Year of Release: 1946Country of Origin: USA
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley, Ginny Simms, Jane Wyman, Eve Arden
Plot outline: The fictionalized biography of composer Cole Porter from his days at Yale in the 1910s through the height of his success to the 1940s (IMDb).
With Cary Grant giving a casual and thoroughly ingratiating performance, and with Monty Woolley on hand to let some delightfully acid comments drop where they may, Night and Day moves with slick cinematic and rhythmical ease from one hit tuneshow to another. While the movie begs quick dismissal as an idealistic smattering of biography about a living personality, there is no denying that it is stuffed with the gaudy things that make for a visually handsome entertainment. Brief and not precisely accurate glimpses of the tunesmith's early life in Indiana, his days at Yale, when he dashed off the football hymn "Bulldog", and his experiences with the French Army in World War I are followed by a lively series of excerpts from a half dozen or so of his popular Broadway shows. Ginny Simms sings most of the songs, putting them over nicely in her own pleasant and sort of blue-velvet-tone voice without making any attempt to imitate the style of an Irene Bordoni or an Ethel Merman. Just as well, too. The incomparable Mary Martin is in the picture for one delectable sequence, doing the popular "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" as only she knows how to put that suggestive ballad over. "Begin the Beguine," certainly one of Porter's best and most frequently played tunes, is richly sung by Carlos Ramirez in a setting of lush tropical splendor, and there is a sizzling specialty tap dance by Estelle Sloan. Night and Day is a fulsome entertainment, well larded with the flavor of the Broadway show world and touches of sentiment, romantic and otherwise, which smack more of Hollywood than Porter. Alexis Smith's role as Mrs. Porter is largely fictional, but the actress performs the part with a great deal of charm. Jane Wyman, as a show girl, and Eve Arden, who plays a French songstress in broad burlesque, are both very amusing. Director Michael Curtiz never permits the movie to drag. His is more of an achievement than might be readily apparent, considering the sprawling character of the production and the rather thin and conventional scenario the scenarists concocted about the fabulous Cole Porter. (NYT)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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