The Dance of Life

Paramount, 1929

Starring Hal Skelly, Nancy Carroll, Dorothy Revier, and Charles D. Brown

Directed by John Cromwell and A. Edward Sutherland

Music by Richard A. Whiting; Lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin

We celebrate Women's History Month with two early film musicals revolving around female-focused stories. The Dance of Life started out as Burlesque, a hit Broadway play with music in 1927. Barbara Stanwyck had her first major exposure as the feisty wife of an alcoholic stage star, but she wasn't even considered for the film. Carroll was one of the biggest stars of the late 20's and early 30's. She was pretty, smart, tough, and versatile, easily moving from comedy to drama to musicals at the drop of a hat. Paramount cast her alongside original stage star Skelly, along with several lesser-known character actors. How well do they do with the dark and gritty story? Let's begin backstage at a vaudeville house, as Bonny King (Carroll) tries to audition and find out...

The Story: Bonny's audition isn't a success, but she did impress Ralph "Skid" Johnson (Skelly), a comic with the show who was fired when he complained about her treatment. After hitting it off over a Bunsen burner at the train station, they decide to work together and get a better job at a burlesque company in Milwaukee. Not only are they hired, but they eventually fall for each other. Skid asks Bonny to marry him, but his alcoholism comes between them on their wedding night. Not to mention, comedienne Sylvia (Revier) is also in love with Skid and tries to get between them.

Skid is offered a job in a big Follies show, but Bonny isn't asked to join him. She encourages him to take it anyway. Unfortunately, the show's success drives him to the bottle and Sylvia's arms. After Bonny catches him in a speakeasy kissing Sylvia, she walks out and threatens divorce. Rancher Harvey Howell (Ralph Theodore) wants to marry her, but Skid isn't doing nearly as well. His drinking is effecting his performances, and he's back in burlesque. His newest show may not go on if Bonny can't get there in time to sober him up and remind him how much they mean to each other.

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a bit of a surprise. Carroll and Skelly are excellent as the faithful wife and loser of a comic in this searing look at the seamier side of show business. Though the grotesque dancers and low comics form something of a family for the duo, they also blatantly encourage Skid's drinking and Bonny's reliance on him. Burlesque as seen here is not a pretty place. From realistically corny numbers to grimy, sweaty dressing rooms, we get the full-on darker side of show business. Even the fact that Skelly is a bit on the plain side is pretty realistic, making it even more heartbreaking when this everyman comic goes on his downward slide. Sutherland apparently had to wring a good performance out of recalcitrant Carroll, but whatever he did worked. She's a decent dancer and does so well as the faithful, tough little Bonny, you can't help but feel she deserves so much better in the end.

The Numbers: We open with Bonny's attempt at what looks like a Charleston, but the pianist apparently doesn't play the song right. Bonny and Skid do a little dance routine in the train station, proving they do have chemistry. Our first chorus number is "King of Jazzmania." Not only is it barely-heard on the terrible copy at Tubi, it's also not very good. The ladies can't sing in harmony or stay in step. Skid does better when he literally tumbles down to the stage for his rubber-legged solo. Bonny does "Cuddlesome Baby" among the men in the audience, but Skid isn't happy when one of those men get a little too grabby for his and Bonny's liking. 

The best number goes to Skid. He sings "Tru Blu Lou," a sweet but corny ballad about a faithful lady and the man who didn't appreciate her laying right before the camera. The intimacy as Skid smokes and relates the song gives it an almost elegant feeling that makes it very different from some of the noisier numbers in the early talkies era. "Ladies of the Dance" is the big Follies routine, with chorus girls in towering headdresses parading before the camera. The lavish costumes lose something without the color, but they're still pretty impressive. Marjorie Kane comes out at the end to introduce "The Flippity Flop" with Skid and the chorus. Skid's rubber-kneed comic dance is almost as impressive. 

