A jazz/blues band forms out of St. Louis after the members spend a night together in jail. An interesting travelogue by boxcar ensues as they move through the southern half of the US, the progress seen on a map with the names of a lot of small towns and medium sized cities rather than through their individual gigs. While back in the boxcar again, they meet up with a fugitive who takes a liking to them and gets them a job in New Jersey with the New York skyline beckoning in the distance, in a road house known as The Jungle. The story gets quite interesting. This is not a musical, though it has a lot of music in it. Things really start going over the top with the arrival of Betty Field as Kitty, fugitive Lloyd Nolan's ex-girlfriend, a tough exterior over a brittle interior. With Nolan is Howard DaSilva as his assistant who helps run the place and has plans for Kitty if only he can pull off a major double cross. The band, led by future director Richard Whorf and featuring clarinetist (and future director Elia Kazan) is fairly interesting, though the characters are not that believable. But once they start their extended stay at The Jungle, with DaSilve, Nolan, Field, and Wallace Ford as Brad (another lost soul), it becomes totally unique.
Review of Blues in the Night
