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British director Basil Dearden followed his gay blackmail thriller Victim with 1962’s All Night Long, which re-imagines Shakespeare's Othello at a late night London jazz jam. Patrick McGoohan is drummer Johnny Cousins, the scheming, pot-smoking Iago who prowls the party stirring up jealousy and fear to tear the interracial couple of bandleader Aurelius Rex and his wife Delia apart so Delia will sing with Johnny when he leaves Othello's band. An excellent score helps drive the tightening downward spiral, with Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck showing up as themselves throughout the party. [more inside]
posted by mediareport on Apr 25, 2023 - 4 comments

When a secret marriage is planned between Othello (Orson Welles), a Moorish general, and Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier), the daughter of Senator Brabantio (Hilton Edwards), her old suitor Roderigo (Robert Coote) takes it hard. He allies himself with Iago (Micheál MacLiammóir), who has his own grudge against Othello, and the two conspire to bring Othello down. When their first plan, to have him accused of witchcraft, fails, they plant evidence intended to make him believe Desdemona is unfaithful. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 9, 2022 - 3 comments