Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

jacobs-greenwood Michael Curtiz directed this below average fictionalized musical biography of Cole Porter which earned an Academy Award nomination for its Ray Heindorf-Max Steiner musical Score. Written by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend, and William Bowers with an adaptation by Jack Moffitt, it features several uninspired renditions of Porter's music and stage productions including the Yale fight song ("Bulldog"), "What is this Thing called Love?", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Anything Goes", "You're the Top", "Don't Fence Me In", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", and the title song (among several others).The film's unusual casting includes Cary Grant as Porter, Jane Wyman as singer Gracie Harris, and Eve Arden as a French cabaret singer Gabrielle; also, there's Alexis Smith as Porter's wife Linda Lee, Monty Woolley as himself and a former Harvard law professor, and Ginny Simms as Carole Hill, who sings many of the songs. Also in the cast are: Victor Francen as Anatole Giron, who gives Porter an opportunity after he'd been injured during World War I, Alan Hale as a producer who passes on Porter's music, Dorothy Malone as a singer, Selena Royle as Porter's mother, Henry Stephenson as the composer's Grandfather, Sig Ruman as the owner of a place rented by Woolley- Porter for rehearsals, and singer Mary Martin as herself. Herman Bing appears uncredited as one of Gracie's wealthy boyfriends.There's a point in the story when Hale's character says (in effect) "I hear it but, although it sounds good enough, I don't feel anything in my heart (or gut)" to indicate there's something wrong with Porter's music (sung by Woolley!); I think that sums up this film pretty well.

weezeralfalfa Despite her dancing and singing talent, poor Alexis Smith was stuck with the thankless role of a long suffering, non-singing or dancing version, of Porter's wife, Linda. The real Linda was considerably older than Porter, not 17 years younger, as in the Grant-Alexis pairing. In this film, we get the impression that, despite their lingering attraction, Linda felt insufficiently valued by Porter, resulting in long separations, possibly suggesting Porter's gay orientation. The real Linda seemed generally comfortable with their non-sexual companion relationship, and often was involved in inspiring his song writing. For a small sampling of Alexis's singing and dancing talents, check out the Errol Flynn western "San Antonio" and the WWII musical revue "Thank Your Lucky Stars". She became Olivia de Havilland's successor as Flynn's most frequent romantic interest in his '40s films, ending as a cattle queen in the '50 "Montana".A comedic scene has Porter meeting Linda by chance after many years separated, and he gets the impression she is married, and has born many children, whereas she is working at an orphanage.We have a number of men and women featured singers and dancers, Thus, this musical takes on the character of a revue. Dorothy Malone, Eve Arden and Mary Martin each are featured for one song, Mary reprising her Broadway role in singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". Impossibly cute Jane Wyman is the featured breezy singer for 3 songs from the '20s, whereas the elegantly gorgeous Ginny Simms sings nearly all the songs from the '30s, essentially taking the place of Ethel Merman, who was Porter's favorite singer during this period. Of course, her voice and personality were not remotely like those of Ethel, being much more ethereal. Nonetheless, she was perfect for the role, I much enjoyed her renditions. Ginny was vastly underutilized by Hollywood, both as a singer and actress. For another role in which she sang a few songs, as well as being a major character in the story, see the revue musical "Broadway Rhythm"...You may have been surprised by the choice of Jane Wyman as a singer/dancer. Although she began her public entertainment career as a singer, her singing/dancing talent was very seldom used by Hollywood....Grant sings several songs, most of them among the forgotten ones. Porter reportedly was quite satisfied with the choice of Grant to impersonate him. Cary well fulfills his promise as a suave, low-key version of Porter, without his hedonistic excesses...Bill Days does a fine job singing an abbreviated "Night and Day" on stage....Carlos Ramirez, who was quite a famous singer in his native Columbia, is the featured singer in the elaborate production around "Begin the Beguine". This is, no doubt, the high point of his very limited utilization by Hollywood. In the previous "Two Girls and a Sailor", he did a great rendition of the classic "Granada".The choreography in the 3 main numbers is top rate and the highlight of the film. Each of the 3 main dance performances employed a different dancer or dancing couple, and the dancing styles were quite different. For most of the dancers, this was essentially their only inclusion in a Hollywood film, at least as a dancer. Estelle Sloan was the solo act while Ginny sang "Just One of Those Things", She came across as a mix of MGM's Anne Miller and Eleanor Powell, with her tap dancing, followed by a series a very fast spins: pretty impressive. While Ginny sang "I've Got You under My Skin", Adam and Jane di Gatano were the dance team. They included many lifts of Jane, including a Busby Berkeley-like overhead view of Adam spinning while holding Jane over his head. Lastly, as part of the elaborate production surrounding "Begin the Beguine", George Zorith and Milada Mladova provide a very sensuous dancing couple, with much time devoted to coordinated individual elegant movements. Very impressive! This performance invites comparison with the elaborate performance to the same song, featuring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell as a pair, in "Broadway Melody of 1940". Yes, quite different! Astaire and Eleanor emphasized very rapid tandem dance steps, which was their forte, as opposed to the airy often individual romantic expressions in the present film.Wooly Monty Woolley takes on the role of Porter's equally charismatic alter ego, beginning the film as Porter's law instructor at Yale, then popping up periodically throughout the film, as theater director and Porter's confidant. They made a great contrasting pair: physically and personality-wise. Woolley was, in fact, a gay friend of the real Porter. He serves as master of ceremonies in the strange, rather grim, finale Yale tribute to Porter, in which Porter enters the hall with the aid of two canes to support his much operated-on legs, "Night and Day" is once again played(as the theme song for the Porter/Linda relationship) and Porter is once again reunited with Linda, bearing an ominous expression over her shoulder as they embrace. Clearly, he is apprehensive about her reentry into his life. Because of his painful legs problem? Grant's rather cool reception of clear romantic overtures by Jane's and Ginny's characters, ambivalent attitude toward Linda, along with Monty's dominating presence in his life, could well hint at Porter's gay orientation.Henry Stephenson plays Porter's wealthy grandfather, who largely controls his purse strings in his early adult life, and insists on Porter taking a law curriculum at Yale. Stephenson had many such roles in '40s Hollywood films.Despite some much overemphasized minuses by many reviewers, I still rate this as a very enjoyable experience, if much fictionalized history.

