Just so...so bad

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

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.

WE can well remember seeing this film about 40 years ago. It was shown over WGN TV Channel 9 here in Chicago As was their usual custom, it was part of their 10;30 P.M. slot on either Sundays or Mondays. They had the anthology of films on either night at one time or another; featuring mostly classic of the 1930's and '40's, under the umbrella title of "When Movies Were Movies!" WEEK after week our late evening time in the parlor were rewarded by the showing of titles such as DESTINATION TOKYO, DODGE CITY, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, JOHNNY BELINDA, 20,000 YEARS IN SING-SING, CASABLANCA, RHAPSODY IN BLUE, THE FIGHTY 69th, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, SERGEANT YORK and even THE JAZZ SINGER (with Al Jolson). Clearly, the folks at this Chicago Tribune owned station lived up to the platitudes suggested by the movie series title and gave the younger generation a great familiarity with the films of their parents' generation.AS for the presentation of today's disectee, ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, it didn't go over so well with the young 'uns in our household. Perhaps be because it wasn't a true gangster part for Bogey, but rather more of a Damon Runyon-esquire type of character; as truly was all the rest of the picture. The storyline, characterizations and the odd combination of happenings gives the whole production an overall resemblance to a Comic Book story of THE SPIRIT by the greatest creative genius in that field, Mr. Will Eisner.(1917-2005).PERHAPS it was an unavoidable occurrence that should be chalked up to youthful inexperience and green naiveté, but it was difficult to accept such a film with one of its feet firmly planted in Drama, the other decidedly on the side of Farce. This lack of being neither here nor there is sometimes difficult to understand for us young people.TIME has a way of healing all wounds and removing all the youths from their preeminent places in the world, not to be replaced by others; but rather by their own selves in "Grown-up" versions; in much the same way that Jackie Paper did to 'Puff, the Magic Dragon." Indeed, making further viewings in that mean, old, nasty state of life variously called Adulthood or Grown-upness, it is much easier to assimilate the intentionally designed dichotomy of what is the heart and very fiber of ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT.WHEN viewing it recently on home video, without all of those commercial breaks that our friends at Channel 9 were and still are shackled with; we had a great chance to make some chronologically updating reevaluation. Now, when we watched the movie, the thought occurred to us that it bears more of a resemblance to a farce of a Stage Play, rather than to any film type. We thought that for sure, it was an adaptation from stage to screen. But alas, the credits reveal no such ancestry in the movie's family tree.WHILE we're on the subject, let's not forget to mention something about Warner Brothers' Films in general.MOVIES coming from Warners' lot also always had a fine group of supporting players who functioned almost like a stock company in giving fine performances in supporting roles. It is no different in ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, which can proudly boast of names such as: Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Ed Brophy, Kaaren Verne, Jane Darwell, Frank Sully, William Demarest, Judith Anderson, Wallace Ford, Barton MacLane and Frank McHugh. Additionally, they had the fine services of a couple of Up and Coming Funny Men by name of Phil Silvers and Herbert John "Jackie" Gleason.MORE than the products of any other of the Studios in Hollywood, it was those movies that came out with their name on them that seemed to have their finger on the pulse of America. In turn the various Melodramas, Cops & Robbers, Westerns and Biopics or what have you; all served as training for all of us on just what it is to be an American. Whether the leading actor's ethnicity was Irish, German, Italian, Jewish, Polish or whatever, they all came across as 100% American. We saw proof of same hundreds of times as played out by guys with names like: Bogart, Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Pat O'Brien, Paul Muni and even Errol Flynn.Why even those Warner Brothers' Productions that bore the series names of 'LOONEY TUNES" and "MERRY MELODIES" seemed to have it right! "THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"POODLE SCHNITZ!!

With it's combination of various genres (Runyonese gangsters,comedy,spy drama,mystery,thriller,Nazi villains,wartime propaganda),ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT could've been an unwieldy and confusing melange of styles;that it is not is a tribute to it's behind the scenes crew (splendidly led by Vincent Sherman) and wonderful cast,with arguably Hollywood's most imperishable star,Humphrey Bogart,at it's epicentre.Genial gangster Gloves Donahue (Bogart) probes into the killing of a friend, Miller (Ludwig Stossel),a baker whose cheesecake Gloves has been eating for years.His investigations lead him onto a nightclub singer (Kaaren Verne) who reveals that like Miller she's under the whim of an organisation of Nazi fifth columnists,led by the urbane but sinister Ebbing (Conrad Veidt).Gloves himself is under suspicion of murder,and exposing the Nazis involved intent on sabotage is the only way to prove his innocence.ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a scandalously underrated effort in the Humphrey Bogart catalogue.Perhaps the fact that the story involved is played for laughs rather than grim drama has led critics in the past to feel the tone was overly facetious and jokey,lacking the greater sophistication of the immortal CASABLANCA for example.It is very true on the last point,but overall as a piece of all-round entertainment,this film is very hard to beat.This is a quintessential Hollywood studio product of the early 1940's;Warner Bros'studio back-lots glistening with rain,fog and atmosphere,dark corners,warehouses,swanky nightclubs and docklands,breathlessly unpretentious direction by Vincent Sherman,a witty,exciting,fast-moving script that covers up the implausibilities of the plot,and a quite extraordinary cast of outstanding character actors,such as William Demarest,Peter Lorre,Judith Anderson,Edward Brophy,Barton MacLane,Jane Darwell,Phil Silvers,Jackie Gleason,James Burke and Wallace Ford.The very appealing ingredients above combined make this an irresistibly entertaining brew.There are several minor flaws;Frank McHugh is a little over-strident as a newly-attached bridegroom;Sam MacDaniel's brief role shows that Hollywood still had a long way to go before conquering it's crude Negro stereotyping,and Kaaren Verne is rather colourless and ineffectual as the main female lead.Bogart himself was not always completely assured when just playing straight comedy,yet he still handles it with his usual style and charisma,and works very well in tandem with the ever reliable Demarest and others with the Runyonese-style dialogue and situations.Bogie remember was still in the very early stages of his new-found stardom after years playing a variety of unpleasant hoodlums and gangsters,and he would reunite with Veidt and Lorre soon afterwards in perhaps the most beloved Hollywood production of them all,CASABLANCA.There is a rousing,exciting finale when various friends and cronies of Bogart battle it out with the Nazi villains in their secret headquarters,though this is slightly off-put by a dockland-based sequence involving Bogart and Veidt which goes somewhat over the top and is afflicted by unconvincing model work.Nevertheless,ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a hugely enjoyable and entertaining example of wartime Hollywood,when talent,professionalism and actors could paper over the cracks of a story which was often dubious and lacking in credibility.What a shame there are very few indeed in this day and age who can come nowhere near such admirable qualities.RATING:8 out of 10.

This is a decidedly dated wartime comedy filled with tons of stilted, unfunny dialog. Poor Bogey is forced to utter lines which would sound better coming from the likes of his sidekicks, comics such as Phil Silvers and William Demarest. Overall, their approach contrasts oddly with the acting styles of the bad guys (the Nazi sympathizers played by Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt and Judith Anderson) who play it completely straight, (as befits their villain status). One can almost see the US flag waving over every scene, and a giant war bond ad is practically plastered over the whole picture. Not that the Americans weren't the heroes of this piece, mind you, this just doesn't make for a very convincing story. Bogart, to his credit, handles the proceedings with a completely straight face--a difficult task when one is faced with such ridiculous, jingoistic lines (I wish I could remember some of them for a good quote, but I guess they didn't make that much of an impression). The keystone cops style chase scenes are rather amusing in places, so this gets a 4 out of 10 for that.