The Wagons Roll at Night *** (1941, Humphrey Bogart, Sylvia Sidney, Eddie Albert, Joan Leslie, Sig Ruman, Cliff Clark) – Classic Movie Review 5526

In 1941 Warner Bros recycle yet another of their old scripts – this time Kid Galahad (1937) stripped of its boxing theme – as a vehicle for their tough-guy star Humphrey Bogart, who is hardly a great fit as a travelling carnival owner. Bogart had been newly promoted to star from supporting actor since he appeared in the 1937 film Kid Galahad,

Alas, The Wagons Roll at Night turns out to be only a merely adequate vehicle for Bogart, who does his best to beat his basic miscasting as Nick Coster, the circus boss falling for clairvoyant Flo Lorraine (Sylvia Sidney), dealing with drunken big-top trainer Hoffman the Great (Sig Ruman), while murderously trying to keep his new lion tamer Matt Varney (Eddie Albert) away from his sister Mary Coster (Joan Leslie).

Fred Niblo Jr and Barry Trivers’s tepid, rather familiar soapy screenplay (based on the 1936 novel Kid Galahad by Francis Wallace) damps the good cast’s spirits. And Sylvia Sidney is also battling miscasting as Bogart’s girlfriend. But the movie is diverting enough, and director Ray Enright keeps it all sufficiently taut and tense, as well as atmospheric, flavourful, colourful and characterful. It is short, brisk and terse at just 84 minutes.

Also in the cast are Cliff Clark, Charley Foy, Frank Wilcox, Clara Blandick, Garry Owen, Frank Mayo, Jimmy Fox, Fay Helm, Ted Oliver and Grace Hayle.

This is the only time Wallace’s novel has been filmed with its original circus setting. The 1937 film Kid Galahad, featuring Bogart in a supporting role, uses the boxing world as a backdrop, and so does the 1962 musical remake Kid Galahad, starring Elvis Presley as the boxer.

The Wagons Roll at Night is directed by Ray Enright, runs 84 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Fred Niblo Jr and Barry Trivers, based on a 1936 novel by Francis Wallace, first published as a serial in The Saturday Evening Post, is shot in black and white by Sid Hickox, is produced by Hal B Wallis and Harlan Thompson, and is scored by Heinz Roemheld.

The cast are Humphrey Bogart as Nick Coster, Sylvia Sidney as Flo Lorraine, Eddie Albert as Matt Varney, Joan Leslie as Mary Coster, Sig Ruman as Hoffman the Great, Cliff Clark as Doc, Charley Foy as Snapper, Frank Wilcox as Tex, John Ridgely as Arch, Clara Blandick as Mrs. Williams, Aldrich Bowker as Mr. Williams, Jack Mower as Bundy, Frank Mayo as Wally, Garry Owen as Gus, Eddie Acuff as pickpocket victim, Jimmy Fox, Fay Helm, Ted Oliver and Grace Hayle.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5526

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