Roadhouse Nights Reviews

Morgan, the great torch singer of the 1920s, was nearly at the end of her career here, sliding into alcoholism which would kill her from cirrhosis of the liver in 1941 at the age of 41. Here she plays a nightclub singer not too far removed from her own life, but the film is overloaded with awkward dialog and songs not really suited for Morgan's talent. King is a reporter sent by his editor to the town of Moran, controlled by bootlegger Kohler, to get some dirt on the corruption there. Kohler finds out and has him killed. The paper immediately dispatches another reporter, Ruggles, to the scene, and he is surprised to find Morgan, his old flame, is the singer at the roadhouse run by Kohler. She knows what happened to the first reporter so she tries to protect Ruggles, convincing him that he has been fired and they should elope. As they are leaving town, Kohler's men catch up to them, and they are taken back to the roadhouse. Ruggles pretends to be drunk and manages to get a message back to his newspaper by tapping it out in Morse code on the phone. Kohler finds out about the message and is about to shoot Ruggles when Durante, a comedian working at the club, thwarts him. Just then the Coast Guard inexplicably comes to the rescue and puts an end to Kohler's gang. Not terribly interesting and a disappointing film for Morgan fans (who are really the only audience for this film today) after her fine, sad performances in SHOW BOAT (1929) and APPLAUSE (1929). Durante made a good impression in his film debut here, although his partnership with Clayton and Jackson was soon to end as he became a star. Includes the songs "Everything Is on the Up and Up," "Hello, Everybody, Folks," and "Everybody Wants My Girl" (written and performed by Lou Clayton, Eddie Jackson, and Jimmy Durante), and "It Can't Go on Like This" (E.Y. Harburg, Jay Gorney, sung by Helen Morgan).