#BluesInTheNight

As friends here know, I’ve been producing albums for 35 years, mostly Broadway and the Great American Songbook. #BluesInTheNight was the first collaboration between composer Harold Arlen & lyricist Johnny Mercer, and for that reason alone, it’s kind of a big freaking deal. #TCMParty #NoirAlley (1/4)

I love this crazy movie. #TCMParty #NoirAlley #BluesInTheNight

Lloyd Nolan appreciation post. #TCMParty #NoirAlley #BluesintheNight

#NoirChecklist for #BluesInTheNight: -“Night” in title -Sap protagonist -Good girl vs bad girl -Incongruous nightclub number(s) -Bonkers musical nightmare, then… -Busby Berkeley-on-LSD musical nightmare -Triple crossing femme-fatale -More 3rd act twists than Betty Field’s hair #TCMParty #NoirAlley

#bluesinthenight #tcmparty #filmnoir Neckties of BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941)

Betty Field was descended from Mayflower colonials. #TCMParty #NoirAlley #BluesInTheNight

Hey! That hotel lobby looks familiar, Warner Brothers! #BluesInTheNight #NoirAlley #TCMParty 🕵️‍♂️🍸

I really dug that movie. #NoirAlley #BluesInTheNight #TCMParty

That’s a face that’s seen some sh*t. Some bad bad sh*t. #TCMParty #NoirCity #BluesInTheNight

BTW, we see here white musicians adopting/adapting sounds forged in Black communities, but the film #BluesInTheNight doesn’t truly address the cultural appropriation of jazz. That film came a year later: it’s William Dieterle’s ‘Syncopation.’ I can’t recommend it highly enough. #TCMParty #NoirAlley

In 1941-42, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, Jimmy Lunceford, Dinah Shore, Cab Calloway & Benny Goodman all hit Billboard’s Top 10 with recordings of #BluesInTheNight. Critic William Zinsser marveled that the opening strain was “locked into the brain” of an entire generation. #TCMParty #NoirAlley (1/3)

I feel like I should think that movie was too ridiculous but I don't. I think I freaking love that hot mess. #BluesInTheNight #NoirAlley #TCMParty