A Night of Adventure (1944)

The Worst Film Ever

That was an excellent one.

Sadly Over-hyped

Please don't spend money on this.

Tom Conway stars with Audrey Long in "A Night of Adventure," a 1944 film. Conway plays Mark Latham, a busy attorney who has canceled too many evenings with his wife Erica (Audrey Long). Unhappy, she decides to leave him and moves into her own apartment. One of her admirers is an artist, Tony Claire (Louis Borel). When his old girlfriend is murdered, Erica appeals to her husband to defend him, and he takes the case.Okay film. Conway, the brother of George Sanders, has the family smooth voice, although he's less debonair than Sanders. Audrey Long is one of the glamorous, well spoken leading ladies of the '40s who didn't achieve big stardom; she retired when she married "The Saint" creator Leslie Charteris.Entertaining - this film is a remake of a 1934 film "Hat, Coat, and Glove" and was originally a play of the same name.

This film is competently made and acted. No one can dispute that fact, but there is the problem. Its just competent. The excellent supporting cast is merely asked to do competent work, while capable of much more.The leads, Conway and Ms. Long, while not really A-list actors, are also capable of more in the right role with the right production (for example Conway's work in Val Lewton films is excellent and perfect for him). But they are not asked to shine here and don't try to come up with chemistry between them. Instead, some sappy canned string music is used throughout all their romantic scenes together as a substitute for true romantic acting. I do believe it is the producer's or directors' fault, not the actors.The courtroom activity rings true to me and I believe it is as a courtroom drama that this film succeeds. Succeed it does, but is relentlessly limited to "B" territory by the producers."A Night of Adventure", while rather standard and unimaginative, will hold your attention so you might want to view it if you are a fan of the actors involved. Fortunately none of the actors gives a performance that you could call less than "competent".

This is a reductio ad aburdum that conjugal love is laudable and may be stronger than affairs ;the screenplay is pretty astute,since it blends two or three plots and the movie does not suffer for it;the long trial,for once,is not boring,and is not the moment when the lawyer hams it up;on the contrary,Tom Conway gives a restrained performance and the scene has plenty of suspense;in a small part,Nancy Gates almost steals the show,when she says she has never sworn ; a story of a defendant defended by his lover's husband ,it's not derivative for the time,and it is a pretty good thriller by Gordon Douglas,not Hitchcock,but worthwhile all the same.

I was pleasantly surprised by this neat little one hour, 10 minute treat. I rated it an "8.", although it probably should average a "7.5" or so. Everything about it was adequate, and the plot was great. Conway was good looking and suave. The romantic patter was nice. The characters were pretty juiceless, though. Just let me say that the plot and denouement are particularly ingenious. Attorney Conway gets way over his head with a crime that threatens his career, innocence and marriage. The enjoyment of the film is wondering for so long how he and his client can possibly escape unharmed. That is enough. See and enjoy it.