Bonny sings the sad ballad "In the Gloaming" for her ex-husband and fiancee, but her heart certainly isn't in it. Skid tries to pep up the proceedings, but he's clearly drunk and hiding it. Skid is supposed to be "The Mightiest Matador" in the burlesque finale, but he can barely stand. Bonny encourages him to stay with the number and reprises their dance to "Swanee River" in the finale, as they did early-on when they were talking about getting married.

Trivia: The Follies numbers were originally filmed in 2-strip Technicolor. While a bit of the color is said to survive, current prints are only in black and white. 

The name The Dance of Life was actually taken from a then-daring book on sex.

Burlesque would be remade twice, as Swing High, Swing Low in 1937 with Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray and When My Baby Smiles at Me in 1948 with Betty Grable and Dan Dailey.

What I Don't Like: First of all, while this moves pretty well for the time period, we do get occasional reminders of this being an early talkie whenever people are standing and talking, or they start a dance number and it's filmed from the front, with barely any movement. That's fine for Skelly's low-key "Tru Blu Lou," but it just makes the chorus numbers look static. The loss of the color means that the Follies numbers are blurred and indistinct, occasionally making it hard to tell what anyone is.

Carroll and Skelly's strong performances don't mask the heavy cliches here. This has been borrowed from over and over again since the original play debuted, including the two official remakes mentioned in the trivia section. The up and down story isn't anything you haven't seen before or won't see again from the 20's onwards. And...to tell the truth, I can't help thinking that nowadays, Bonny would either go back to the rancher or strike out on her own. She deserved a lot better than a man who didn't want to be changed.

The Big Finale: Worth seeing if you're a fan of Caroll, backstage melodrama, or want to check it a really good early talkie drama. 

Home Media: Not officially available on disc at press time. It's in the public domain, so it can be found easily online, though the prints are usually not the best quality.

Tubi

Internet Archive

Animation Celebration Saturday - Snow White (1990)

Golden Films, 1990

Voices of Kathie Soucie, Rob Paulsen, and Jim Cummings

Directed by Diane Paloma Eskenzi

Music and Lyrics by various

We're returning to Golden Films for one of their earliest movies in honor of the live-action Disney Snow White that's coming out later this month. This is actually their second Snow White. The first one was a half-hour special that was among the first cartoons they made in 1989. We've already seen how they handled Beauty and the Beast. How does Snow White fare with them? Let's begin with a family of bluebirds as the mother tells the story of the princess with the hair black as ebony and the skin white as snow and find out...

The Story: Snow White (Soucie) grows up alongside her friend the Prince and her wicked Stepmother after her mother dies in childbirth. The Queen is obsessed with her beauty, to the frustration of her hand-held Magic Mirror, whom she has the habit of throwing around when she's angry. He really gets hurled when he tells her that Snow White has grown into a young woman who is far prettier than her. The Queen sends her huntsman (Cummings) to kill her, but he can't do it and lets her go.

Snow White flees into the forest, finally ending up at the home of the Seven Dwarfs (Paulsen). They scold her for invading their home and cleaning up without permission, but ultimately let her stay. The Queen is furious when the Mirror reveals her survival. She turns herself into an old woman, but the dwarfs are able to release the girl from her girdle and comb. The apple that lodges in her throat proves to be harder to remove. The dwarfs and bluebirds think she's dead, but Snow White's friend the Prince learns better. Snow White's friends the Dwarfs know who did this and finally go to take care of that evil witch once and for all.

The Animation: Same as their other productions. The movement is stiff, but the colors are lush and attractive. I actually like the designs of the dwarfs, which are mostly a bit more varied than their names. There's not a lot of detail in the backgrounds, and the expressions tend to be all the same, even when they should be registering a lot more than a vague smile.

