Customer Reviews

All Through the Night [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is an often ignored part of Humphrey Bogart's movie career. After all, this is the guy who was in The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The Treasure of Sierra Madre and The Caine Mutiny just to name a few highlights. Some people might have trouble adjusting to the rather silly mood of this film. However, you will probably enjoy it more if you know what you're coming into.
Bogart plays a New York gambler with mob ties who always wears gloves and has a weakness for cheesecake. When his favorite baker is murdered, he sets out to discover whodunit and in the process uncovers a Nazi plot for terrorism.
But, to tell the truth, I wasn't interested in this movie for the plot. It was the cast that interested me. Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre and Judith Anderson play the Nazi villains and who can think of a better bad guy line-up? All of them are excellent although I had a bit of trouble accepting that small-framed Lorre as the strong-arm of the group.
Bogart is particularly amusing when he tries to bluff his way through a Nazi meeting when he has no idea what is going on and his knowledge of German is limited to two words! In fact, the entire cast seems to be enjoying themselves and as a result, the audience enjoys the movie even more.
While this is not a masterpiece, it is certainly enjoying for what it is: an action/comedy with propaganda elements that just happens to have some of the greatest actors of the time. The double talk is fast and funny, the plot doesn't make much sense but the script throws everything but the kitchen sink at you so you don't really notice.
Verdict:

You will like it: If you are a rabid Veidt, Lorre, Bogart or Anderson fan. If you want a fast, funny way to spend an evening.

You will not like it: If you expecting another Casablanca. If you are overly choosey about "serious" plots.
Enjoy!

In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart tells the German commander that there are parts of New York City he would recommend NOT invading. All Through The Night kind of takes that scenario and runs with it, only the enemy is German-American terrorists. It is up to fedora-sporting semi-gangsters to stop them. At first they see the 'Fifth-Columnists' as just another gang trying to move in, but Bogart realizes the sinister nature of the Nazis and convinces even his arch-rivals that America (especially New York) is worth fighting for. The ending scene where the secret Nazi gathering is broken up by base-ball bat wielding New Yorkers must have really pulled at the patriotic heartstrings of 1941 movie audiences. This is a great movie.

A nice change of pace for Bogie--still a shady character (with a soft spot for his Mom [Jane Darwell, who gets "a feelin'" that something isn't quite right, and sets Bogie on the case] and his favorite cheesecake, baked in the old neighborhood), but willing to take on the Nazis after they murder the baker....

As others have noted, the "double-talk" sequence with Bogie and Demerest is priceless, and director Sherman keeps the pace quick and snappy.

An overlooked gem in Bogie's films, and one you should check out!

Humphrey Bogart stars as "Gloves" Donahue, who looks into the murder of a family friend, and the investigation gets him involved with a mysterious nightclub singer (Kaaren Verne), the art world, and Fifth Columnists (people in the US helping the Nazis during WWII). There's a lot of action and humour along the way as Gloves discovers that things aren't what they seem. This isn't a typical Bogart film from this time period, and it's a nice change of pace. Bogart is supported by a terrific cast. Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, and Judith Anderson are properly menacing as the Fifth Columnists, while Frank McHugh, Jackie Gleason, and especially William Demarest are a lot of fun as Bogart's boys. The double talk sequence as Bogart and Demarest try to pass themselves off as Nazi sympathizers at a Fifth Column meeting is hilarious and memorable. I liked this film and I thought it was great that humour could be used in a film about an otherwise serious subject at a time when the world was at war.

Funny, charming, witty. Bogey is surronded by am all out star studded cast in this hilarous comdey. This is a must video to have.

Next to "We're No Angels" this is Bogart's funniest flick. The action and occasional farce make it well worth watching. It's especially interesting to see a very young Jackie Gleason. The mix of character actors and heavyweights is just about perfect.

If you like snappy dialogue and Humphrey Bogart, you'll like this film. With tart, witty remarks well-delivered by an ensamble of great character actors, you'll barely notice the silly plot. It ain't art, but who cares?

