Movie

Night and Day

Name: Night and Day
Genre: biography, Romance, show tunes, music, drama
Released: 1946-08-03
Duration: 130 min
Cast: Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley, Jane Wyman, Ginny Simms

Biography film with a runtime of 130 minutes, released in 1946. Presented in English.

At a Glance

Release DateAugust 3, 1946

TypeMovie

LanguageEnglish

Genrebiography, Romance, show tunes, music

Synopsis

Faced with the challenge of writing a screenplay based on the life of fabulously wealthy, fabulously successful composer Cole Porter, one Hollywood wag came up with a potential story angle: "How does the S.O.B. make his second million dollars?" By the time the Porter biopic Night and Day was released, the three-person scriptwriting team still hadn't come up with a compelling storyline, though the film had the decided advantages of star Cary Grant and all that great Porter music. Roughly covering the years 1912 to 1946, the story begins during Porter's undergraduate days at Yale University, where he participated in amateur theatricals under the tutelage of waspish professor Monty Woolley (who plays himself). Though Porter's inherited wealth could have kept him out of WWI, he insists upon signing up as an ambulance driver. While serving in France, he meets nurse Linda Lee (Alexis Smith), who will later become his wife. Focusing his attentions on Broadway and the London stage in the postwar years, Porter pens an unbroken string of hit songs, including "Just One of Those Things," "You're the Top," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Begin the Beguine," and the title number. The composition of this last-named song is one of the film's giddy highlights, as Porter, inspired by the "drip drip drip" of an outsized rainstorm, runs to the piano and cries "I think I've got it!" The film's dramatic conflict arises when Porter is crippled for life in a polo accident. Refusing to have his legs amputated, he makes an inspiring comeback, even prompting a WWI amputee to remark upon his courage! Corny and unreliable as biography, Night and Day is redeemed by the guest appearances of musical luminaries Mary Martin (doing a spirited if disappointingly demure version of her striptease number "My Heart Belongs to Daddy") and Ginny Simms, the latter cast as an ersatz Ethel Merman named Carole Hill. Jane Wyman, seen as Porter's pre-nuptial sweetheart Gracie Harris, also gets to sing and dance, and quite well indeed. Beset with production problems, not least of which was the ongoing animosity between star Grant and director Michael Curtiz, Night and Day managed to finish filming on schedule, and proved to be an audience favorite -- except for those "in the know" Broadwayites who were bemused over the fact that Cole Porter's well-known homosexuality was necessarily weaned from the screenplay.

Where to Watch

Start with the quickest viewing option we have for this title.

Check Amazon Prime Video

Availability can vary by country and over time.

Cast

Director

Michael Curtiz

Producer

Arthur Schwartz

Night and Day

At a Glance

Synopsis

Where to Watch

Cast

Director

Producer

Topics

More Like This

Ammonite

Mr. Jones

The Racer

An Irish Story: This is My Home

LATEST ARTICLES

Hello world!

Hello world!