lights Fantastic) and 2 trailers (one for `All Through the Night'). The DVD also includes a short documentary about character actors, the supporting actors who helped make the classics what they are today. The documentary is called `Call the Usual Suspects: The Craft of the Character Actor'.

Rating

Film: 4.5/5
DVD: 3.5/5
OVERALL: 8/10

Who would have thought that Bogart could be funny?? This movie has lots of great actors in it. And, the chemistry between Bogart and William Demarest is perfect.

The story line is good and the acting is really good. Lots of laughs in it, even while it is full of drama. Americans vs. Nazis and of course, the Americans win.....

There are no really bad Bogart movies (except maybe "The Oklahoma Kid"), but "All Through the Night" certainly doesn't make it into his top 50. The film was the last of 4 films he did in 1941, and released on December 2, just prior to Pearl Harbor. "The Maltese Falcon" and "High Sierra" were released earlier that year, and "Casablanca" would be released almost a year later. But don't even dream of comparing "All Through the Night" with these classics. It ranks more on a level with such forgettable Bogie films as "The Wagons Roll at Night" (1941) - the bevy of B films that Warner produced in the late 30s and early 40s to rehabilitate Bogart's character. Up until that point, Bogart had been the villain, often playing second fiddle to Warner's big time stars Jimmy Cagney and Edward G Robinson. But gangster films were being squeezed by the Hays Code and Robinson, Cagney, and Bogart were being slowly transformed to keep their box office cache.

To Bogart's good fortune, George Raft had turned down the leading roles in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon", as well as "All Through the Night". Though Raft was probably right about this film, he was deadly wrong about the other two, and Bogart's career took off while Raft's career floundered.

Bogart shares the screen with Peter Lorre and Conrad Veidt, both of whom would appear with him in "Casablanca" a few months later. Veidt was one of the best known German silent screen stars, appearing in "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920) among other classics. An anti-Nazi married to a Jew, Veidt fled Germany in 1933 when Hitler took power. He moved to England and then the US in 1940 where, ironically, he played the Nazi in several films such as "Nazi Agent" (1942) and "Above Suspicion" (1943). Veidt died of a heart attack in 1943. "All Through the Night" is one of his last films.

Peter Lorre was an international film star after his frightening portrayal of a child killer in "M" (1931). Like Veidt, Lorre was anti-Nazi and fled Germany in 1933. He was famed for his Mr. Moto series (1937 - 1939), and shared screen credits with Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), "Casablanca" (1942), and "Passage to Marseille" (1944).

The film is notable for the supporting cast which includes two later giants of TV who show glimmers of their later greatness - Jackie Gleason and Phil Silvers (aka "Bilko").

Also present is William Demarest who went on to TV fame as Uncle Charley in "My Three Sons" (1965 - 1972). Other cast members include Barton MacLane playing a heavy (what else is new?) and Frank McHugh playing the amusing side kick. McHugh's chubby face appeared in more than 100 films including "The Roaring Twenties" (1939), "Virginia City" (1940), and "Mighty Joe Young" (1949). In the 50s he turned to TV where he appeared in dozens of shows, remembered best as Willie from "The Bing Crosby Show" (1964-5).

The great Jane Darwell is completed wasted in this film as Bogart's Irish mother. Darwell is best remembered as Grandma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath" for which she received the Oscar. But this was one of nearly 200 films in which she appeared, and she made major contributions to films such as "GWTW" (1939), and with Henry Fonda in "Jesse James" (1939), "The Ox Bow Incident" (1943), and "My Darling Clementine" (1946).

Vincent Sherman directs. The film begins as a fast paced comedy and shortly turns into a spy movie, but the transition is awkward and attempts to maintain the comedy are not successful. Although he was a busy director and worked on dozens of films ("Mr. Skeffington", "Adventures of Don Juan"), his work was relatively undistinguished. Indeed, parts of "All Through the Night" clearly lag. Sherman was investigated by HUAC which ended his film career and he made the transition to TV where he worked on series such as "The Waltons", "Baretta" and "77 Sunset Strip".

As part of the pre WW2 Hollywood propaganda, the film has some interest. The Warner Brothers hated the Germans, and they put out several pre-War films warning about the menace (e.g., "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" in 1939). What is very interesting is that Bogart discovers that the heroine's father is in a "concentration camp" named Dachau. For such info to be appearing in a Hollywood film in 1941 is strange indeed when many claim to have had no knowledge of concentration camps.

1941 was still not a year for much anti-German or pro-American film. "Sergeant York" and Michael Curtiz' "Dive Bomber" were the only major films that year with any kind of war message. But 1942 was a standout year, with Cagney's "Yankee Doddle Dandy" (Best Actor), "Wake Island", the "49th Parallel" (aka "The Invaders"), "To Be or Not To Be", and "Mrs. Miniver" (Best Picture). 1943 would see "Casablanca" (Best Picture), "Watch on the Rhine" (Best Actor), "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Best Supporting Actress), "The Ox Bow Incident", "In Which we Serve" and "Forever and a Day."

Some people recommend this film as an example of Bogart's comedy skills. Personally, I don't see it. Most of the comedy is supplied by Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason, and Frank McHugh, and Bogart is the straight man. There is a scene at a Nazi spy meeting in which Bogart attempts comedy, but it is awkward. Bogart was in several other films that were light hearted (e.g., "Sabrina", "Swing Your Lady", "We're No Angels") but he never did really well in these, and he's clearly better suited to the gangster films of the 30s and the detective films of the 40s and 50s.

This must be one of "Bogies" unknown movies.
Lost of fun, some serious moments.
Listen carefully to the soundtrack.
Lots of German themes of the time, but
well orchestrated to fit the scenes.

excellent film, highly underrated..film quality vivid for black & white...
thanks for the thrill of this movie....mike b. camp