The Song and Dance: I give them credit for sticking a little closer to the Grimm version than Disney did. We see all three of the Queen's attempts on Snow White. She eats half of the apple, and there's no kissing her awake. She just coughs the apple out. The dwarfs going after the wicked queen in the end is almost as exciting, and may have an even more satisfying result. I like that she knew the prince beforehand, too. It makes more sense that he'd seek her out, instead of just stumbling across her coffin.

The Numbers:  We open with "As Beauty Does" during the credits, a sweet ballad that explains the theme of inner beauty being just as important as outer beauty. The dwarfs explain what happens "When You Work as a Miner" as they dig up precious metals in the mines. The Queen angrily asks her mirror "Is There Anyone More Beautiful Than Myself?"...and doesn't like the answer she gets. 

What I Don't Like: In addition to the cheap animation, the characters are either bland or annoying. The Magic Mirror in particular grates on your nerves after a few minutes of his prattling. No wonder the Queen kept throwing him around. Bit surprised Snow White didn't get a song, a longing ballad or a cheer-up ditty. It might have at least expanded her character. She's sweet, but not much more than that. The Prince is barely in the movie...but to tell the truth, that does fit the original Grimm's story, where he only shows up at the very end. The Queen's song is kind of catchy, but the Dwarfs' "Hi-Ho" imitation is annoying. And who thought naming them all "Joe" was funny? The joke gets old after a few minutes.

The Big Finale: Not the greatest way to pass an hour, but it's worth checking out once on a rainy spring afternoon if you want to introduce your younger children to the original fairy tale. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the latter currently at Tubi with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Musicals on TV - Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story

TV One, 2016

Starring Teyonah Parris, Gary Dourdan, Darius McCrary, and Amari Cheatom

Directed by Christine Swanson

Music and Lyrics by Miki Howard and others

I'm going to be honest, both the subject matter and the channel that debuted this are entirely new to me. Miki Howard was an R&B diva who had her biggest hits in the 80's and early 90's. Neither her early life, nor her love life were anywhere near as glamorous. Her troubled teen years and habit of marrying men who used her as a doormat boomeranged back at her later, when she fell heavily into drug and alcohol addiction. By 2016, she was attempting a comeback and was well-remembered enough by R&B fans to be the subject of this biography. How does all of this come across on the small screen? Let's begin with sixteen-year-old Michelle "Miki" Howard (Parris) fleeing to a friend's home in 1974 and find out...

The Story: Miki had a rough life, even before her mother Josephine (Vanessa Bell Calloway) threw her out after a boy attacked her. Josephine, a gospel singer, loved her daughter but resented her stealing the spotlight at her concerts and at church. Miki just couldn't resist being in the spotlight wherever she went. She and a friend went out to a disco, which is where she first encounters Augie Johnson (Dourdan). She records a single for them, then is thrown out of her friend's house when she resents Miki getting the attention and insults her homeless status.

Augie, as it turns out, is no prize either. Though they have two children together, he cheats on her and discourages her from leaving the group. After she leaves him, she signs with Atlantic Records who is willing to let her go solo. Not only does she have a series of hit R&B singles, but she falls in love with fellow singer Gerald Levert (McCrary) who inspires some of her best and most popular work. She's a global sensation who tops the R&B chart and appears in films, but her producers want her to become a pop diva like Whitney Houston. 

Miki finally leaves Gerald for smooth-talking producer Eddie Phelps (Cheatom). She also leaves Atlantic for Giant Records when she can't work with Gerald anymore. Eddie claims he's interested in helping her raise a family, but their relationship just ends with him abusing her and trying to control her. He career spirals downwards after she almost literally throws him out. She falls into heavy drug and alcohol addiction and can barely function or take care of her children. It's not until she almost dies of a drug overdose that she goes into therapy and realizes that what she really needs is to learn to respect herself, and that her life and that of her children are worth far more than any of the fame and fortune in the world. 

