Companion viewing
"A Double Life" (1947)
"Filming Othello" (1979)
"O" (2001)
The San Diego Museum of Art may not be the first place you think of for a movie, but it has an ongoing film series and Thursday night's film, "All Night Long," mixes jazz and Shakespeare.
Basil Dearden's "All Night Long" updates Shakespeare’s "Othello" by setting it in a London jazz club of the 1960s where Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris), a black musician, and Delia Lane (Marti Stevens), his white wife, are celebrating their first anniversary. Richard Attenborough plays the party’s host Rod Hamilton who packs the evening with performances by jazz greats such as Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck.
The film's Iago is a drummer named Johnny Cousin (played with intensity by "The Prisoner's" Patrick McGoohan). In the trailer his character is described as "a brilliant musician but utterly ruthless in his quest for success."
The 1962 film offers a surprisingly contemporary take on the Bard’s famous tale of jealousy and betrayal. Cousin wants Lane, who retired from singing when she married Rex, to sing with his band and plays on her desire to have a career.
The film compacts Shakespeare's play into essentially one location and one night to heighten tensions. I highly recommend checking out this moody and under-appreciated gem especially if you love jazz or Shakespeare. It screens once only at 8 p.m., Thursday at the San Diego Museum of Art.
