Blues in the Night (1941) on Netflix
Passed19411h 28mCrimeDramaMusic
Jigger Pine, a pianist in St. Louis, joins clarinetist Nickie Haroyen to form a band. With trumpeter Leo and singer Character, the group takes to the road seeking an authentic blues sound.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.7/101,728 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Pianist Jigger Pine and clarinetist Nickie Haroyen meet in a St. Louis bar and decide to build a jazz band. Jigger's drummer and bassist join them, and after a drunk patron starts a fight the four land in jail, where a prisoner's blues singing sends them toward New Orleans to learn an authentic blues sound. There they pick up trumpeter Leo and his wife, Character, a singer, and the five ride the rails, playing dive bars. Sheltering in a boxcar, they meet a stranger, Del, who robs them; impressed when they do not turn him in, he offers them work at a New Jersey roadhouse called The Jungle. The club belongs to Del's former partners in crime, Kay, Sam and Brad.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Blues in the Night (1941)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Warner Bros. first wanted James Cagney and Dennis Morgan to play the gangster Del Davis, but the part went to Lloyd Nolan; John Garfield was cast as pianist Jigger Pine, a role Richard Whorf eventually played.
- Elia Kazan gave up his screenwriting credit to appear in the film as a clarinetist, and later said acting in it convinced him he could "direct better than Anatole Litzvak".
- Only Priscilla Lane was a musician among the cast, so the actors' instrument playing was dubbed: Snooky Young and Frankie Zinzer played Jack Carson's trumpet, Stan Wrightsman the piano, and Archie Rosate Elia Kazan's clarinet solos.
