Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

(There are Spoilers) It at first looked like it was going to be a groovy and wonderful evening when jazz lover Rodney Hamilton, Richard Attenborough, invited the who's who of the London jazz community to his spacious East London loft to celebrate legendary black jazz pianist Aurellius Rex, Paul Harris, and his white wife singing sensation Delia Lane, Marti Stevens, first wedding anniversary.At the party jazz drummer boy Johnnie Cousin, Patrick McGoohan,tries to talk Delia into joining his new jazz band, as its lead singer, in order to get the some 25,000 pound sterling he needs to finance it. Delia who has since retired from show business to spend all her time with her husband Aurelius rejects Jonnie's offer that has top London music agent Lou Berger, Bernard Braden, drop Johnnie as a client. Trying to get Delia to join his band, and thus save his floundering career, Johnnie tries to start up trouble between the two love birds, Aurelius & Delia, by adding jazz saxophonist- and good friends of both Aurelius and Delia- Cass Michaels, Keith Mitchell,into the mix.As we've seen already Cass's relationship with Delia is both professional and purely platonic with him having a study girlfriend Benny, Maria Velasco, of his own who's ,like Aurelius, also black. This goes to show how liberal and uninhibited for the early 1960's both Cass and Delia are! Johnnie seeing an opening in breaking up the interracial couple uses Cass, whom he gets both drunk and high on pot, as a battering-ram to break them apart.To his credit Aurelius at first doesn't fall for Johnnie's sneaky and underhanded tactics but being the determined and manipulating creep that he is Johnnie goes a step farther with his state-of-the-art, for 1962, tape recording equipment that leaves no doubt, in Aurelius' mind, to his wife's infidelity. ****SPOILERS****This also leads Aurelius to completely crack up and not only attack a shocked and surprised Delia, almost strangling her, but knock Cass down a fifteen foot balcony, in Rodney's loft, almost breaking both his neck and back! It's only when Johnnie's wife Emily, Besty Blair, who had no idea what her crazy husband was planning came clean with what a lying and conniving rat he is, and alway was, that Aurelius came to his senses but not after all the damage was already done.Even though he was the villain in the movie Johnnie Cousin got away almost Scott/free in his instigating Aurelius to commit a number of violent acts that would, in real life, have but him behind bars for at least five years. It's true Johnnie lost his dream of becoming a big time band leader with his wife Emily, whom he more or less kicked out of his life, leaving him. The ending seemed a bit far fetched, or feel good, in Delia coming back to her uncontrollably violent husband Aurelius without as much as having him get help-or anger management- for his manic depression that was very obvious in the movie. He could very well lose it in the future, if he ever again becomes suspicious of Delia, and end up finishing what he started in ringing her neck! As for Cass he's left lying on the floor unable to move with his career as a saxophone player in doubt and even the apology from a tearful Aurelius doesn't seem to be enough to get him back on his feet again.

For lovers of jazz and racial harmony, this groovy British movie has it all. Some of the best jazz musicians of the era. Blacks and whites getting along just fine. And a fascinating performance by Patrick McGoohan -- who plays a scheming drummer hell-bent on splitting up an inter-racial marriage in order to form his own band.The movie is set in the docklands area of London with a plot loosely based on Shakespeare's "Othello". The acting and direction are generally good with noirish cinematography. But the main attraction is the jazz -- with such luminaries as Dave Brubeck, Johnny Dankworth, Tubby Hayes, and Charlie Mingus happily jamming throughout the movie. Paul Harris delivers an impressive performance as an African-American band leader with a stage presence similar to Morgan Freeman. The rest of the cast are natural and convincing, especially the lovely Maria Velasco, who is in another inter-racial relationship. But the movie belongs to McGoohan, whose deeply flawed character, insanely brilliant drumming (not dubbed!), and maniacal scheming are a wonder to behold.This minor classic is available as a high-quality German all-region DVD (Die Heisse Nacht) with an English sound track.

Just imagine: That Shakespearian bigger-than-life plot line, a sixties touch of psychoanalysis, a movie set entirely inside a party of swingers, great interludes featuring amazing jazz performances from some great artists such as Charlie Mingus(music scenes that also explain story line and characters), a slight bit of over-acting in colorful black and white, good filmmaking, interracial couples and drug taking in a 1961 movie, love, hate and, of course, jealousy. Who could possible miss out on these ingredients?Just beautiful.

This is an interesting period piece, especially for jazz lovers and those who remember the early sixties. The plot is fairly silly, but entertaining enough to hold the attention. It tells the story of jealousy and scheming amongst a number of jazz musicians at a party held in a London warehouse.The acting is fairly good, but what makes it especially interesting is the fact that the action takes place against the back drop of a continuous jam session featuring solos by musicians such as Dave Brubeck and Tubby Hayes.