The Song and Dance: Damn, if any of this is remotely the truth, I feel very sorry for Miki. The abuse here is raw, real, and scary. It's hard to watch on film, let alone in real-life. Parris nails Miki, playing her as a vulnerable woman who has been thrown around and smacked around all her life, until she literally has sense frightened into her. McCrary comes off best of the three men as the most abusive and jerk-ish of the three loves in her life. Callaway also has some good moments as the mother who pushes her daughter away when she sees the woman she's becoming. Some really gorgeous costumes too, especially in the late 80's and 90's when Howard was at the height of her fame.

The Numbers: We open with the gospel song "Somebody Loves Me" as we see a montage of how Miki fell out with her mother and was thrown out of her home. Miki records "Just Not Enough" with two other women for Augie when he invites them to his studio, but her friend doesn't appreciate her getting Augie's attention. We get a cover of "Good Morning Heartache" as Miki wanders around LA after her friend's mother throws her out. She and Augie start a family and achieve minor success as part of Side Effect in a montage to the tune of the Toto cover "Georgy Porgy." 

After she signs to Atlantic, she finally gets a hit solo single in the uptempo ballad "Come and Share My Love." "I Feel for You" takes us to the party where she meets Gerald. They duet on the romantic "That's What Love Is," which covers their relationship and her first major tour. The title song gives us her marriage to Eddie and his insistence on changing labels. "Ain't Nothin' of the World" shows her continuing success on albums and in films, even as her relationship with Eddie deteriorates. "Ain't Nobody Like You" gives us her biggest hit single and the video for it, even as she demands money from the drug-addled head of the label. The movie ends with her real-life comeback, performing a more jazz-oriented reprise of "Ain't Nobody Like You."

Trivia: This was the highest-rated movie ever on TV One, an African-American oriented cable channel. 

What I Don't Like: Note the discussion of the heavy abuse scenes up there. There's violence, drug, alcohol, and marital abuse, strong language, and Miki pulls a gun on Eddie in front of her children at one point. This is absolutely not for kids. See if you can dig up Howard's albums for them first. As mentioned, the violence level makes it hard to watch at times, especially in the middle when Eddie's all but attacking her. It's also a mess of cliches, though the grittier tone does make this a bit more original than some recent music biographies.

The Big Finale: Adult R&B and jazz fans who can deal with the violence level may find this story of abuse and redemption to be fascinating, if just for the performances.

Home Media: Not on disc at press time, but it can be found on many streaming sites for free with commercials, including Tubi and Plex.

Tubi

Plex

Musicals On TV - Double Platinum

ABC, 1999

Starring Diana Ross, Brandy, Christine Ebersole, and Brian Stokes Mitchell

Directed by Robert Allen Ackerman

Music and Lyrics by various

We transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month this week with two TV movies featuring black actresses and singers. Ross mostly stayed away from films since The Wiz flopped in 1978, while Brandy Norwood was an up-and-coming R&B star who had a smash success in the lavish ABC version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella two years before. Ross finally returned to films with this soap soul drama that paired her and Brandy as a mother who tries to direct the career of the daughter she'd abandoned years before. How does all this look now? Let's begin in 1981, as a music executive tells aspiring singer Olivia King (Ross) that she might have a job waiting for her in New York and find out...

The Story: Olivia's husband Adam (Mitchell) is totally against her having a music career, so she leaves in the middle of the night, vowing to return for their daughter Kayla. 19 years later, Kayla (Brandy) is now an aspiring singer who admires Olivia King. She's thrilled when she wins a contest to see her idol in concert and enjoy a night out with her. She's so thrilled, she invites Olivia to see her perform in a local club. Adam's not as happy with Olivia's attempt to get back into their daughter's life...and neither is Kayla when she learns the truth. 

