As Good As It Gets

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great film fare with an all-star cast, each performer perfect for the role they were assigned in the film.A comic blend of a bunch of gamblers, led by Humphrey Bogart, who stumble on Nazi spies in New York planning sabotage throughout New York and elsewhere during World War 11.When the bakery owner of the cheesecake that Bogart loves to eat is murdered, his mother, Jane Darwell, has her suspicions and one thing leads to another in the discovery of the Nazi plot. Of course, along the way, Bogie is blamed for another killing and all murders are done by the usual diabolical Peter Lorre. As Nazi spies, Conrad Veidt and Judith Anderson are perfect for their roles, and that dress that Anderson wears shows once more her sinister ways. Ironically, though they weren't in scenes together, 2 years before this film, Darwell won the best supporting Oscar for a woman for "The Grapes of Wrath," besting Anderson for her memorable turn as Mrs. Danvers in the Oscar-winning film "Rebecca."Frank McHugh and William Demarest provide comic relief in this film as well as the fast-talking but tough Bogart. Karen Verne is the girl forced to work for the Nazis as her father is in Dachau.Even when the spy ring is exposed, the police have a hard time in believing Bogart even with Verne's back-up.

A colorful gang of hoodlums, led by Humphrey Bogart, investigate the murder of a baker and uncover a Nazi plot. This one's a real treat with a terrific cast. The characters are like something from a Damon Runyon story. Bogie's gang is full of reliable comedic actors like William Demarest, Frank McHugh, and Jackie Gleason. Jane Darwell plays Bogie's mom and Kaaren Verne the dame he falls for. Pre-Casablanca teaming of Bogie with Conrad Veidt and Peter Lorre, who play the main Nazis. That's not all: Judith Anderson, Wallace Ford, Barton MacLane, Edward Brophy, Phil Silvers...a really great lineup. A fun movie with snappy patter and good comedy, action, and intrigue. Bogart fans will, of course, love this. If there's a negative, it's that it's a little overlong for a movie of its type.

Bogart: Let's Get Silly!Mixing up so many genres into a single movie could potentially be a disaster yet I've perhaps never seen a better genre mash up than All Through the Night. I'm astounded at this movie's ability to have a bit of everything and pull it off so immaculately; bouncing back and forth between drama, comedy, action, murder mystery and even film noir. All Through the Night is the closest thing to a Hitchcock movie starring Humphrey Bogart in which an ordinary man gets caught up in espionage and becomes a fugitive for a crime he didn't commit with moments in the film such as the auction scene or Bogart deliberately getting arrested by police directly reminded me of North by Northwest; likewise the movie even stars Judith Anderson in the Mrs. Danvers hairstyle from Rebecca while Bogart's exploits against the movie's Nazi villains gives an urban Indiana Jones edge to the film. Even the movie's final climatic moment had me on the edge of my seat and thinking to myself "how is he going to get out of this?!". One top of that the film gets an additional boast with some truly superb use of shadows and lighting; All Through the Night really exemplifies the unique look of Warner Bros. movies of the 30's and 40's.I may sound hyperbolic but the more I think about it, the role of Golves Donahue may be the greatest performance of Bogart's career; why you ask, versatility! Just like the tone of the film he is able to continually bounce back between being serious to just downright silly. Bogart has made me laugh during comedic moments in his other movies but I never knew he could make me laugh this side split- tingly hard; from subtle moments such as throwing the reserved sign off a table in a nightclub to the more obvious in which he infiltrates and stalls a secret Nazi meeting. At another point he delivers the line "More here than meets the FBI"; I do love me a corny pun but with Bogart delivering it just makes it funnier. All Through the Night makes me wish he had starred in more comedies. On top of all that, the character he plays is a momma's boy yet he's still badass! I find this aspect of his character is hilarious in itself. There's something adorable about a tough guy who wears dotted bathrobes and loves cheesecake so much; exemplified even more with his mother being played by the ever motherly Jane Darwell. All Through the Night features a large selection of character actors at some of their best work and even features a young Jackie Gleason in one of his earliest film roles; what more secrets does this movie hold? If I was to find any point of contention with All Through the Night I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit romance between Bogart and Kaaren Verne, but with a film that has this much merit it's hard to complain. All Through the Night is an anti-Nazi propaganda film and an effective one at that. I find the satire here is on par with The Great Dictator and To Be or Not Be as the movie pokes fun at Nazi ideology. The leader of the branch of Nazi spies is played Conrad Veidt whom there was probably no one better at the time to play evil Nazis. Golves Donahue is also a minor gangster which reflects the attitude of real life gangsters of the time who worked with the government to infiltrate Nazi spies. One scene in the film involves Bogart giving a chilling monologue on how the Nazis will take people's freedoms away in an argument against US isolationism in the ongoing war in Europe; all this however without even mentioning the word Nazi once throughout the film. Another interesting aspect of the film is the mentioning of an actual concentration camp Dachu. Being released in 1941 before the true nature of the camps where discovered, this is one moment I found quite chilling. All Through the Night was released in the US only 5 days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, although Warner Bros. had already long established themselves as an anti-Nazi studio. By the time I watched All Through the Night I had already seen all of Bogart's major movies and figured I was largely finished exploring the actor's filmography, thus it came as such a delight discovering this obscure gem which satisfied me more than many of his more famous movies. This is type of movie which makes me want to scream out, "Why the hell it this not more will known?!", but then again its moments like these in which I live to be a cinephile.

Great cast here-Bogie,Lorre, Veidt, Anderson, Phil Silvers(!) Jackie Gleason(!!) in early roles, character guys galore-Demarest, Frank Herbert, Barton Maclane, etc heck even the little bald hotel clerk, the chunky Santa like guy in the Auction audience and the varied Nazis all were in literally 100's of movies back when. You know'em all when you see'em.I saw this back to back w/ another similar propaganda flick from that era-Across the Pacific. Bogie nails the Nazis this time around, stopping a spy ring from blowing up a battle ship in NYC w/ a pack of dese, dem and dose type guys. You never Quite know how seriously to take this-what w/ the rather stereotyped Guido types on one hand and the Hitler salutes on the other. Much of this was tongue in cheek but noooooooot quite crossing into satire-land. There was a war on, after all.Couple of parts that make you cringe-the blonde gal is hit two or three times in the face, once for laughs(!) and they had a black valet shining Bogie's shoes and actually say, w/ a straight face-Things ain't as black as they seem-more or less. That-well it was hard to sit thru. You'd like to think they knew better.Do check it out though-it's (mostly) in fun and does move along quickly save for the last third, where it begins to wear out it's welcome. Bogie and Veidt esp. are worth the price of admission.*** outta ****