All Night Long

Othello is transposed to the 1960s Soho jazz scene as a malevolent drummer sows mistrust between husband-and-wife jazz luminaries.

Virtuoso drummer Johnny Cousin Patrick McGoohan) tries to persuade singer Delia Lane (Marti Stevens) to join his new jazz band. When she refuses he ensnares her possessive husband Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris) by insinuating that Delia’s having an affair with the band manager.

In this daring and unusual Shakespeare interpretation, Othello is transposed to the 1960s Soho jazz scene, complete with performances from jazz legends Dave Brubeck, Charlie Mingus and John Dankworth, whose tunes bring this intense psychodrama to swinging life. The film is also bolstered by a terrific cast that also includes Richard Attenborough, and in its sensitive staging of an inter-racial marriage offers further evidence of the social conscience of director Basil Dearden (Sapphire, Victim).