Product Description

Swellegant and elegant. Deluxe and delovely. Cole Porter was the most sophisticated name in 20th-century songwriting. And to play him on screen, Hollywood chose debonair icon Cary Grant. Grant stars for the first time in color in this fanciful biopic. Alexis Smith plays Linda, whose serendipitous meetings with Cole lead to a meeting at the altar. More than 20 Porter songs grace this tale of triumph and tragedy, with Grant lending his amiable voice to You're the Top, Night and Day and more. Monty Woolley, a Yale contemporary of Porter, portrays himself. And Jane Wyman, Mary Martin, Eve Arden and others provide vocals and verve. Lights down. Curtain up. Standards embraced by generations are yours to enjoy Night and Day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5101 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 128 minutes

Features

• Swellegant and elegant. Deluxe and delovely. Cole Porter was the most sophisticated name in 20th-century songwriting. And to play him on screen, Hollywood chose debonair icon Cary Grant. Grant stars for the first time in color in this fanciful biopic. Alexis Smith plays Linda, whose serendipitous meetings with Cole lead to a meeting at the altar. More than 20 Porter songs grace this tale of triump

Amazon.com
With Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) as director, Cary Grant in the lead, and wall-to-wall songs by Cole Porter, how could Night and Day lose? Why, by taking broad liberties with the composer's life story and failing to live up to expectations. If you can overlook such shortcomings, however, it's lively entertainment that doesn't completely deserve the scorn it has elicited. Grant is good as a bon vivant who had a way with words but lacked the discipline to pursue a career in law. As a singer, on the other hand, he's merely adequate. Curtiz wisely has the fine supporting actresses (Jane Wyman, Ginny Simms, etc.) handle the big numbers such as "You're the Top." Also, Porter's story was meant for black and white. The Technicolor process adds an unfortunate garishness to the tale of a man whose very name has become a synonym for elegance. With Mary Martin and Monty Woolley as themselves. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Music and Performances Are The High Points
One of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters, Cole Porter (1891-1964) worked hard to present an unflappable image to the world--but in truth he was a tremendously complex man, a homosexual who lived with wife Linda Lee Thomas in a marriage of convenience, subject fits of depression, and suffering horrific pain in the wake of a horseback riding accident which left him crippled at the peak of his career. Add to this the fact that his lyrics were often censored for film, radio, and records and it seems very odd that 1940s Hollywood would attempt a biography.

What they did, of course, was fictionalize it to the max, reducing the story of his life to a mix of backstage musical and domestic drama--and transforming the tiny and waspish Porter and his icy bride Linda into handsome Cary Grant and lovely Alexis Smith. The result is pure nonsense, of course, but when you tack in a host of Porter classics--fantasy it might be, but it is entertaining enough to watch.

Grant is no singer, but he has considerable charm, and Smith is as always extremely attractive. The supporting cast is remarkably strong, featuring the likes of Jane Wyman, Eve Arden, Dorothy Malone, and Alan Hale--and rare screen appearances by Monty Woolley and Mary Martin, who deliver knockout performances of "Miss Otis Regrets" and "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" respectively. The DVD transfer is reasonable, and although the bonuses are pure fluff they are amusing. While it may be short on fact with a story little more than pure melodrama, the music and performers make NIGHT AND DAY a reasonably pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

For Cary Grant, Technicolor, and musical fans
"Night & Day" is a wonderful musical, a beautiful film displaying Cary Grant's talents, and it has that 'never-to-be-realized-again' Technicolor to its sets that offers that imaginary world so many films offered in the 50s, (although this particular film is from '46).
If the viewer is looking for historical accuracy, it is best to look elsewhere. There is a loose framework of historical accuracy here, but only a skeleton. Porter actually did go to Yale, but only for undergrad. He actually went to Harvard for law school. As far as I know, he was never actually in World War I, although he was in Europe during the war. In addition, the love story is completely and utterly fabricated, although it is "cute" and a nice sub-plot to the film.
The real driving force of the film is definitely the sets, the music, and Grant himself. This is definitely an entertaining fantasy, and I highly recommend it for film buffs, especially those that love Cary Grant.
The new DVD is nicely put together, and it includes a series of Cole Porter trailers, a Dezi Arnez music number, a musical short, and even a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

A Classic!
Our family is a big fan of musicals and old movie classics and "Night and Day" fits into both categories perfectly! We rented this movie a few days ago and fell in love with it immediately. The story of Cole Porter, portrayed by Cary Grant, is such a neat one, showing the sacrifices he made, and the difficulties of becoming a composer. I give this a 5 star rating. I think that young and old alike will fall for this movie right away.