Film Noir of the 1960s at The Brattle: All Night Long and A Man Called Adam

(Patrick McGoohan on the drums in All Night Long)

Over the past couple of days, I have seen some film noir at the Brattle Theatre from both the 1940s and the 1950s.

Now I present my thoughts on some film noir from the 1960s - All Night Long starring Patrick McGoohan and A Man Called Adam starring Sammy Davis, Jr. I saw the former yesterday and the latter today. As noted in my 1950s dispatch, these movies were paired with the Otto Preminger films Anatomy of a Murder and The Man with the Golden Arm, respectively.

Aside from assessing these films by decade, I am also spotlighting All Night Long and A Man Called Adam in this singular post.

COVID-19!!!

For those of you familiar with this space, you will know that I was in New York City when COVID exploded in the spring of 2020. Shortly after losing my job in April 2020, I moved upstairs from Dad and would sublet the apartment until I moved to Atlanta in October 2020.

I spent most of this day in that apartment looking for work. But man cannot live on by looking for work alone. Like many other people, I watched my fair share of television. On the afternoon of May 7, 2020, I was flipping channels and was astonished to see Patrick McGoohan playing the drums.

Then I realized I was watching All Night Long. I was aware of the movie but had never seen it before. The reason I was aware of this movie was because my brother Ezra was a huge fan of The Prisoner and became fascinated with McGoohan. I would be too. So, I ended up watching the rest of the film which was immediately followed by A Man Called Adam. 

In view of this memory, I had to see both films on the big screen when I discovered they were both included in this Film Noir series. These two films will be forever one in my mind especially with jazz as the common language. Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck have guest appearances in All Night Long while Louis Armstrong has second billing in A Man Called Adam. However, the two stories diverge significantly.

All Night Long

Directed by Basil Dearden, All Night Long is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello set in a 1960's jazz club in London. McGoohan stars as the Iago-like Johnny Cousin, a jazz drummer. Cousin has ambitions to start a new jazz band featuring Delia (Marti Stevens) as his singer. However, Delia retired following her marriage to pianist Aurelis Rex (Paul Harris). As you might imagine, Aurelis Rex and Delia represent Othello and Desdemona. 

Cousin manipulates Rex's band manager Cass (Keith Michell) into resenting his employment with Rex while manipulating Rex into thinking Cass (who of course represents Cassio) is having an affair with Delia. Other characters include Rod Hamilton (Richard Attenborough) who represents Roderigo and Emily Cousins (Betsy Blair) who represents Emilia. Amid this Shakespeare adaptation, instead of comic relief from The Clown, we are treated to musical numbers by both Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck. The latter plays "It's a Raggy Waltz" which is the lead track of Time Further Out which was released only several months before the film which saw the light of day in early 1962.

Unlike most Shakespeare tragedies, no one dies in this film which made Foster Hirsch question it as being part of the film noir genre. Yet Hirsch praised the fact the film is progressive for not drawing attention to the depiction of a black man married to a white woman or the setting of an integrated party. While happiness and joy can transcend race so too can anger and jealousy. 

A Man Called Adam

Released four years after All Night Long in 1966, it is the only feature film directed by Leo Penn. The father of Sean Penn, the elder Penn was best known for directing episodes of TV shows such as Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek, The Fugitive and Columbo. 

Sammy Davis, Jr. plays the titular character who is a cantankerous cornetist who can't keep his hands off either booze or women and is generally abusive to everyone around him especially those who care for him the most. There are some wonderful supporting performances from Louis Armstrong, Cicely Tyson, Ossie Davis, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Peter Lawford and Lola Falana. 

Much like A Man with the Golden Arm, this is a very depressing film although there are brief respites with performances by Louis Armstrong (who portrays a jazz trumpeter named Willie Ferguson) and Mel Tormé in a cameo as himself. But make no mistake A Man Called Adam is a difficult watch but is also Sammy Davis, Jr.'s most significant role as a dramatic actor.

Epilogue 

In a couple of weeks, I plan to return to the Brattle to see some lighter fare as Mel Brooks, G-d willing, turns 100 years old.