UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Drama >

Night and Day

Night and Day (1946)

July. 02,1946
|
6.1
| Drama Music Romance

Swellegant and elegant. Delux and delovely. Cole Porter was the most sophisticated name in 20th-century songwriting. And to play him on screen, Hollywood chose debonair icon Cary Grant. Grant stars for the first time in color in this fanciful biopic. Alexis Smith plays Linda, whose serendipitous meetings with Porter lead to a meeting at the alter. More than 20 of his songs grace this tail of triumph and tragedy, with Grant lending is amiable voice to "You're the Top", "Night and Day" and more. Monty Woolley, a Yale contemporary of Porter, portrays himself. And Jane Wyman, Mary Martin, Eve Arden and others provide vocals and verve. Lights down. Curtain up. Showtune standards embraced by generations are yours to enjoy in "Night and Day."

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

TinsHeadline
1946/07/02

Touches You

More
Matialth
1946/07/03

Good concept, poorly executed.

More
Curapedi
1946/07/04

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

More
Gary
1946/07/05

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

More
DKosty123
1946/07/06

It is hard to give Cary Grant any less than a 6 which he usually gets just for stepping on the lot. He does well here but since the story is so fictional it is hard to buy him in the title role. He does have a good director and solid supporting cast. Then there is the music of Cole Porter. Where Grant is miscast, the music saves the film from the whitewashed and spun dry story. Eve Arden looks young and very appealing in this movie, not the school ma-rm type of role that would dominate her later career. Even with Grant having to bring across a made up Porter with a script that with the production codes being very restricted, it almost comes off. Hey, these feel good musicals appealed very much to an audience that was relieved the war was over and getting ready to enjoy peace. There would be other attempts to create the mood here the next couple of years. Big Studio Hollywood was the all star stuff dreams are made of. This film is a perfect example.

More
museumofdave
1946/07/07

Hollywood in the so-called "Golden Age" of the 1930's and 40's was "The Land of Let's Pretend," and few films were expected to deal with hard truths, most especially musicals. Assuming that no one in 1946 expected to see a film revealing details of Cole Porter's private life, it's difficult to ascertain why Night and Day has had a bad rap for many years--it's dazzlingly colorful, loaded with dozens of Cole Porter songs, many, like Mary Martin's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," and Monty Wooley's "Miss Otis Regrets" near definitive, not too far removed from the Broadway versions.Cole Porter himself, on whose life this lavish Warners musical has been very loosely based, was said to be, at least publicly, delighted, as not only were his compositions heard in lavish orchestrations, but he was played by Cary Grant--and what could be better? Even the recent Porter biopic De-Lovely only skirts the truth of Porter's problem life, and awkwardly updates arrangements for today's young film-goer, but this pleasantly-paced version is fun and well-paced.Director Michael Curtiz (of Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy fame) knows exactly how to keep the energy in a biopic alive--compare this zippy musical with MGM's elephantine Till The Clouds Roll By, made the same year, which tediously attempts to make Jerome Kern's life of some interest: the lavish musical numbers are fine, but the life story grim, Robert Walker in a weak-tea performance, barely of interest as Kern. In this one, Grant (even when at 40 he's playing a college student) is charmingly cool and magnetic. Here's to The Dream Factory--and to all those memorable tunes!

More
Mary Ann
1946/07/08

Whether or not you get a kick from champagne, you'll definitely get a kick out of "Night and Day", the dazzling 1946 biopic of Cole Porter.Portraying Cole Porter is Cary Grant, who not only charms us with his acting, but also shows a fairly pleasant singing voice. Cast as his wife is Alexis Smith, who, though good, could have been better in her role. But the score is great (featuring hits like the title tune, "You're the Top", "Begin the Beguine", "I've Got You Under My Skin" and many more) and there's a slew of stars singing a song or two like Monty Wooley, Ginny Simms and Eve Arden.Thought not a very accurate account of Cole Porter's life, I think it is better the way it is : a glorious celebration of Mr Porter's great music. A thoroughly enjoyable musical film, great for the whole family.

More
richard-1787
1946/07/09

This is a very strange, very disappointing movie. No, not because it strays so far from the actual facts of Porter's biography; lots of biops, especially older ones, do that.This movie is strange because it featured so much talent with so little result.Michael Curtiz is one of my all-time favorite directors, having given us some of the greatest, most thoroughly engaging of all American movies: Casablanca, of course, but also Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Sea Hawk, and many more. They are movies of great passion without a dead minute.And yet, apart from some well-staged musical numbers, Night and Day is nothing BUT dead minutes. The episodic nature of the script doesn't help any; characters (especially women) appear and then vanish. But primarily, there is NO chemistry between Cary Grant/Cole Porter and any of the women in this movie.Was it because Grant and Curtiz knew that Porter was gay and were trying to suggest that despite the script? Somehow, I doubt it. Monty Woolly shows far more feeling for Porter - whom he knew in real life, of course - than Grant/Porter ever shows for any of the women in this picture. In the last shot, when Alexis Smith (Porter's wife) embraces Grant, his face still shows no real love, much less passion, for her. It is a very strange performance from a very great actor who was certainly quite capable of making sparks fly with women on the screen.In the end, I couldn't help but feel that the only convincing relationship in the movie was the one between Porter and Woolly, largely because of Woolly's acting, even though that is the part of Porter's biography that the movie was at least ostensibly trying to suppress.The rest of the movie is pretty flat as well. Cole had no real hardships on the road to success, other than his ill health, so there is not much to develop into drama. There are the clichéd "inspiration" scenes: Porter finds the lyrics to "Night and Day" one rainy night when a grandfather clock ticks and rain drops against a window outside, etc.If you like Porter's music, there are some well-staged numbers - though what should have been one of the best, Mary Martin's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," with which she had such a great success on Broadway, somehow comes off flat. Woolly is good doing "Miss Otis sends her regrets," though it could have been staged better.If you're looking to learn about Cole Porter, this is not for you.But if you're looking for an engaging even if fictional story with interesting characters and engaging interaction, this really isn't for you either.What a shame all that talent went for so little.

More