Anatole Litvak’s ninth and final film for Warner is a crime musical, a gem about the joys of jazz and the corruption that threatens the American dream. Here, the dream is to find the pure musical expression, the “real blues”. A group of broke jazz musicians, hoboing their way across the States, hook up with a fugitive criminal who sets up a roadhouse for them to play in, but the toxic atmosphere (illegal gambling, a femme fatale) breaks up the camaraderie between band members. The film went into production under the working title Hot Nocturne. In a twist of luck, the title track by the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra (in a cameo appearance) became a hit even before the film came out so the studio opted for Blues in the Night as the title on release. It was later nominated for the Best Song Oscar.
Even in Litvak’s non-musical films, music and dance were often an integral part of narrative, summoning up communal bonds and establishing character dynamics quickly and concisely. Further, music in relation to ideas of artistic recognition, integrity and selling-out was partly touched upon in City for Conquest. Blues in the Night, first written by Litvak regular John Wexley, then entrusted to Robert Rossen after Wexley’s draft was rejected, contains echoes of Rossen’s vivid voice throughout. Here, as well as in the anti-fascist metaphor he wrote for Litvak in Out of the Fog, commonplace dictator figures in the guise of organised crime crooks serve as sharp commentary on the crushing impact of a society run on profit. Rossen’s script uses jazz language correctly and convincingly and deliciously combines it with crime film jargon (“When he plays tremolo, there’s going to be a big fight”) while establishing fascinating rituals, such as lighting a cigarette to endorse musicianship. Thanks to Rossen and a frenzied edit of montage sequences by future director Don Siegel, the film lets Litvak’s expressionist and poetic realist streaks stay exhilaratingly and continuously in the groove.

Ehsan Khoshbakht