Olivia finally convinces Kaya to join her in New York. She introduces her daughter to everyone she knows in the music industry, finally getting her signed to a recording contract. Olivia wants to be in her daughter's life, but her attempts to direct Kayla's career drives her into the arms of handsome older music executive Rick Ortega (Allen Payne). Kayla's bitterness towards her mother boils over at a Grammy party and during a concert where her mother's performance steals her thunder. She moves in with Ric, just as the press gets word of her true parentage. Olivia flees to a cabin to avoid the scandal, followed by Kayla when she learns Ric's true colors. Mother and daughter have a lot of talking to do, but they finally come to realize just how much they have in common.

The Song and Dance: Ross and Brandy are backed by a terrific cast of stage actors, some of them making rare TV appearances. Mitchell plays off both well as the concerned father who worries he's losing both his ladies. Payne makes a suitably smarmy record executive who thinks he's the one in charge of Kayla's career. Some of the music isn't bad, either, including a decent "He Lives In You" from The Lion King. Ackerman specialized in TV movies revolving around strong women - he went on to do the Emmy-winning miniseries Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows two years later - and that shows in performances he coaxes out of Ross in particular. 

The Numbers: The film opens with Olivia singing "Back In Love With Me Again" at the lounge in 1981. Nineteen years later, she belts "He Lives In You" from The Lion King II at the concert Kayla wins tickets to.  Kayla's first number is the sultry "Almost Doesn't Count" at the club. She sees her mother sing "Someone That You Loved Before" at another concert, but she's not as happy to agree to join her backstage. The mellow R&B ballad "Have You Ever?" is the first song Kayla records after she gets that contract, and she's good enough to impress the producer (Harvey Firnstein). Olivia records her own sultry ballad, "Until We Meet Again." "Happy" is Kayla's number at her first major concert; "Carry On" is the upbeat dance number Olivia grooves to that upstages her. They finally come together in the finale for "Love Is All That Matters."

What I Don't Like: This is pretty obviously a TV movie that was shot in 20 days. The costumes are relatively lavish, especially Ross' sequined gowns, but the sets are minimal. The story is a huge pile of cliches that finally collapse onto themselves around the time Kayla suddenly realizes that mothers do know best in this case and Ric is more interested in his career than hers. This isn't for someone who's not into R&B or is looking for more action and less soap opera. The music is basically the two leading ladies bringing whatever they recorded in their last albums, and except for "He Lives In You," isn't terribly memorable.

The Big Finale: Worth checking out for fans of the two leading ladies or late 90's R&B for the songs and performances alone.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming. The latter is currently free at Tubi with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - Leap! (Ballerina)

Entertainment One/Gaumont/The Weinstein Company, 2016

Voices of Elle Fanning, Nat Wolfe, Carly Rae Jepson, and Kate McKinnon

Directed by Eric Sumner and Eric Warin

Music and Lyrics by various

We head up north to Canada and back to Europe for our next review. This charming tale of a young girl who dreams of being a ballerina in 1880's Paris was a surprise hit when it came out, despite its low-budget origins. How worthy is this of that around-the-world release? Let's begin at an orphanage in the French countryside of the 1880's and find out...

The Story: Felicie (Fanning) dreams of being a ballerina more than anything. Her mother had been a dancer, and there's a ballerina in the music box she left her. She escapes the orphanage with her best friend Victor (Wolfe), who wants to be an inventor. They end  up in Paris, where he becomes the apprentice of Gustav Effel, the creator of the Effel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. She's taken in by Odette (Jepson), a cleaner for the Paris Opera Ballet, who stops the school's janior 

The building is owned by Regine Le Haut (McKinnon), a wealthy and ambitious woman who also runs a popular local restaurant. Her daughter Camille (Maddie Zigler) is as obnoxious and spoiled as her mother. She taunts Felicie and breaks her treasured music box. In retaliation, Felicie intercepts her invitation to the Paris Opera Ballet and joins the school. Her lack of training shows, and the dance master Merante (Terrance Scammel) disapproves of her clumsiness. 

