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.

TheLittleSongbird Cary Grant and that it contains songs by Cole Porter and a film about him are reasons enough to see Night and Day. For anybody wanting something completely accurate they're better off reading a Cole Porter biography, for Night and Day does gloss over his homosexuality(considering the time it was made though this was completely understandable) and reduces the tragic riding accident that Porter never recovered from.If you however take the film for what it is, which is always a fairer way to judge, you should find some enjoyment out of it. From where I'm standing, Night and Day, despite being formulaic with some at times corny scripting and a few parts that drag a little, is a very nice film. It is beautifully made with ravishing Technicolor, sumptuous costumes and equally gorgeous photography, and Michael Curtiz shows that he was more than up to the job, directing with his usual sophistication and class. Night and Day also features a wonderfully sweeping score that deservedly received an Oscar nomination and Cole Porter fans will be in heaven with the songs, most of them being among his best featured here. Porter's music is some of the best ever written, in musicals and in any kind of music, and Night and Day do them justice, being entertainingly staged(even the slightly bizarrely set My Heart Belongs to Daddy) and well performed by the likes of Mary Martin and Ginny Simms, even Grant doesn't do too bad a job.Night and Day contains parts that are very funny, thank goodness that they didn't gloss over Porter's wit(though they could have had even more of it), and others that are quite touching, like the composition of Night and Day in a French hospital. The story like the script is not perfect, but it's neatly told, entertains and has heart, it also doesn't make the mistake of being dull. The film may be fictionalised, but you're engrossed in the story regardless. The casting's unusual but in terms of performances the cast do a marvellous job. Cary Grant is very charming and enigmatic in the title role, playing the role with sympathy and wit(an important trademark of Porter's and a large part of Grant's overall charm). Alexis Smith is beautiful and elegant and is as sympathetic as Grant and Jane Wyman allures too. Monty Woolley, Mary Martin and Ginny Simms acquit themselves brilliantly too. Overall, a very nice film when taken for what it is. 8/10 Bethany Cox

mark.waltz Like Lorenz Hart, the lyric writer for Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter was one of the wittiest men in the music industry. Just think...."Just One of those Things", "Anything Goes", "Brush Up Your Shakespeare", "Stereophonic Sound". Four decades of Broadway musicals, writing for the likes of Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Sophie Tucker, Alfred Drake, Bert Lahr and Don Ameche. Quite a sophisticate, taking over Paris society and hanging out with the likes of Monty Woolley and the authors of "Life With Father". He was even married to a beautiful woman who loved him. But like Lorenz Hart, he had a secret private life that could not be talked about in the movies of the 1940's."Night and Day" gives the basic background of Cole's life and goes into some detail about the accident which caused his paralysis and caused him a great deal of pain. Unlike Lorenz Hart, he was a seemingly happy man inside, but like Hart, being gay in Hollywood and on Broadway during its golden age was pretty much the kiss of death if you were open about it. So when Hollywood casting directors must choose who to play you, they go in total opposite directions and choose obviously mis-cast stars who 60+ years after these movies are questioned in memoriam as to why they were even considered. Cole Porter himself laughed at the idea of Cary Grant playing him. Lorenz Hart was deceased for five years when Mickey Rooney was chosen to play him.When you look at the musical numbers of these films and take out the falseness of the casting and story, you can find a lot of enjoyable elements in them. Monty Woolley gets to play himself, or at least the Hollywood version of himself which was about as gay as you could be in the movies, which was barely even noticeable to those outside the know. He basically plays himself as if his real life personality was Sheridan Whiteside, the sardonic columnist from "The Man Who Came to Dinner". Cary Grant plays, well, Cary Grant. The tall, glamorous Alexis Smith does what she can with the character of Cole's wife Linda, but the scandalous elements of their marriage are pretty much eliminated.The highlight of the film is Mary Martin repeating her hit song of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" which looks exactly like it does in stills of the original version in "Leave It To Me". Ginny Simms plays an apparent amalgamation of various Broadway female stars and at one point, it is almost assumed she is supposed to be Ethel Merman because of the brassy way she attempts to perform without success. Eve Arden, with a French accent, sings a sanitized version of the Cole Porter song "I'm Unlucky at Gambling" which because of production code rules couldn't reveal the lyric of a male hotel worker being attracted to silent film actor John Gilbert. A production number of "Begin the Beguine" is elaborately staged and sung exotically, while Jane Wyman's version of "You Do Something to Me" proves her talent as a musical star and is very well performed. Since most of Cole's songs had slightly dirty innuendo, they are only heard as instrumentals, another factor in making this less than memorable. If you can't do Cole Porter as Cole Porter was written, what's the point?

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.