slymusic "Night and Day" is part of "Cary Grant: The Signature Collection," a five-DVD boxed set, the other four films being "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948), "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" (1947), "My Favorite Wife" (1940), and "Destination Tokyo" (1943). Given my musical background, I figured that "Night and Day" (a biographical film of one of the world's favorite composers/songwriters: Cole Porter) would be my personal favorite of the five; instead, it turned out to be the film I liked the least. True, it has the look of a multi-million-dollar Technicolor production, featuring many favorite Cole Porter standards such as "I Get a Kick Out of You," "What Is This Thing Called Love?", "Just One of Those Things," "I've Got You Under My Skin," and, of course, "Night and Day." But there are a few major flaws with this movie. Most notably, the various prolonged lavish production numbers cause this two-hour picture to drag considerably. Plus, it is my understanding that the events in this pictorial biography of Cole Porter could hardly be deemed accurate. To top it off, Cary Grant (one of my favorite actors) was a curious choice to play the role of the great composer. Question is, does he indeed FIT that role? Hard for me to tell, but he at least plays the part with his usual charm and suavity. The story of Cole Porter, as depicted in this movie, traces through his final year at Yale as he neglects his law studies, to the consternation of his grandfather; his early struggles as a composer, including a show that closed after one performance because of the sinking of the Lusitania; his getting wounded in action during the First World War while writing his popular "Begin the Beguine"; his writing of "Night and Day" in seclusion (influenced by rain and a grandfather clock) while being nursed by the woman who would eventually become his wife, Linda Lee (Alexis Smith); his eventual successes with show after show after show, to the detriment of his marriage; his losing the use of both legs from a fall off a horse; and his valedictory performance back at Yale.Despite the film's weaknesses, "Night and Day" contains quite a few memorable scenes, all of them musical. Cole's close friend, Yale law professor Monty Woolley (playing himself), summons Cole from playing piano in a theatrical show to rush back to the Yale campus and lead the singing of his "Bulldog Song" at a football rally. At a rehearsal hall owned by the pompous Wilowski (Sig Ruman), Cole and his friend Gracie (Jane Wyman) perform a swinging arrangement of Cole's "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)". The French star Gabrielle (a flashy role for Eve Arden) sings Cole's "I'm Unlucky at Gambling"; not much of a hit, but *I* think it's a catchy tune. One of the more humorous scenes in the picture involves Monty singing/reciting Cole's "Miss Otis Regrets" for a couple of theatrical producers (one of them played by Alan Hale). At a sheet music store, Cole and his friend Carole (Ginny Simms) perform "What Is This Thing Called Love?", which generates quite an auspicious response from the customers. Cary Grant actually lends his own voice to Cole's singing/playing of his "You're the Top" with Carole. And finally, when Cole returns to Yale to perform a most beautiful rendition of "Night and Day" with an orchestra and a male choir, he is quite surprised to see Linda in the audience after a lengthy separation; Cary Grant again lends his own voice to the very soft "You, you, you" lyric during the introductory verse, and before the piece ends, Cole and Linda step outside and, without a word spoken, embrace.

irajoelirajoel I remember seeing this silly bio. of the great Cole Porter on our small black and white TV when I was a kid and not liking it much. Now years later a pristine DVD of the film is now available and I still do not like it. Actually I hated it. Of course the no.1 reason for my disliking it is the total fantasy that Warner Bros. came up with as "the life of Cole Porter." The cast tries hard but everything is so wrong about this film that I sat there shaking my head. Maybe in 1946 movie audiences were more accepting of this kind of crap, but come on Cary Grant as Cole Porter?? Of course all the gay stuff hangs over this movie big time. Porter was gay, Grant was gay Monty Wooley was gay, and from what I've heard Alexis Smith was a closet Lesbian. They must have had a hoot making this one. Needless to say the period costumes, decor etc are all wrong and Porter's great music deserved better singers than Ginny Simms or Jane Wyman. The only nice moment for me was Mary Martin (another closet Lesbian) doing My Heart Belongs To Daddy. This movie really needed Ethel Merman (another bi lady) to give this 500pd Easter Egg some life. Unfortunately the more recent movie bio De-Lovely or De Lousy isn't much better. A shame because Porter was one of the great composers of the Broadway Stage.