History Is Made At Night (1937)
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89% of users liked it
(44 ratings)
History is Made at Night has been described as a romantic tragedy, which it indeed is, up to a point. The film begins deceptively in screwball-comedy fashion with socialite Jean Arthur and handsome head waiter Charles Boyer "meeting cute." But there's nothing cute about Arthur's… More History is Made at Night has been described as a romantic tragedy, which it indeed is, up to a point. The film begins deceptively in screwball-comedy fashion with socialite Jean Arthur and handsome head waiter Charles Boyer "meeting cute." But there's nothing cute about Arthur's estranged husband, shipbuilder Colin Clive. Insanely jealous, Clive arranges for the ship on which his wife and her lover are travelling to hit an iceberg--then, aghast at what he has done, Clive commits suicide. As the ship lists dangerously close to sinking beneath the waves, the terrified passengers--Boyer and Arthur included--huddle on the deck. The fog-enshrouded scene in which Charles and Jean affirm their love in the face of death is among the most heartrending sequences ever filmed (the director was Frank Borzage, a past master at transforming potential maudlin material into high-gloss art). Even the happy ending of History is Made at Night does not diminish the power and poignancy of that shipboard scene. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Frank Borzage
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 5, 1937 Wide
- Studio
- Criterion Collection
Critic Reviews
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
One of the silliest and therefore most magnetic of all '30s romantic melodramas.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A type of unbelievable melodrama that went out of fashion ages ago.
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Dan Callahan, Slant Magazine
History Is Made at Night is a patchwork quilt genre bender that stands as one of Frank Borzage's supreme achievements.
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Cast
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Charles Boyer
as Paul Dumond
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Jean Arthur
as Irene Vail
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Leo Carrillo
as Cesare
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Colin Clive
as Bruce Vail
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Ivan Lebedeff
as Michael
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George Meeker
as Norton
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Lucien Prival
as Private detective
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Georges Renavent
as Inspector Millard
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George Davis
as Maestro
- Harvey Clark
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Adele St. Maur
as Hotel Maid
- Oscar Apfel
