All Night Long

Musician Aurelius Rex (Paul Harris) and his wife Delia (Marti Stevens), a retired singer, are the recipients of a big, one-year wedding anniversary party in London thrown by a wealthy music promoter and jazz aficionado, Rod Hamilton (Richard Attenborough, in a Thames-side warehouse he has remodeled to create a space for the kind of all-night sessions that can't be done in Mayfair. Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan), a drummer with aspirations of starting his own band, has promised booking agent Lou Berger (Bernard Braden) that Delia has come out of retirement and will resume performing, not with Rex but with Johnny. On the phone, Berger tells Johnny that Delia's presence is absolutely necessary. Delia tells Johnny in no uncertain terms that she does not intend to resume her career. Music plays an important role in the film, as party guests take it in turn to join in, and we learn more about all the characters. Johnny begins a series of complex machinations, all designed to make Rex believe that Delia has been having an affair with Cass (Keith Michell), the band's manager. Johnny's back-stabbing costs Cass his job, when he plies Cass --- a recovered addict --- with marijuana (possibly heroin). Johnny records a conversation between Cass and Benny (María Velasco), who are lovers, talks to Cass about how much he loves Benny, and tapes Delia promising Cass that she will get Rex to forgive him. He edits the material to distort the meaning. Delia's performance of a song, rehearsed solely for the party, furthers Rex's suspicions that she is unhappy at home. Rex tries to strangle Delia and assaults Cass, sending him over a balcony. In front of the whole party, he accuses them of infidelity. Johnny's long-suffering wife, Emily (Betsy Blair), asks if he heard this from Johnny, protesting that "Johnny is a liar. He never told the truth in his life." When Rex mentions the tape, Benny makes Cass admit that he was talking about her on the tape, not Delia. His plot exposed, Johnny runs out of the room. Rex follows and is throttling Johnny when Delia stops him. He walks slowly back to the room where Cass lies injured in Benny's arms. He kneels down, takes Cass's hand and holds it against his cheek. "Don't worry man, everything is cool." Cass says. Rex walks out of the room and Delia runs after him. He looks at the marks of his fingers on her neck, stares at his hand and gently caresses her face. He goes out into the night as the ambulance arrives. Delia runs after him and they stand facing each other. Cass is loaded into the ambulance and Benny goes with him. Johnny is noodling on the drums. Emily brings him his coat. "I love you," she says. "Don't you understand, I don't want to be loved...I love nobody. Don't even love Johnny...Go find somebody else to love..." he says. Johnny goes to town on the drums as Emily woodenly walks away. Rod also walks out, leaving Johnny alone, his drumming more and more frantic. The last shot of the film shows Rex and Delia walking along the embankment, his arm around her.