Alicia I love this movie so much

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

JohnHowardReid A brilliant 1932 Paramount offering is available from several public domain labels. My copy from Scooter rates at least 8/10. This is a movie for which there is no middle ground. I looked up the reviews. Half the reviewers thought This Is the Night the worst movie ever made. The other half held that it was the best movie of the year! Guess which half I agree with? I thought it one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen in my life. I was crying at the finish, it was so wonderful. This outstandingly attractive girl, played by the utterly entrancing and super-lovely Lily Damita, was being pursued all over Europe by an Olympic athlete played by Cary Grant. Most moviegoers consider Cary to be the handsomest and most desirable man in movies. Trailing along behind this romantic twosome was an old guy played by Charlie Ruggles, a comedian who is always cast as an ardent but perennially rejected old fool of a suitor. He's the comedy relief, you see. We always laugh at his earnest but tongue-tied efforts to impress the girl and his ridiculous bleatings about how much he loves her. Charlie has this part down pat. He plays it in dozens of films. He's been turned down, ridiculed and laughed at by many of the great sirens of the screen. Well, would you believe, at the end of this movie, the most beautiful Lily deals with stumbling, falling-off-ladders Ruggles in an entirely unique way? I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. I cried tears of joy. Who would ever think such a thing was possible? It seems the most beautiful girl is as intelligent as she is lovely. But there's no doubt about it, many movie fans are happier with the routine and conventional. They don't like being challenged by originality. And This Is the Night not only has an ingeniously constructed and highly original script to commend it, but marvelously adroit, sophisticated direction by Frank Tuttle (of all people!) who has evidently sought to out-Lubitsch Lubitsch - and has succeeded beyond all measure!

utgard14 Well this is a weird one. It's a Pre-Code sex comedy with very odd casting. Thelma Todd is cheating on her husband, Olympic javelin thrower Cary Grant. Wait until you see who she's cheating with -- Roland fricking Young! That's right, the mousy mumbly guy from Topper. On what planet, I ask you...on what planet!?! Anyway, to cover for their affair, Young hires Lili Damita to pose as his wife. Gradually he and Damita fall for each other.Notable for being the feature film debut of screen legend Cary Grant, who makes quite an impression in his first scene. Cary's great in his minor role. Young is fine but I never liked his character enough to get invested in the story. Same with Todd. Damita is sexy but I couldn't understand half of what she said with her thick French accent. Charlie Ruggles does his usual shtick. If you're familiar with him, you'll realize he's very much an acquired taste. He's tolerable here though. Frank Tuttle's direction is nice. I think the blue-tinted night scenes are a good touch. Love the opening few minutes. It's an amusing movie at first but grows less so as each minute passes. It helps that the mood stays light. Didn't find much of it believable and, like I said, I didn't like the main characters much. Swapping Young and Grant's roles might have improved the overall picture. Although then we'd have the absurd image of Young as an Olympic athlete. But that's no more ridiculous than him being able to take any woman from Cary Grant. It's not a bad film and there's certainly enough of interest to entertain most classic film fans. Definitely one Cary Grant fans will want to see at least once.

MartinHafer This is a Pre-Code sex comedy that is very good--but in hindsight, the casting was insane. If I explain the basic plot, you will understand. Beautiful Thelma Todd plays a bored wife who wants to have an affair. So, she picks out Roland Young--a very mousy man with absolutely nothing to offer her. And who is the husband of this lady? Yup, it's played by Cary Grant!! And, Grant plays an Olympic javelin thrower. Yet, oddly, she makes the moves on Young--who has the sex appeal of Edward Everett Horton! So, if you can ignore the dumb casting is the film worth seeing? Absolutely--it's a great farce with a really well-written plot. What happens is that Grant catches his wife with the other man. And, trying to help, Young's friend (Charlie Ruggles) tells Grant that Young is already very happily married--and makes up a story about a fictional wife. So, Grant asks Young to bring his wife with him on a trip--so they can all become good friends. So, Young scrambles to find a woman willing to pretend to be his wife and finds down in your luck Lili Damita (one of Errol Flynn's wives in real life). He thinks she's a prostitute, so he has no problem offering her money. But, she is a nice girl--and one that Young finds himself increasingly attracted to through the course of their trip to romantic Venice.The casting can be blamed on the producer. But even a dumb producer can be overcome by a witty script--and this one is witty and filled with excellent dialog. In addition, it's a chance to see Grant in his debut film. Now that I think about it, if Grant and Young had switched roles, this would have been an even better movie.

Michael_Elliott This Is the Night (1932) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Hilarious pre-code from Paramount has Roland Young playing Gerald Gray, a man dating a married woman (Thelma Todd). Things take a turn for the worse when the couple return to her home to find her husband (Cary Grant) there and in order to stay out of trouble the man's best friend (Charles Ruggles) tells the husband that the friend is actually married and the happy couple are on their way to Venice. The husband, not a bit fooled, decides to go along on the trip so the friend must find a fake wife (Lili Damita) to go along with the plan. This is a remake of a 1926 film and it's based on the play Naughty Cinderella. The naughty is certainly correct because this Paramount comedy has quite a few pre-code elements that would soon find themselves banned. Needless to say, having a film centered around a married woman dating other men was certainly a no no but it makes for one great laugh after another. After viewing the film I was really shocked to see that it wasn't more popular because the familiar cast is terrific and we get so many sexual jokes that it really stands out. The dialogue certainly implies many dirty jokes including one bit about "B.J." as well as our two lead actresses showing some skin. Of course we don't get any actual nudity but there's a very charming scene of Damita proving she can be naughty by taking her clothes off and coming off like a vixen. There's also a running joke with Todd constantly getting her clothes ripped off in a variety of ways. Both women have their legs constantly being shown as well as every other bit of skin they can get on camera. These elements certainly give the film a fresh touch and a pretty sexual one as well. Then we have the terrific performances that make the film memorable. Damita, who I had just seen in FRIENDS AND LOVERS, is must better here and in fact turns in a hilarious performance. I was really shocked to see how great she was here because her comic timing is right on the mark and she also plays the more dramatic, romantic moments just as well. Her coming timing really makes her character come to life and her previously mentioned seduction scene was priceless. Ruggles nearly steals the film as the silly assistant who gets this whole thing started. Todd delivers one of the best performances I've seen from her as her timing is great and just check out the wonderful scene where her married character gets jealous by her lover's fake wife. Young is also right on the mark and his chemistry with Damita is great. Then we have Cary Grant in his first role. I was surprised to see how natural he was but he plays the jerkish husband to perfection. I think the film starts to wear thin during the final act when every ones love starts to pour out but everything leading up to this is quite priceless. The performances, sexuality and laughs make this a must-see for fans of classic cinema.