All Through the Night appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a nice transfer.
Sharpness looked largely solid. Some interiors lacked great delineation, but the image usually seemed well-defined.
No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Gain felt natural, and print flaws remained absent.
Blacks seemed dark and rich, while contrast appeared appealing. Shadows came across as smooth and concise. Expect a strong presentation.
I also felt the DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack held up fine for its age. Music and effects didn’t boast great range or punch, but both came across accurate enough and they lacked distortion or problems.
As usual for older recordings, speech came across as a little tinny, but the lines remained fairly concise and only a few spots of edginess occurred.
The mix lacked hiss, noise or other problems. This turned into a more than acceptable mix for its era.
When we shift to extras, we get an audio commentary from director Vincent Sherman and biographer Eric Lax. Both sat separately for their parts of this edited look at story and characters, cast and crew, and aspects of the production.
While Lax gives us he “film historian” perspective, Sherman fleshes out the piece with memories of the shoot and his colleagues. Despite more dead air than I’d prefer, both combine well to make this an informative piece.
By the way, Sherman recorded his part not long before his 2006 passing just shy of 100. You wouldn’t know Sherman was either so old or so close to death because he seems completely alert and engaged.
A featurette titled Call the Usual Suspects spans 22 minutes, 42 seconds. It brings remarks from Sherman, film historians Richard B. Jewell, Stephen Youngkin, Robert Osborne and Rudy Behlmer, and actors Clint Howard, Bruce Davison, Edie McClurg, James Cromwell, Jon Polito, Paul Dooley, Gary Cole, and Joan Leslie.
“Suspects” shines a spotlight on character actors, with a little emphasis on All Through the Night. The program offers an entertaining overview of the subject matter, and I like the involvement of more modern-era actors to give their perspectives.
A 1942 newsreel lasts one minute, 59 seconds and tells of various issues that seafaring vessels suffered at the time as well as official efforts related to the burgeoning Second World War. Though brief, it gives us a good view of the era.
Along with the film’s trailer, we get two vintage shorts. The disc provides So You Want to Give Up Smoking (10:51) and Lights Fantastic (6:30).
Smoking exists as the first in a series of “Joe McDoakes” shorts that would progress through 1956. These featured future George Jetson George O’Hanlon as the hapless everyman title character.
Unlike later McDoakes efforts, Joe doesn’t speak in Smoking, as instead, a narrator offers all the dialogue. Whereas the series would later veer toward basic comedy, Smoking comes more as an educational effort about that nasty habit and the options related to quitting.
Granted, Smoking takes on a lightly humorous vibe much of the time, but it nonetheless focuses more on information than laughs. It doesn’t offer a lot of entertainment but I found it interesting to see where the McDoakes franchise started.
As for Lights, it offers a comedic look at aspects of New York City. The visit to Chinatown turns unsurprisingly racist but the rest provides a reasonably clever take.
An unusual combination of genres, All Through the Night never really excels in any of them. Nonetheless, with a strong cast and a brisk pace, it becomes a likable effort. The Blu-ray offers solid visuals, acceptable audio and a mix of supplements. While not a classic, Night winds up as a pretty enjoyable flick nonetheless.
