Reviews

Excellent acting and photography but in all honesty....is there anyone in the world that was able to understand more than a few words of Linda Manz' voice overs ??? Why is it that In the movies of the 40's every word of dialogue is clear and distinct and from the 70's on it's often a guessing game ?? Whose fault is it ? Modern speech coaches or incompetent sound editors coming from a rock listening background ?? A subject for discussion..Maybe the producers wanted to make sure nobody could understand what she was saying and that people would come to see the film 20 times to finally figure it out....or then again, maybe it wasn't all that important and you were just supposed to watch it like a silent film and get what was happening from the actors movements.

Good story, good acting, implausible ending.....overall, it has some moments. BUT.....I have a question that probably no one has addressed. It's this. These young people are supposed to be of genius mentality, right ?? Then why is it that all of the music surrounding them and the film is rock and roll, the most elementary form of music known to man. Albert Einstein listened to Bach and Mozart. Does this mean that in todays world genius is only limited to one area and when it comes to the arts we're back in pre school. It would seem if they were all that brilliant they'd be listening to other geniuses....Stravinsky, Bartok, Gershwin, Charlie Parker. Does anyone have the answer to this.??

I saw this cartoon when I was a child and then many years later on T.V before it was deemed "politically incorrect" and probably lost forever. The African American community was probably horrified by it (and I suppose rightfully so) but there are some really funny (and meaningful ) lines in the dialog especially when the scarecrow tells Jaspar he should be playing jazz instead of scales.Actually, he tells Jaspar that the white keys are o.k for scales but he has to use the black keys if he wants to get into "the hot stuff". I sure would like to have a copy of it.. if anyone out there has any knowledge as to the availability of this cartoon series please let me know.

I first saw this film back in the 40's when I was a child. I was always a fan of the very pretty Brenda Joyce (especially in her non Tarzan roles.....there weren't many.) I then saw it once again many years ago on t.v but now (like many of the old 40's B movies) has completely disappeared from site. Another film from the same period (again with Brenda Joyce and also Patricia Morison) was Danger Woman, which is also notably impossible to find. If there's ever anyone out there that should read this comment and knows how to obtain copies of these old films I'd sure like to know..I 'll bet some company could do really well if they specialized in marketing all of the 40's B movies.

In the 1940's there were probably 5,000 B movies made that were no better or worse than this one with one big exception.This little film has a scene that contains five truly great jazz artists playing at close to their peak. I think it's now on youtube.

I saw it on a late show in Palo Alto California 42 years ago and in those days there were no tape machines.(it wouldn't have mattered since I was watching it in a motel.) Anyway, the jazz greats are Coleman Hawkins, Howard McGee,Sir Charles Thompson, Denzil Best, and most of all, Oscar Pettiford on the bass. For a young jazz bass player to be able to watch the great Pettiford in action would be worth something of value thats immeasurable. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the other comments are incorrect !! That is definitely Coleman Hawkins and Oscar Pettiford on the sound track. Believe me, I KNOW their playing. It's definitely THEM !! I'm shocked that people haven't heard that. p-s I had just finished playing a concert with the George Shearing Quintet in Concord California opposite Dave Brubeck and came back to the motel and this movie was on t.v. Talk about an unbelievable experience...by the way, I was able later to secure the film.

Nocturne is certainly not in the 1st rank of 40's film noir movies but nevertheless has a few things going for it.....the photography, some funny lines ("one more crack like that and I'll wrap the piano around your neck"), and for me, Lynn Bari. I always thought she was ( like Hillary Brooke, Lenore Aubert, Brenda Joyce, and a few others of the 40's) an underrated, very beautiful and sophisticated actress ( of a type that no longer exists in films). Of course no-one is going to confuse George Raft with Lawrence Olivier but the rest of the cast, particularly Joe Pevney (also good in "Body and Soul") does a professional job.and makes the film worthwhile.

Back in 1950 when this film was made the world of jazz music was a mystery to the majority of people in the world.Today,it's still a mystery (possibly even more so) and fifty years from now the situation will not have changed..The problems (and there are many) stem from the fact that basically it's a musicians music requiring untold hours of study and practice and "normal" people are not equipped to hear the "inside' things that these musicians produce.One of the highlights of the picture occurs early when Kirk Douglas is improvising melodies behind Doris Days' vocal and the square bandleader asks him why does he think he bought these written arrangements..Douglas replies "I don't know.".....laughter from the other guys in the band.Hoagy Carmichael comments that this was about the time that he (Douglas) learned to play two ways.One for money and the other way for himself.

Though, at the time this film was made, Dizzy Gillespie,Miles Davis,Fats Navarro, or even a very young Chet Baker would have been a better choice (as far as a REAL jazz trumpet player) to dub the trumpet solos,Harry James, though much more of a pop trumpet star does a commendable job....sort of like a then Doc Severinsen.

The 1st half of the film is actually surprisingly good ,catching the gulf that exists between jazz artists and the square public they have to contend with but unfortunately things go sour in the 2nd half (with the entrance of Lauren Bacalls' character...she's a fine actress but the script goes awry and nothing in the film rings true after that.)

5 stars for the 1st half,2 stars for the 2nd. Though some people may think it a strange role for Kirk Douglas, he brings his usual intensity to his performance and it works well.

Noted film critic Leonard Maltin comments "oozing with sophistication" and he's absolutely right.It's a brilliant film for grown-ups (or, at least, grown ups of the 40's).It would probably frighten or confuse todays audiences because the dialogue is so rich it would send them running to the dictionary every other minute.The casting is perfect with many of Sturges' favorite supporting players delivering beautifully.If you're over 50 (and/or have a college degree) you'll love this film.If you're into rock and roll and four letter words this film would be your worst nightmare.