Merante is auditioning girls for Clara in The Nutcracker and will eliminate a girl a day until he finds her. Odette, herself a former dancer, trains Odette until she can pass muster in Merante's class. Victor and Merante are impressed...until first Camille and Regine figure out what Felicite did, and then Felicite goes out on a date with handsome Rudi (Tamir Kapelian) and neglects her training for a major audition. Regine sends her back to the orphanage. Felicite, however, still loves to dance. With the help of Monsieur Lueteau (Mel Brooks), the head of the orphanage, Victor, and Camille, she returns to Paris to prove that being a dancer means more than knowing the steps. It means being passionate for your work, and loving what you do.

The Animation: The character designs sometimes look a little awkward or scary, but the backgrounds are lush and detailed. This won an Annie Award for production design, and it richly deserved it. Paris is a world of light and shadow, from the baroque details of the Paris Opera House to the shabby, crumbling, ivy-covered orphanage. The dance steps are rendered quite well, too, especially that big dance-off between Felicite and Camille near the end.

The Song and Dance: Charming follow-your-dreams tale is anchored by Fanning as the adorably feisty Felcite and Jepson as the tragic Odette, who teaches Felicite how to truly reach for her goal. Wolfe has his funny moments in the American dubbing I saw as Felicite's cute best friend who is enamored of her and the wings he's built. As mentioned, the production design is well-done, with its gorgeous Paris and country orphanage, and the dance is beautifully rendered. 

The Numbers: We open over the credits with a glimpse of the orphanage, set to "You Know It's About You" as Felicite prepares to escape and encourages Victor to join her. She watches a prima ballerina dance to "Swan Lake" on the stage of the Paris Opera House and is entranced by her grace. It also plays when she's watching Camille rehearse. Felicite is looking for her "Rainbow" when she bluffs her way into the school and tries to avoid showing how inexperienced she is. "Be Somebody" is her first class. She doesn't do great, but there's a girl who does worse and is eliminated. Rudi shows off his own skill when he does a quick series of pirouettes to "The Russian Dance" from The Nutcracker. 

Felicite becomes "Unstoppable" as Odette helps her practice and she becomes better and better. It takes "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" to do well in Merante's class and with Odette's teaching. She dances the "Shannon Reel" at the bar, swinging with such wild abandon that even Merante approves, but her attempt at the "Waltz of the Flowers" after a night out with Rudi doesn't go so well. "Suitcase" shows her training on her own at the orphanage as she regains her spirit, and Lueteau realizes how passionate she is about dancing. Camille and Felicite have a dance-off to show who is more "Confident"...and proves who has the real love for dance to the whole school. The movie ends with Jepson's "Cut to the Feeling" as Felicite finally gets the chance to dance with the ballerina she idolized in the beginning.

What I Don't Like: First of all, when was this set again? It's totally historically inaccurate for the 1880's. The Statue of Liberty wouldn't have been greenish at that point. She was still a coppery brown. Of the costumes, only some of the men's suits and Regine's green gown look anywhere near accurate for the time. Felicite's vest and shorts are more 2010 than 1880. The Nutcracker wasn't written until 1892, and it didn't become popular until the 1940's - and it doesn't include a scene where Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy dance in the snow. Even Lueteau's motorcycle wouldn't exist until 1885. 

Second, the story is a mountain of cliches that start slow and end ridiculously. Some of the big set pieces, like Lueteau chasing Victor and Felicte in the opening and the finale with Regine on the Statue of Liberty are more annoying and out-of-place than exciting. We don't find out what happened to Regine after she gets stuck in the statue's scaffolding, either, or to Camille. Regine going crazy like that makes no sense and likely only happened to give the movie a big action scene. Felicite herself is no prize, either. She's darn lucky she wasn't expelled for her attempt at identity fraud, and dream or no dream, she can be downright obnoxious at times. 

The Big Finale: For all the wonky history and general weirdness, this is still worth checking out if you or your daughter are ballet fans or are looking for an action musical for 8 to 12 year old girls. 

