csteidler Lili Damita sleeps, stretched across a luxurious bed…until a man wakes her up and tells her to move and we discover that she's a struggling actress sneaking some sleep on a quiet movie set. –Appearances are frequently misleading in this witty and ultimately charming comedy of manners, deceit and romance.A great cast of more or less sympathetic characters surrounds the lovely Damita: Roland Young and Charlie Ruggles are fine as a pair of wealthy gentlemen of Paris. Young is about to embark on a clandestine Venetian trip with girlfriend Thelma Todd—when her husband, Olympic javelin-thrower Cary Grant, unexpectedly returns home. One lie leads to another, and soon Young has hired an actress—Damita, eager to accept any job—to pose as his wife, and the whole gang boards a train for Venice.Thelma Todd is excellent as the deceiving wife jealous of her lover's new partner; we don't get to see Todd angry in many of her movies, but smoke positively comes out of her ears here. Cary Grant—very youthful and athletic, bag of javelins slung over his shoulder—has a minor role but is awfully fun to watch (in his first picture).Roland Young is outstanding as the would-be cosmopolitan lover who can't quite control either Damita or Todd; his face and mannerisms express varying degrees of discomfort, frustration and worry as he struggles to keep multiple relationships from caving in on him.A hilarious running gag involves chauffeur Irving Bacon repeatedly catching Thelma's dress—in a car door, for example—and accidentally pulling it off. Overall, it's very funny, with a plot that is tough to predict…and somewhat surprisingly, it gradually turns into a very sweet picture, at that. Very enjoyable, especially for fans of these great character actors—and well worth watching just to see Roland Young and the great Thelma Todd together.

MartinHafer This is a Pre-Code sex comedy that is very good--but in hindsight, the casting was insane. If I explain the basic plot, you will understand. Beautiful Thelma Todd plays a bored wife who wants to have an affair. So, she picks out Roland Young--a very mousy man with absolutely nothing to offer her. And who is the husband of this lady? Yup, it's played by Cary Grant!! And, Grant plays an Olympic javelin thrower. Yet, oddly, she makes the moves on Young--who has the sex appeal of Edward Everett Horton! So, if you can ignore the dumb casting is the film worth seeing? Absolutely--it's a great farce with a really well-written plot. What happens is that Grant catches his wife with the other man. And, trying to help, Young's friend (Charlie Ruggles) tells Grant that Young is already very happily married--and makes up a story about a fictional wife. So, Grant asks Young to bring his wife with him on a trip--so they can all become good friends. So, Young scrambles to find a woman willing to pretend to be his wife and finds down in your luck Lili Damita (one of Errol Flynn's wives in real life). He thinks she's a prostitute, so he has no problem offering her money. But, she is a nice girl--and one that Young finds himself increasingly attracted to through the course of their trip to romantic Venice.The casting can be blamed on the producer. But even a dumb producer can be overcome by a witty script--and this one is witty and filled with excellent dialog. In addition, it's a chance to see Grant in his debut film. Now that I think about it, if Grant and Young had switched roles, this would have been an even better movie.

GManfred "This Is The Night" is noteworthy primarily because it marks Cary Grant's feature debut, but can stand on its own as a prime example of Pre-Code comedy. Some of the subject matter and situations must have been regarded as naughty for its time, but as with many of Hollywood's Pre-code movies it is pretty tame by today's standards.It is quite funny, but you have to give it a chance to warm up, as it takes a few minutes to get underway. The humor is very subtle and probably wouldn't go over well with modern audiences (see Adam Sandler). It comes with some unique quirks, like Cary Grant delivering a few lines in song, but once into the picture some old pros take over. Roland Young and Charles Ruggles, two veterans of the stage, have some of the best exchanges of situational dialogue and are aided by Thelma Todd, a comedienne who had a bright future but who was murdered around the time of the film's release. Her murder was never solved. Cary Grant plays it straight and Lili Damita is everyone's love interest but is the weakest member of the cast. It is very much like a filmed play, with just a few indoor sets, and there are only six cast members. The blue-tinted nighttime scenes were a nice, unexpected touch.In short, it is well worth your time but give it a chance to get past the slow beginning. It is actually a quick 80 minutes.

Michael_Elliott This Is the Night (1932) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Hilarious pre-code from Paramount has Roland Young playing Gerald Gray, a man dating a married woman (Thelma Todd). Things take a turn for the worse when the couple return to her home to find her husband (Cary Grant) there and in order to stay out of trouble the man's best friend (Charles Ruggles) tells the husband that the friend is actually married and the happy couple are on their way to Venice. The husband, not a bit fooled, decides to go along on the trip so the friend must find a fake wife (Lili Damita) to go along with the plan. This is a remake of a 1926 film and it's based on the play Naughty Cinderella. The naughty is certainly correct because this Paramount comedy has quite a few pre-code elements that would soon find themselves banned. Needless to say, having a film centered around a married woman dating other men was certainly a no no but it makes for one great laugh after another. After viewing the film I was really shocked to see that it wasn't more popular because the familiar cast is terrific and we get so many sexual jokes that it really stands out. The dialogue certainly implies many dirty jokes including one bit about "B.J." as well as our two lead actresses showing some skin. Of course we don't get any actual nudity but there's a very charming scene of Damita proving she can be naughty by taking her clothes off and coming off like a vixen. There's also a running joke with Todd constantly getting her clothes ripped off in a variety of ways. Both women have their legs constantly being shown as well as every other bit of skin they can get on camera. These elements certainly give the film a fresh touch and a pretty sexual one as well. Then we have the terrific performances that make the film memorable. Damita, who I had just seen in FRIENDS AND LOVERS, is must better here and in fact turns in a hilarious performance. I was really shocked to see how great she was here because her comic timing is right on the mark and she also plays the more dramatic, romantic moments just as well. Her coming timing really makes her character come to life and her previously mentioned seduction scene was priceless. Ruggles nearly steals the film as the silly assistant who gets this whole thing started. Todd delivers one of the best performances I've seen from her as her timing is great and just check out the wonderful scene where her married character gets jealous by her lover's fake wife. Young is also right on the mark and his chemistry with Damita is great. Then we have Cary Grant in his first role. I was surprised to see how natural he was but he plays the jerkish husband to perfection. I think the film starts to wear thin during the final act when every ones love starts to pour out but everything leading up to this is quite priceless. The performances, sexuality and laughs make this a must-see for fans of classic cinema.