THIS IS THE NIGHT On Blu-ray From Universal

 

The very lighthearted 1932 romantic comedy THIS IS THE NIGHT has been released on Blu-ray by Universal. (The film was made by Paramount, but Universal owns the rights to it.) Cary Grant made his feature film debut in this production. 

Grant and Thelma Todd are featured on the cover of the Blu-ray disc case, along with their names, but they are not the main stars of the film. The story concerns the amorous adventures of one Gerald Gray (Roland Young), a man of means living in Paris who is having an affair with the gorgeous (but married) Claire Mathewson (Thelma Todd). Claire orders two train tickets to Venice so she and Gerald can have a romantic getaway, but her husband Stephen (Cary Grant) finds out about the scheme. To avert suspicion, Gerald's best friend Bunny (Charles Ruggles) tells Stephen that Gerald is married--but Stephen decides to accompany his wife to Venice anyway. Bunny hires an out-of-work actress who calls herself Chou-Chou (Lili Damita) to pose as Gerald's "wife". Gerald isn't happy about this situation, especially when upon arriving at Venice, the personable Chou-Chou makes Claire jealous, while both Stephen and Bunny are attracted to Chou-Chou as well. Gerald himself starts to fall for Chou-Chou, while the young woman is tired of playing a wife instead of having a real relationship. 

THIS IS THE NIGHT has a very heavy Ernst Lubitsch influence, with all the romantic complications and misunderstandings, European locations, and wealthy main characters who are usually decked out in tuxedos and evening gowns. There's not a trace of the Depression in this movie. It has very little to do with real life, especially when one considers that the two main characters are a couple of anxious-looking, fussy, fidgety middle-aged men played by Roland Young and Charles Ruggles. 

One must remember that this was Cary Grant's movie debut, so he wasn't going to get the lead role, but I'm sure even audiences back in 1932 must have wondered why the two main women in the story were more interested in Roland Young than Grant. Cary acquits himself very well despite his inexperience, and already he's much more charismatic onscreen than Young and Ruggles are. 

As for Thelma Todd, once again she's the "other woman" who is a rival to the leading ladies' affections. Thelma does happen to be the main focus of the opening sequence, in which her dress is caught in a car door by Gerald's befuddled servant (Irving Bacon) and is ripped off. The result is a song called "Madame Has Lost Her Dress", which various Paris residents recite in glee as the camera shows one amused onlooker after another. There's a couple other sequences in the film where the music is synchronized to what is happening onscreen. It's a cute effect, and one that probably should have been used a bit more. 

Thelma gets her wardrobe torn off multiple times in the story after this (and this would happen to her throughout her too short movie career). Those with a 21st Century mindset might look upon this as an indignity, but this is a Pre-Code film, after all, and even Lili Damita at one point starts to disrobe when Gerald believes that she's not alluring enough to be his wife. (Damita is very cute here, but I must admit my preference leans toward Thelma by far). 

Needless to say, the nebbishy Gerald isn't the most perceptive guy in the world (one has to assume that he inherited all his money--there's no way a guy like him would have been able to earn it). The most frustrating aspect of watching THIS IS THE NIGHT from today's standpoint is that the most of the screen time is taken up by the very underwhelming Gerald and Bunny, while Thelma Todd and Cary Grant are pushed off to the side. One expects Cary to take off with both Thelma and Lili Damita and leave Young and Ruggles to themselves. (If this movie was made just a few years later, the casting would have been radically different.)

THIS IS THE NIGHT was directed by Frank Tuttle, who, of course, wasn't Lubitsch. The movie makes great use of the Paramount version of upper-class Europe, but from today's perspective it is Cary Grant and Thelma Todd that the viewer is interested in. 

The Blu-ray of THIS IS THE NIGHT looks fantastic, with very sharp picture quality. There are two options for viewing the film--one option is to watch the tinted version, which has a number of night scenes tinted a deep blue, a rather striking effect that gives the film an extra kick. The other option is a straight black & white version. 

There are no extras--if Kino had released this, they probably would have added an audio commentary by a classic film expert. Nevertheless, film geeks should be happy that Universal has released THIS IS THE NIGHT on Blu-ray, and that they made Cary Grant and Thelma Todd the prominent focus of the disc case, even though they're not the major stars of the film.