There are lots of reasons to love this film. The stellar cast, including Wm. Demarest, Jane Darwell, Phil Silvers, a young Jackie Gleason, Frank McHugh, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Judith Anderson...well, it doesn't get much better. Consider the 1942 release...the war was at it's peak. Then there's Bogie, playing a likeable gangster who makes good with rival gangsters to beat up a Nazi infiltration in NYC. Add tons of humor and the beautiful Kaaren Verne, and you have a delightful mix of suspense, angst, intrigue and American triumph (as well as a cute love story). It may not be a great film, but I think it's my favorite Bogie film, if only because it's so much fun to watch. Where's the DVD? UPDATE: The Humphrey Bogart Vol 2 includes this fine film, and the resolution and presentation is crystal clear. "Let's knock those heels back on their axis..."

This movie was a great surprise. Great Cast (Bogie, Judith Anderson, Peter Lorre, Conrad Veight, etc...). Bogie is synical & comical in his role as a new york ganster who stumbles across a group of Nazi spis during world war II. It's the mob against the nazi's in this one, and you'll love every minute of it !

Warner Bros. Pictures presents "ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT" (1941) (107 min/B&W) -- Starring Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne, Frank McHugh, Jane Darwell, Judith Anderson, Peter Lorre, William Demarest & Jackie Gleason

Directed by Vincent Sherman

Humphrey Bogart plays Gloves Donahue, a rough-and-ready but essentially decent New York gambler. The Runyonesque plot gets moving when Gloves tries to find out what's holding up his favorite restaurant's daily shipment of cheesecake. Paying a call on the bakery, Gloves stumbles into a Nazi spy ring, masterminded by Conrad Veidt. Mixed up in all this is nightclub singer Kaaren Verne, whose loyalties are in question in her early scenes but who turns out to be as true-blue as the patriotic Gloves. Combining a quick wit with quicker fists, Gloves and his "mob" thwart the Nazis before they're able to skip the country. The cast is a movie buff's dream, ranging from Jane Darwell as Bogart's mom to Peter Lorre as a cynical Nazi flunky to William Demarest, Frank McHugh, Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason as Bogie's favorite cohorts.

The heavies are amazing. Conrad Veidt is wonderful as the Nazi spy trying to blow up a ship in New York's harbor. Mr. Veidt was such an elegant figure in everything he did. Judith Anderson is seen as the mysterious assistant to Mr. Veidt's character. Ms. Anderson had a way about her that she dominates the scenes in which she appears. Peter Lorre does a lot with his small piano player role, Pepi.

A great movie with a fabulous script!

Speciial footnote -- George Raft and Olivia de Havilland were originally assigned to the film in 1941, but Raft turned the role down. As with High Sierra (1941) and The Maltese Falcon (1941), Humphrey Bogart benefited from Raft's refusals -- and a legend was born!

BIOS:
1. Vincent Sherman [Abraham Orovitz] [Director]
Date of Birth: 16 July 1906 - Vienna, Georgia
Date of Death: 18 June 2006 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

2. Humphrey Bogart [aka: Humphrey DeForest Bogart]
Date of Birth: 25 December 1899 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 14 January 1957 - Los Angeles, California

3. Conrad Veidt [aka: Hans Walter Conrad Weidt]
Date of Birth: 22 January 1893 - Potsdam, Germany
Date of Death: 3 April 1943 - Hollywood, California

4. Kaaren Verne [aka: Katherine Ingeborg Bechstein]
Date of Birth: 6 April 1918 - Berlin, Germany
Date of Death: 23 December 1967 - Hollywood, California

5. Jane Darwell [aka: Mary Woodward]
Date of Birth: 15 October 1879 - Palmyra, Missouri
Date of Death: 13 August 1967 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

6. Peter Lorre [aka: László Löwenstein]
Date of Birth: 26 June 1904 - Rózsahegy, Hungary, Austria-Hungary [now Ruzomberok, Slovak Republic]
Date of Death: 23 March 1964 - Los Angeles, California

7. Dame Judith Anderson [aka: Frances Margaret Anderson-Anderson]
Date of Birth: 10 February 1897 - Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Date of Death: 3 January 1992 - Santa Barbara, California

8. William Demarest [aka: Carl William Demarest]
Date of Birth: 27 February 1892 - St. Paul, Minnesota
Date of Death: 28 December 1983 - Palm Springs, California

9. Frank McHugh [aka: Francis Curray McHugh]
Date of Birth: 23 May 1898 - Homestead, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 11 September 1981 - Greenwich, Connecticut

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 107 min on VHS ~ Warner Bros. Pictures ~ (01/17/1996)