Tonight or Never (1931)

Best movie of this year hands down!

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Tonight or Never (Mervyn LeRoy, 1931) was the early talkie that brought stage and screen legend Melvyn Douglas from Broadway to Hollywood. Viewed through the prism of history, it's also a chance to see Sunset Blvd. titan Gloria Swanson as a conventional leading lady, blessed with talent, charm and an impressive modernity. Though her character in the Wilder classic is a silent star who was thrown on the scrapheap when the movies learned to talk, the real-life Swanson actually made the transition more easily than most, winning the Best Actress Oscar for The Trespasser in 1929. It was age, rather than sound, that ultimately derailed her career. Here Swanson plays an opera singer whose performances are technically proficient but ultimately cold, leaving her way short of international success. The problem, her coach tells her, is that she's never been in love. So she concocts an affair with admirer and possible gigolo Douglas, hoping it will spark her into life. The film is less escapist and more challenging than later variations on the subject, with a script that's sometimes witty and sporadically insightful, though it does betray its stage origins in the simplistic structure and largely internal settings.The main draw here, along with the pre-Code shenanigans, is the acting. Swanson is invigoratingly natural as she shrugs, winces and flirts her way through the movie, matched by Douglas, whose familiar man-about-town persona is undercut by a danger and brusqueness that's completely new. Support is provided by Alison Skipworth (who played the Sidney Greenstreet role in the screwball version of The Maltese Falcon, Satan Met a Lady), along with Broadway cast members Ferdinand Gottschalk, eternal butler Robert Greig, Greta Meyer and Warburton Gamble. Boris Karloff appears as a hotel employee who slyly warns Douglas of Swanson's imminent arrival in his room, while the radio announcer is an uncredited J. Carroll Naish! A further boon for classic film buffs is the photography from Citizen Kane cinematographer and Samuel Goldwyn alumnus Gregg Toland. Though he's not working at full pelt here, his silver-tinged, superbly-contrasted images give a little taster of just what Toland was capable of. And just to show that there's something for everyone here (except perhaps football supporters and Ted Danson afficionados), fans of vintage fashion should get a kick out of the striking costumes, designed by Coco Chanel.Tonight or Never was passed with cuts before the Hays Code clampdown of 1934, then subsequently refused for re-release in 1935 and 1937. Lamar Trotti, later a Fox executive and a superb screenwriter on films including John Ford's Judge Priest and Young Mr Lincoln, was at that time working for the Hays Office and said censors had found the key seduction sequence particularly offensive. And you can see why. It wasn't until the gradual lifting of restrictions in the early '50s that a woman could waltz into a man's flat, accuse him of being a gigolo and then insist he have sex with her - albeit in elliptical terms. And even if the symbolism and language appear very dated today, the subject matter is the sort that would be off-limit for most of the next 20 years, so it's fascinating to see it peddled by a leading man so associated with simple, romantic Golden Era fare as Douglas. An earlier scene, sadly truncated by the censors, depicts Swanson lying on her bed, listening crossly to the honeymooners next door. Apparently the original cut had her writhing around excitedly as they set about consummating their marriage. There's a scene as bold as that in the Hungarian film Extase, featuring a young, decidedly naked Hedi Lamarr, but I can't think of one in contemporary American film.Tonight or Never isn't a Pre-Code classic to rank with say, Little Caesar or Counsellor-at-Law, but it's a very watchable film and intriguing for both its sensuality - check out the leads' first kiss or Swanson's nightwear - and the meeting of two great stars heading in opposite directions.

Nella Vago (Gloria Swanson), a young singer makes her operatic debut in Venice but discovers her reception disappointing. She learns from her teacher (Ferdinand Gottschalk) that her voice lacks warmth and feeling. While appearing there, a mysterious young man (Melvyn Douglas) follows her everywhere. Returning to her native Budapest, she learns a scout from the Metropolitan Opera refused to sign her until she truly feels her songs. Depressed she goes to the young gigolo's apartment where they make love. The following night, Nella surprises everyone by her marvellous performance of "Tosca". After the Met offers her a contract, she visits the gigolo's apartment again and declares her love. Moved, he asks her to give up her profession and she tears up her contract. To her surprise, she discovers he is in reality a scout for the Met. The misunderstanding is over. Additional notes : The cast - with the exception of Alison Skipworth, Gloria Swanson and Boris Karloff (who plays a waiter) is the one which made the play a success in Manhattan where it was produced by David Belasco.

Gloria Swanson was a great star and her talkie films of the early 1930s were vastly underrated. Tonight or Never is a nice comedy that pits opera star Swanson against maybe gigolo Melvyn Douglas. She's a great singer but she lacks passion because she has never been in love. Douglas is the protégé of a countess (Alison Skipworth), but is secretly in love with Swanson. Swanson is wonderful, even though she does not sing--a major fault of the film--as the naive opera star. Douglas is suave; Skipworth is (as always) hilarious. And Ferdinand Gottschalk is wonderful as Swanson's teacher. Swanson should have had a major talkie career. She made the transition in the smash hit The Trespasser and made a series of delightful talkies before she hung it up in 1934. Her voice is so wonderful. It's ironic that a silent star would have such a terrific voice. As in Indiscreet, Swanson proves to be a star actress----one of the greats.Robert Greig, Greta Meyer and J. Carroll Naish co-star. And remember the motto: our spaghetti is longer than our name!

Gloria Swanson proves easily here what a good talkie actress she could have been. She is funny and charming, and dressed superbly by Coco Chanel. Melvyn Douglas works well with her, but there is way too much chatter in this adaptation from a hit stage play. The screen-writers didn't seem to realise the kind of expansion they needed to give the piece to make it cinema rather than a filmed stage play. Still, in the lovingly restored print from UCLA that is on the DVD, the film looks great - as does glorious Gloria!