Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

MARIO GAUCI 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"!

csteidler Lili Damita sleeps, stretched across a luxurious bed…until a man wakes her up and tells her to move and we discover that she's a struggling actress sneaking some sleep on a quiet movie set. –Appearances are frequently misleading in this witty and ultimately charming comedy of manners, deceit and romance.A great cast of more or less sympathetic characters surrounds the lovely Damita: Roland Young and Charlie Ruggles are fine as a pair of wealthy gentlemen of Paris. Young is about to embark on a clandestine Venetian trip with girlfriend Thelma Todd—when her husband, Olympic javelin-thrower Cary Grant, unexpectedly returns home. One lie leads to another, and soon Young has hired an actress—Damita, eager to accept any job—to pose as his wife, and the whole gang boards a train for Venice.Thelma Todd is excellent as the deceiving wife jealous of her lover's new partner; we don't get to see Todd angry in many of her movies, but smoke positively comes out of her ears here. Cary Grant—very youthful and athletic, bag of javelins slung over his shoulder—has a minor role but is awfully fun to watch (in his first picture).Roland Young is outstanding as the would-be cosmopolitan lover who can't quite control either Damita or Todd; his face and mannerisms express varying degrees of discomfort, frustration and worry as he struggles to keep multiple relationships from caving in on him.A hilarious running gag involves chauffeur Irving Bacon repeatedly catching Thelma's dress—in a car door, for example—and accidentally pulling it off. Overall, it's very funny, with a plot that is tough to predict…and somewhat surprisingly, it gradually turns into a very sweet picture, at that. Very enjoyable, especially for fans of these great character actors—and well worth watching just to see Roland Young and the great Thelma Todd together.

robb_772 A slight-but-enjoyable romantic farce, THIS IS THE NIGHT is an entertaining little film that should earn a place in cinematic history simply because it contains the feature film debut of Cary Grant, who soon become arguably the most famous movie star of all time. Although he is regulated to playing a largely secondary character, Grant's incomparable screen presence makes him a standout from the very start. Playing an Olympic athlete, Grant makes his entrance into the world of cinema with a light step and a sharp wit - singing about apartment keys, no less! It's a memorable debut, and there are numerous other moments throughout the picture in which Grant demonstrates much of the early promise that would soon flower into full-throttle, megawatt star power in just a few short years.As for the rest of the film, it is a reasonably solid comedy of adulterous affairs, with some surprisingly risqué elements that were permitted in the days before the Production Code was heavily enforced due to pressure from the National Legion of Decency in l933. The film begins delightfully as a light comedic ballet, with director Frank Turtle providing some truly madcap slapstick and even recitative singing that sets the viewer up for a knockabout farce. Unfortunately, this progressively free-wheeling atmosphere is largely abandoned in the film's last half, which plays out in a more or less predictable manner. The film still holds up perfectly well, however, until the too-conservative ending, which is a big disappointment after over 70 minutes of uninhibited fun.On the plus side, the film is very well cast, and the actors manage to keep the picture engaging even after the initial momentum of the exhilarating first-half is long gone. Although she makes somewhat of an delayed entrance, Lili Damita brings both pluck and intelligence to the female lead, Roland Young makes the transformation of his somewhat unsympathetic character highly believable, and both Grant and Charles Ruggles offer top-notch support. The lovely Thelma Todd also makes the most of a rather bland role, and her talent for making a relatively thankless character seem genuinely inspired serves as a bittersweet reminder of yet another comedic great that was taken from us way too soon. In the end, THIS IS THE NIGHT is far too inconsistent to ever be considered a great movie, but it sure is a lot of fun!

loza-1 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.