Richard Attenborough and Charles Mingus, All Night Long, Basil Dearden, 1962.
I’d been listening a lot to Money Jungle, the wonderful record Duke Ellington made with then new-breeders Mingus and Max Roach, when the latest Eclipse box, Basil Dearden’s London Underground, arrived. I’m can’t wait to carve out some time to delve deep into it. Although I don’t believe in past lives, I sometimes wonder that I didn’t have one, one in which I was British, so cozy do British-made pictures from the quota quickies on make me feel. Dearden’s films are, of course, far more distinctive and largely dark, yet I still snuggle up to their worlds as I would to a particularly soft and warm blanket. Night, a modern-day Othello rethink set in the somewhat dank but peaty London jazz scene of the time, features the future SIr Dickie as a wealthy buff who knows how to entertain his musicians. I do love the physical contrasts in this shot; and the gentle expression on the great bassist and composer’s face.
Hat tip: Vadim Rizov.
This movie RULES. Patrick MacGoohan is an AWESOME asshole in it.
YEP YEP.
Not sure what surprises me more here: the h/t for a movie I was dissing on Twitter (thanks!) or the “FakeLexG” rejoinder. I did kind of enjoy McGoohan’s grand evil strategy: get ’em high and watch the fallout.
Thought I knew all the major modern jazz cinematic appearances by my idols like Baron Mingus, but this one eluded me. Did Santoro’s bio have any intel on Charlie’s experience making this film? All I recall from that was CM’s appearance at Timothy Leary’s wedding (with…Al Hirt?!?!??) and some meager income reports from Debut.
MONEY JUNGLE is an unforgettable masterpiece, not least of which mindful of each other’s throats Max and Mingus were at during the recording. For that, a serene grace pervades, even on corkers like “Caravan”, for which I sez: thank you, Duke. Can’t think of “Fleurette Africaine” anymore without recalling its rueful echoing in Lance Reddick’s basement office during the first season of THE WIRE.
Love this film for McGoohan’s indulgent performance and Dave Brubeck’s cameo.
Though I like ALL NIGHT LONG, I do have to admit it’s kind of weird to hear McGoohan doing an American accent. Also, my favorite film in the set is probably THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMAN, a very entertaining heist film. And I liked SAPPHIRE a lot as well; holds up better than many “daring for its time” movies.
My head is spinning over the idea of Dickie Attenborough being in a movie with Charles Mingus. I had no idea.
What a great image; thanks. Sir Charles had such an expressive face. In the booklet for the Columbia CD of “Epitath” there’s a photo of him laughing and hugging Dizzy Gillespie that is one my favorite photographic images.
Awesome image.