Drama?
Comedy?
Romance?
Suspense?
Adventure?
Melodrama?
This movie really has it all... it starts out as a fun, romantic comedy with a little suspense thrown in. Very light and frothy.
Then it gets serious. It turns into a romance-meets-tragedy-melodrama with just a hint of comedy.
THEN it gets even MORE serious. It turns into a heavy melodrama, with a little adventure and a lot of romance.
Take my word for it-- this movie will leave you in a state of emotional shock! You will cry, laugh, sit on the edge of your seat, giggle and weep! It's one of the most action packed, fast paced, I-bet-you'll-never-guess-what's-going-to-happen-next movies I've ever seen!
Now what could make a movie that feels like 10 great movies packed into one, even better?! It stars Jean Arthur and Charles Boyer! (And with an outstanding supporting performance by the always wonderful Leo Carillo) It is, as far as I know, not available on DVD and never shown on TCM. I lucked out and found it on Amazon on VHS a little while ago. It was in pristine condition, so I transferred it to DVD right away, ensuring I'll always have a good copy of it if my VHS ever fails!
If you ever get a chance to see the film (the VHS tape says "Warner Home Video" so hopefully it will be one of the lucky movies to be released on DVD by Warner soon!) you absolutely HAVE to! It's definitely in my top ten films now.
I don't usually do reviews of films, but after watching this one I just had to come write about it here! It was so spectacular-- one of those films where you don't "watch it" you "experience it"... I really hope everybody gets the chance to see this soon (or has seen it and can gush in the comments!) because it really is just fantastic.
ps. If you've seen the film, or if you're the type that doesn't mind spoilers- I highly recommend looking at the movie reviews of this film on imdb.com. A lot of people have brought up exceptional points about the film that I missed -- I was too enamored with the surface of the film to see beyond its lovely romanticism... here's the link (but watch out! a lot of these reviews DO contain spoilers!)
6 comments:
When I first got into classic movies, this was one of the first I saw --- only I didn't see the whole thing! It was until 15 years later I found a used VHS of the movie and watched it. And absolutely loved it. I'm a big Frank Borzage fan - Street Angel, Seventh Heaven, The Gun Woman -- all great stuff.
I have to admit this is one of the few older movies I've never seen. Being a fan of both Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur, I have always wanted to. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be shown very often!
Sounds like a fascinating movie! I'll have to go take a look!
One of my favorite films of all time. Excellent post!
I adore this movie. I sought it out because I'm a huge fan of both leads, but was bowled over by it entirely. The perfect blend of multiple genres with the best ending a movie could ever have.
I just wanted to thank you for posting history is made at night. i have been looking for that movie for a VERY long time, and i finally watched it on your youtube account just tonight. i have not seen it for about twenty years, believe it or not, and enjoyed it just as much as ever. i also saw some other rare films on your account that i cannot recall seeing that i shall check out. might i also suggest james mason's "the seventh veil" with anne todd?
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