Jean Arthur plays a woman married to an insanely jealous rich man (Colin Clive). He is very controlling and dangerous--and, not surprisingly, she leaves him and obtains a divorce. But Clive is not about to let her go and has her stalked by private detectives and plots to get her back. During this time, Arthur meets a very suave man (Charles Boyer) and they fall almost instantly in love. But, Clive isn't about to let her remarry and he murders a man and makes it appear as if his ex-wife's new love is responsible! To keep Boyer from going to jail, she agrees to return to Clive--even though she's miserable and he is just plain nuts...and rather evil. Is there any hope for the lovers? Will the truth ever come out? Now all this sounds like a murder mystery, and this is PART of the film but mostly it's a very stylish romance. The romantic portions of the film are its best--and despite the odd casting of the two as lovers, it does work very well. What doesn't work quite as well is the ending--which is almost like a replication of the Titanic disaster. But, despite the shortcomings, the overall picture is quite charming and well worth your time. Boyer was great in films like this and "Love Affair" and it didn't hurt that Clive played a wonderful slime-ball and Leo Carillo provided some good support. Well worth seeing.
Review of History Is Made at Night
History Is Made at Night
(1937)
While I wasn't fond of the ending, it still is a dandy film.
31 December 2012