Home Media: Easily found on every format. The Canadian version usually turns up on disc, while the re-edited Weinstein version is free on Tubi.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Tubi

The Harder They Come

New World Pictures, 1972

Starring Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw, and Ras Daniel Heartman

Directed by Perry Henzell

Music and Lyrics by Jimmy Cliff and others

We head across the Atlantic Ocean from England to Jamaica for our next musical drama. Jimmy Cliff was, along with Bob Marley, one of the major stars who helped spread reggae around the globe in the 60's and 70's. By 1970, he was successful enough to star in the first feature length film made in Jamaica. 

This was a very big deal at the time. Though Jamaicans were proud to have achieved independence from England just twelve years before this movie came out, they were also aware of the enormous inequality in their little island nation, especially among the urban poor. This was one of the first movies to reflect this inequality in Jamaica, and the first to use the Jamaican Patois - their English dialect. How does the tale of a singer who comes to Kingston for a career but turns to a life of crime look today? Let's begin with Cliff's major hit "You Can Get It If You Really Want" as Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin arrives in Kingston and find out...

The Story: Ivan doesn't have the easiest time in Kingston at first. He loses everything he owns to a street vendor the moment he arrives. His attempts to get a job end up with him working for the local preacher (Basil Keane), but those jobs are hardly exciting. He falls for the preacher's ward Elsa (Bartley), which the preacher doesn't approve of. He's even less happy when Elsa gives Ivan the keys to the chapel so he can rehearse an audition song with his band. Ivan tries to retrieve the bike he put together from Longa (Elijah Chambers), who works for the preacher. He attacks Longa with a knife when he won't give it up and ends up whipped by local police.

Things start to look up when he and Elsa move in together and he finally records his song "The Harder They Come." The studio owner Hilton (Bob Charlton) has a stranglehold on the local industry and holds Ivan to an exploitative contract. Desperate for money, Ivan ends up drug running for his friend Jose (Bradshaw) and buying guns for protection. His notoriety after he kills a cop and Jose's girlfriend brings him the fame he badly wants and finally gets his music played on the radio...but it also makes the police more determined to capture him.

The Song and Dance: The real interest in this dark crime drama is seeing a side of Jamaica you won't read about in any travel brochure. For all the glowing tropical colors, Henzell's Kingston is a dusty, dirty network of narrow streets, old clapboard structures, narrow alleys and ancient palm trees bending in the sea breezes. The glowing cinematography grounds the almost fable-like story in the reality of a Jamaica that was still finding its way after splitting from England. The soundtrack was so influential, it helped spread the popularity of reggae outside of the Caribbean and remains one of the biggest reggae albums ever. 

The Numbers: We hear "You Can Get It If You Really Want" three times, notably over the credits as Ivan arrives in Kingston. "Rivers of Babylon" is a gospel number for the chorus at the church. Cliff and his band record the title song in the church before they're caught, and later in the studio. We also get "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Sitting In Limbo" from Cliff. The Maytals give us "Sweet and Dandy" and "Pressure Drop," and we hear "Johnny Too Bad" from the Slickers. 

Trivia: Ivanhoe Martin apparently was a real-life Jamaican criminal and folk hero in the 30's and 40's, though apparently he was neither a musician nor a drug dealer.

This has twice been adapted into a stage musical, in England in 2005 and in New York in 2023.

What I Don't Like: Jamaicans may have been thrilled to see their culture and language reproduced accurately onscreen, but those thick accents make the movie very difficult to understand at times. You may need subtitles or to know something about Jamaican language and culture yourself in order to figure out what's going on. The acting is not wonderful - Cliff had only starred in a few school productions before this - and can sometimes come off as stiff when you get what they're saying. This is also a very violent and dark movie, especially towards the end. Let younger kids listen to the soundtrack first.

The Big Finale: If you ever wanted to learn about reggae and how it became an international phenomenon or see Jamaica in a very different light from the usual travelogues, this movie isn't a bad place to start. 

