All Through the Night (1942)

Crooked sports gambler ‘Gloves’ Donahue (Humphrey Bogart) learns that the baker of his favorite cheesecake has been bumped off, so he decides to investigate. Mostly because a hot chick is somehow involved. He uncovers a bigger conspiracy. Could it involve Nazis? Yes. Yes it could.

Could this be a highly rated (7.1 on IMDb) Bogart film-noir that I had never even heard of? That sounds too good to be true. Sadly, it is. Released between The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, All Through the Night is principally a comedy. This explains how Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason got invited to the party. Still, the story plays out as a crime mystery/drama. Everyone’s favorite uncle William Demarest plays sidekick Sunshine whose major contributions are cracking wise and knocking stuff over.

Additionally, Casablanca alumnae Conrad Veidt and Peter Lorre have principal roles. Freaks star Wallace Ford has a smaller role. Our femme fatal stand-in is played by Kaaren Verne (Ingeborg Greta Katerina Marie-Rose Klinckerfuss to her friends). Three years after the film’s release, she and Lorre divorced their respective partners and hooked up for five years of marital bliss.

Bogart at this time was a star but not yet a legend. He plays a tough, but lacks the cynicism of his better roles. Remember, he is motivated by hot chicks and cheesecake. There isn’t much mystery here. Bad guys coerce good people to do their bidding. Why? We learn soon it’s because Nazis and World War II. So many B pictures in the early part of the war tread this ground. All Through the Night is no different, and little better. It keeps your interest well enough, and Bogart raises the level of any production, but it is what it is. An unfunny comedy, a film-noir with little atmosphere, a mystery with little mystery, a crime film that doesn’t take itself serious. Just a movie that holds your attention. And Humphrey Bogart. AMRU 3.