The Wagons Roll at Night

I would wager that given the choice, Humphrey Bogart wouldn't have bothered making "The Wagons Roll at Night." I daresay he hadn't any option, since he had only just become a star when the film went out on general release and hadn't signed a new contract when he could have more of a say in his choice of films. The film is merely a remake of the masterpiece, "Kid Galahad." That is everything the above film isn't. The story is as about as dull and predictable as could be. Fans of Bogart might want to see this but only to see him. Joan Leslie was worthy of being in better films as well. The setting is that of a circus, where Humphrey Bogart as the owner, is struggling to make his circus successful. Then by accident, a young fellow proves he has what it takes to be a lion tamer (Eddie Albert). I'm grateful that the running time is quite short.

A Lion escapes from Humphrey Bogart's circus during a performance in a small town. It wanders into a grocery store where Eddie Albert is clerking. He manages to trap the lion behind a counter and gets a lot of plaudits and an offer from Bogart to work in his circus.

But jealousy rears its ugly head as Bogart's sister Joan Leslie and his girl friend Sylvia Sidney both fall for who Bogart considers a nice kid, but a hick.

The Wagons Roll at Night was a transitional film between two acclaimed Bogart productions High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. It was NOT the first time Bogart received number one billing. He did in a few other films like Black Legion for example. But with the acclaim he got from High Sierra, Jack Warner put him in this before the highly touted Dashiell Hammett adaption, I guess as a trial run.

The plot is based on Kid Galahad where oddly enough Bogart had a supporting role. Eddie Albert shows only a bit of his incredible talent. Joan Leslie as the nice sister basically repeats the part she had from High Sierra. Sylvia Sidney does well as the love lost carnival fortune teller with eyes for both Bogart and Albert.

Personally though I've always liked what Sig Ruman did in this film as the drunken lion tamer whose place Albert took. The film is at its best when he's on screen.

Humphrey Bogart runs a circus but doesn't want his kid sister Joan Leslie to have anything to do with circus men. Enter grocery clerk-turned-lion tamer Eddie Albert, who "aww shucks" his way to Joan's heart while also making an impression on Bogie's woman Sylvia Sidney. Lots of drama under the big top in this one. It's essentially a remake of 1937's Kid Galahad, a boxing film with the same plot. Bogart was also in that picture, only he played the villain there. This lesser Bogie pic came out between two of his classics, High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. It obviously doesn't compare to either of those movies but it's pleasant enough for what it is. The WB flavor and circus setting help some. Bogie sells his part well as a guy who's neither all good nor all bad. Sidney is lovely and gives a nice sensitive performance. Leslie is also good in her small role. For his part, Eddie Albert does fine as the innocent hayseed bumpkin with a heart of gold. The solid supporting cast includes Sig Ruman, Frank Wilcox, and John Ridgely. It's an OK movie, especially for fans of Bogart or the kinds of dramas Warner Bros. put out in the '30s and '40s. But it's not remarkable in any way and the ending stinks.

I liked this film. While a little predictable and such, it did offer Bogart and Sylvia Sidney, both of whom I admire a great deal. The scenes with the tigers were interesting. The film, while mostly melodramatic, was humourous in some portions. As a die hard Bogie fan, I can't say as to whether or not others would like this though. I am a tainted Bogie fan, and so my opinion is always slanted...

Humphrey Bogart, Sylvia Sidney, Joan Leslie, Eddie Albert, and Sig Ruman star in "The Wagons Roll at Night," a 1941 film from Bogart, most likely made before Bogart really hit the big time with High Sierra and Maltese Falcon. 1941 was certainly an important year for him.

Bogart plays Nick Coaster, the head of a traveling carnival. When a lion escapes, he ends up in a grocery store where the clerk, Matt (Albert) saves the day and becomes a local hero.

Coaster thinks the kid's a natural and talks him into learning the lion tamer trade. He needs him - his usual lion tamer, Hoffman the Great (Ruman) is usually drunk.

One night, Hoffman is too drunk to go on and despite objections from other members of the carnival, Coaster sends the novice Matt into the ring. He does such an excellent job that Nick fires Hoffman.

Hoffman retaliates, gets into a huge fight with Matt, and ends up mauled by one of the lions. Matt has to get out of town fast, so Flo (Sidney) suggests they take him to Nick's farm.

This is a big no-no because Nick is determined that his sister (Leslie) not mix with carnival people. You can guess the rest.

The young Albert was adorable, extremely likable in his role. Bogart is terrific as Nick, a tough as nails guy who considers all carnival people, including Flo and himself, the scum of the earth. Sidney shows her vulnerability here, as a woman who's been hurt by Nick but still cares for him, even while she's attracted to Matt.

Entertaining and predictable, and I have to make a disclosure here that Eddie Albert holds a special place in my heart. I interviewed him when he was in his 90s and quite frail, and after the article was published, I heard from some Navy veterans who wanted to publish the story of my father in a magazine - they'd known he was in the Navy but had no idea of his heroism.

I wrote back and said fine, but Eddie Albert isn't my father, had I written something that made them think so? It turned out that Albert's daughter has the same first name as I do, and they got confused. My father, who died in 2007, got a huge kick out of that email and kept it.