All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie Review

The war at home.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 16, 2026

Why fly to Europe when you can fight Nazis at home? That's the question posed by Vincent Sherman's underrated All Through the Night, which delivered WWII to audiences in an usual way. The story itself jumps between multiple genres including comedy, drama, and action, but builds upon a murder mystery whose release year all but guarantees a heavy dose of patriotism when Nazis are discovered in the heart of New York. Led by a reliably great Humphrey Bogart (fresh off of The Maltese Falcon) and a stacked supporting cast including Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt, William Demarest, and Jackie Gleason (only his third film credit), this entertaining excursion holds up well more than 80 years later.

Successful gambler Alfred “Gloves” Donahue (Bogart) loves a good slice of cheesecake, and no one makes a finer one than local baker Herman Miller (Ludwig Stössel). Sadly, Miller is murdered in cold blood one afternoon by a man named Pepi (Lorre) after refusing to go along with an as-yet-unknown plan, and soon enough his body is discovered by Gloves and the authorities. Soon after, a very mysterious woman later revealed to be nightclub singer Leda Hamilton (Kaaren Verne) asks about Miller's whereabouts and quickly leaves the premises after hearing about his murder. Determined to find out what happened, Gloves follows the trail to a nightclub operated by Marty Callahan (Barton MacLane) where he encounters Leda and her shifty piano player, who turns out to be none other than Pepi himself. When another murder occurs in the back rooms of the nightclub that very same evening, Gloves realizes that the mysterious members of Lena's growing inner circle are actually part of something far, far more dangerous.

Our hero and his loyal associates including Barney (Frank McHugh), Sunshine (Demarest), and Starchy (Gleason) pursue Leda and those responsible for the killings, at least one of which has been hung on Gloves; their investigation eventually exposes a Nazi espionage network operating in New York with numbers much higher than initially expected. At the center of this conspiracy is sinister Hall Ebbing (Conrad Veidt), while the mysterious Madame (Judith Anderson) helps direct the activities of the top-secret spy organization. As Gloves gradually pieces together the truth, he and his loyal gang of gamblers unexpectedly find themselves fighting saboteurs rather than rival gangsters.

For a film about murder and Nazis, All Through the Night is lots of fun. Its loose atmosphere and broad comic strokes pair well with occasional stabs of suspense during an engaging, accessible story that all takes place within 24 hours. Bogart is his usual confident self but now brings the laughs while various members of the supporting cast (especially Lorre) likewise play familiar variants of their usual roles, which makes the film extremely easy to fall into. While a few running gags don't work as well -- McHugh's "Barney" is a taxi driver who constantly yaps about his girlfriend-turned-wife Annabelle (Jean Ames) -- and some of the gung-ho patriotism teeters on the boundaries of excess, it's mostly all in good fun and the terrific dialogue helps to smooth everything over. So does the action, which is delivered in various levels of intensity from quick KOs to all-out brawls bolstered by rousing music from composer Adolph Deutsch, who might have the most Nazi-adjacent name in history but was actually a German Jew born in England.

Again, this is enjoyable stuff with strong entry-level appeal but All Through the Night should hold up well to repeat viewings, which means that Warner Archive's new Blu-ray edition is sure to get a few good spins over the years. As always, it's firmly anchored by a strong 4K-sourced restoration but also comes equipped with several enjoyable extras, all of which are either era-specific or retrospectives carried over from earlier home video releases.

All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive applies their usual white-glove touch to All Through the Night which, as its title implies, features no shortage of dark environments and film-noir adjacent flourishes that give it a lot of visual appeal. Sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, it looks as good as expected with crisp fine detail, excellent contrast, a rich and film-like texture, and no obvious encoding issues such as banding, black crush, or macro blocking as it runs at a high and supportive bit rate on this dual-layered disc. Simply put, it's yet another five-star effort from the boutique label that fans will certainly appreciate, and it far outpaces all previous home video editions including Warner Archive's own DVD which only surfaced a little over six years ago. As always, buy with confidence.

All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix follows suit with a dependably clean presentation of its original mono source, which as always is served up in a split two-channel container for wider playback. Dialogue is largely crisp and intelligible, from English to German (and whatever passes for German in one particularly memorable sequence), although one scene at the 58-minute mark between Gloves and Ebbing) suffers from a bit of noticeable distortion that was likely inherent to the source. Otherwise it's smooth sailing with no other problems to report, and special credit must also be given to the excellent original score by Adolph Deutsch with uncredited help from the similarly prolific Max Steiner.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork and a handful of extras; some are carried over from the DVD era and offer a good amount of insight, but all are worth watching.

• Audio Commentary - This legacy track features none other than director Vincent Sherman (who died in 2006) and Humphrey Bogart's biographer Eric Lax, who does most of the talking and serves up plenty of historical facts and context. It becomes obvious early on that these participants were recorded separately and there are several extended lapses into silence but, since Sherman and Lax are stitched together reasonably well and offer a lot of scene-specific comments, this is still a solid commentary that fans will enjoy.

• Call the Usual Suspects (22:42) - Another DVD-era piece, this 2006 featurette is an all-purpose tribute to character actors by showcasing the work of Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Cary Grant, and at least a dozen others as well as short interviews with friends, relatives, and contemporaries.

• So You Want to Give Up Smoking (10:51) - A vintage Joe McDoakes short that takes a light look at smoking addiction, which makes sense considering how many cigarettes are featured in All Through the Night.

• Lights Fantastic (6:30) - This 1942 Looney Tunes short was directed by Friz Freleng; it gives us a quick and light-hearted look at various sights and sounds in New York and has been nicely restored here, making it a rare HD solo exclusive given that its last appearance was on DVD.

• 1942 Newsreel (1:59) - "News of the Nation" offers a few domestic and international headlines.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:46) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

All Through the Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Director Vincent Sherman (whose later film Mr. Skeffington will also be released by Warner Archive in October) turns in fine work with 1942's All Through the Night, an unconventional but enjoyable blend of murder mystery, film noir, broad comedy, and gangster action that holds up very well more than 80 years later. WAC's new Blu-ray supports its legacy with a top-tier A/V restoration and entertaining extras. Highly Recommended to fans and first-timers too.