The United Kingdom’s All Night Long is a jazz-infused noir-ish retelling of Othello, Shakespeare’s tragedy of a Morish warrior manipulated into a lethal jealous frenzy by the trusted Iago.

Rod Hamilton (Richard Attenborough), a wealthy patron of London’s jazz scene, throws a one-year wedding anniversary celebration for band leader Rx and his retired singer/wife Delia (Paul Harris and Marti Stevens.) Rex’s drummer Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan) wants to found his own band but he can’t do it without backing from Rod and Rec’s talent agent, neither of whom will support him unless Delia comes out of retirement as Johnny’s lead singer. Because Rex doesn’t support the idea of his wife returning to the business Johnny begins a campaign of rumor and innuendo to break the marriage.

All Night Long transpires over a single evening’s party set in a single location. In addition to a find cast of actors the film boasts an impressive number of the UK’s premier jazz musicians along with American Dave Brubeck. In fact, the film’s chief flaw in my opinion are the jazz breaks where the story slams to a halt while the movie lingers on, albeit exquisite, musical performances that for the most part neither advance plot nor illuminate character.

McGoohan’s turn as the Iago-like Johnny is at times charming, sociopathic, and pitiful. Johnny is a man who has plotted and planned big dreams and on the cusp of realizing one of them breaks nearly everyone around him.

Paul Harris, whose physical stature and commanding voice is reminiscent William Marshall, delivers a subtle performance as a man seemingly confident of his place in place but subject to the erosion of self-doubt and jealousy.

The film is captured in black-and-white helping to create a noir sensibility but without the exaggerated stylistic impressions barrowed from German Expressionism. Here the monochrome, though perhaps a budgetary restraint, helps ground the film in a stormy night’s realism.

The soundtrack is naturally jazz but unlike many films that utilized jazz as a cost-cutting tool here some of the greats of the era are on display giving lovely performances, even if they did not always serve the film well.

All Night Long with a brief running time of an hour and a half is an enjoyable drama with noirovertones and worth the time. It is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.