Home Media: Easily found on all formats.

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

All Night Long (1962)

J. Arthur Rank, 1962

Starring Patrick McGoohan, Paul Harris, Marti Stevens, and Keith Mitchell

Directed by Basil Dearden

Music and Lyrics by various

This week, we head across the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea for two vintage movies exploring the black experience in England and Jamaica. We begin with this low-budget English take on the Shakespearean drama Othello. Dearden had been specializing in tight little dramas and comedies like this one for over a decade. He had no fear in delving into tough topics like racism, juvenile delinquency, and homophobia, or realistically depicting violence and sexuality onscreen. How well do his sensibilities work with the story of an ambitious drummer who almost comes between a black bandleader and his white singer wife? Let's begin with wealthy jazz lover Rod Hamilton (Richard Attenborough) as he heads to the warehouse-turned-performance space where the anniversary party for Aurelius Rex (Harris) and his wife Delia Lane (Stevens) is taking place and find out...

The Story: Johnny Cousin (McGoohan) is Rex's ambitious drummer who hopes to start his own band. Rod and booking agent Lou Berger (Bernard Braden) will back his new venture, but only if he can get Delia to be his singer. Delia is perfectly content the way she is and fears joining a band will cause strain in her marriage. 

Johnny desperately tries to break up her and Rex by reediting a tape of her conversation with Rex's saxophone player and Delia's friend Cass (Mitchell) to make it sound like they're in love. The truth is, they were discussing his relationship with Rex's current singer Benny (Maria Velasco). Johnny's manipulation leads to a web of lies, deceit, and betrayal, until his faithful wife Emily (Betsy Blair) reveals the truth.

The Song and Dance: This is worth checking out for some terrific performances, both from the cast and the jazz men making rare film appearances. David Brubeck and Charles Mingus were at the height of their popularity when this movie was released. We even get an improvised number from them, "Non-Sectarian Blues." Though Stevens and Mitchell also do well as the close friends who look like more, McGoohan walks off with the movie as the talented drummer who is so determined to have his own band, he's willing to turn his boss and his wife on each other. We also get not one, but two happy interracial couples who manage to stay together even after all the trouble Johnny caused. That would be rare in the US nowadays, let alone in a low-budget melodrama from 1962.

The Numbers: Most of the numbers are jazz instrumentals, including the afore-mentioned Mingus and Bruebeck jam "Non-Sectarian Blues." Bruebeck plays his own "Blue Shadows On the Street," and we also get "It's a Raggy Waltz" from him. There's also "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and Mingus' "Peggy's Blue Skylight." Rex plays "Mood Indigo" and "In a Sentimental Mood," two pieces usually associated with another bandleader, Duke Ellington. Stevens is finally coerced into singing the title song and "I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You" for her husband near the end of the movie.

Trivia: Patrick McGoohan did learn to play the drums for the film, though he was ultimately dubbed. He kept the drum set he used after filming.

What I Don't Like: First of all, this isn't for Shakespeare purists. There's a lot of changes to the original Othello, including a happier ending where all three couples survive. Second, this is a black and white melodrama performed largely in one set, with no huge dance numbers or lavish costumes or chorus. It's not for those who prefer their musicals on the happier, fluffier, more extravagant side. Third, those who aren't jazz aficionados like me may find the hepcat lingo and slightly arrogant attitudes on many of the musicians to be rather grating after a while. 

The Big Finale: Worth a night on the town to check out if you're a fan of vintage jazz, are looking for a unique Shakespeare adaptation, or love anyone in the cast or smaller black-and-white dramas from the 60's.

Home Media: Alas, the Criterion Collection set featuring this and three other well-regarded Dearden dramas from this time period is out of print and incredibly expensive at this writing. Streaming is far and away your best bet. It can currently be found for free with ads on Tubi.

DVD - Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden's London Underground

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