This Is the Night (1932)

"This Is the Night" is one of very few Cary Grant films in which he doesn't have the lead male role. At this early stage in his career, Grant played second fiddle to Roland Young. And that was more than just in the credits. Grant's Stephen Matthewson is about to lose his wife to the older and much less attractive Young, who plays Gerald Gray. The only possible explanation for this is that Gray is very wealthy – and unmarried. Stephen seems to have some sort of wealth himself, because he can go gallivanting around to track meets where he's a javelin thrower. In this film, Gray and Steve's wife, Claire (played by Thelma Todd) are about to leave Paris for Venice, Italy. That's while Steve is off to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. But, Steve missed his wife and turned around at London to return home. He walks in on Bunny West (played by Charles Ruggles) who's a friend of Gray, as he is delivering two train tickets to Venice. West says he mistakenly delivered the two tickets to this address, when they were for Mr. Gray and his wife. Steve tells him to get one more ticket with that of his wife, because he will go to Venice with the rest. Gray then challenges West to find him someone to play his wife for the two weeks. Lili Damita enters the scene as Germaine. Much of the very light comedy occurs after this in Venice. West starts to fall for Germaine, while Gray and Claire get little chance to be alone. Before long, jealousies ensue, and Claire and Steve fall for each other all over again; and Gray and Germaine decide to marry. There isn't much more to this film. The plot had great possibilities for comedy, but the screenplay was just too lame. A bright, crispy, witty script could turn this into a roaring comedy. As is, it just passes as somewhat interesting and enjoyable. Grant has very little comedy here. Most of it comes from Ruggles and Young.

Cary Grant's film debut (which I now watched on the 110th anniversary of his birth) is hardly ever discussed but, recently, a fellow American movie-buff friend of mine rated it a startling ***1/2 (for the record, Leonard Maltin accords it a more modest **1/2 in his guide) and I also found it listed in the "Wonders In The Dark" website's poll of the "All- Time Top 3000 Movies"!A very typical "frothy" Paramount effort from this era, and one that obviously apes the famed Lubitsch touch then in full force (even going so far as to borrow two of his alumni for the male leads, namely Charlie Ruggles and Roland Young). Grant is a singing javelin-thrower(!) married to Thelma Todd (who is constantly getting her clothes caught in doors and torn clean off her!); the latter has a fling with bachelor Young (this emanates from an era where the audience did not question the considerable age difference in a relationship – but, then, an older Grant would often be guilty of that as well!) and, when caught by Grant, pal Ruggles invents a wife for Young which Grant then asks to meet! They all end up on vacation in Venice (also partly the setting of Lubitsch's masterpiece TROUBLE IN PARADISE, made the same year and also featuring Ruggles!) with down-on-her-luck actress Lily Damita filling the part of devoted spouse to Young.While the woman's supposed charms did not brush off on me (this is the first I have ever seen of her), the same cannot be said of her co-stars, all of whom vie for her attentions at some point or another – or, for that matter, the likes of Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn who would make her their wife in real life (though both marriages ended in divorce)! Anyway, while the film definitely has a style and sophistication to it (not entirely typical of director Tuttle, whose forte would eventually be hard-boiled thrillers), the intermittent songs – another shameless borrowing from Lubitsch (not to mention Rene' Clair) – do come off as forced and a regrettable intrusion! The situations, while hardly inspired, are mostly engaging and the whole offers an entertaining ride despite finding all concerned not quite in their best form. Here, too, the use (or, should I say, misuse) of Italian comes into play – especially when Ruggles tries to leave Damita's room via a ladder on the point of being removed by a couple of local policemen and, consequently, falls into the canal below and is taken by the representatives of the law for a burglar, Grant, however, intercedes and, when he tells them Ruggles is actually the lady's lover, the two "guardie" burst into a litany of pardons (love, apparently, does conquer all) – which causes Ruggles to subsequently dub them "the 'Scusi' brothers"!

LILI DAMITA is supposed to be the star of THIS IS THE NIGHT, but the heavily accented French actress did not exactly bowl me over with her performance here. She's merely window dressing and pouts her way through a role with little substance.But the supporting cast is excellent. ROLAND YOUNG, although miscast as a leading man, gets into wacky situations along with CHARLIE RUGGLES and THELMA TODD in this light-hearted bedroom farce wherein LILI DAMITA is hired by Young to pose as his adoring wife.Blue tint is used for all of the night scenes in Venice and the photography is surprisingly crisp and clear for a film made in 1932. Some of the dialog is spoken in musical rhymes, surprising since most early sound films did not emphasize music at all, not even background music in many films of the early '30s.It's a refreshing, funny, amusing sort of light comedy that uses a lot of cinema techniques that put it ahead of the usual fare from this era. As for Miss Damita (who later married Errol Flynn), I found her less than impressive both as a comedienne and as a looker. THELMA TODD, on the other hand, gives a more expert demonstration of comic ability.CARY GRANT, in his film debut, at 27, is darkly handsome and shows assurance and a flair for acting that would serve him well through his long career.

I always wonder when I see the lists of "the hundred best films ever made" etc. You see, there is one thing that I have discovered over the years of delving around in old films, and it is this. It is not possible to compile lists of the best films ever made for the simple reason that some of the best films ever made are lying forgotten on shelves in film libraries, and, sadly, some are lost. There are so many great films that the public never get to see. The critics will have you believe that pictures like This is the Night is not particularly good, and is only of interest to fans of Cary Grant and Thelma Todd. People have forgotten all about it. The director, the star, the film is today forgotten.Then you play the film. The acting is utterly superb, the comic timing superb. The film is cleverly and adventurously put together by the film makers. All the players, Grant, Todd, Ruggles and Young are excellent.What is there to say about the lead, Damita? Well, with the coming of talking pictures, Damita with her French accent found it tough to get parts that would utilise her exceptional talents. Here is an exception. Not many people know that at Hollywood parties Damita was Chaplin's number one rival when it came to mime during party pieces. In one scene, we get a glimpse at the sort of thing that helped the Hollywood parties go with a swing. In dialogue Damita's comic timing is spot on, which just goes to show that you do not have to be mug ugly to be a comedienne. When she is on screen the laughter is the loudest. And sex appeal? She has been called "a French bombshell." If so, the French have to test her in the Pacific.It would be criminal to ruin it all by telling everybody what the plot is. All I will say is that if you are not smiling or laughing at this film from beginning to end, then there is something wrong with YOU.So next time you see a list of the 100 best films ever made, ignore it. My advice to you is to go out and find your own 100 best films. If you don't, you could miss gems like this, and the loser will be YOU.