BLUES IN THE NIGHT

USA | 1941 | DCP | 88 min.
Director: Anatole Litvak
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Jack Carson, Elia Kazan
Chasing a dream of pure musical expression, a scrappy band of musicians gets tangled in the smoky allure of a roadhouse run by a fugitive, where illegal gambling and a sultry femme fatale threaten to tear the band apart. Anchored by its Oscar-nominated title track with lyrics by Johnny Mercer (“My momma done tol’ me…”), this crime-infused musical is one of Warner Bros. finest entertainments from the early 1940s, thanks to director Litvak’s fast-paced direction, a jazzy script by Robert Rossen, and deliriously expressive montages from director-in-the-making Don Siegel. A DCP derived from an archival 16mm print at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research will be screened.