History Is Made at Night
Suffused with intoxicating romanticism, History Is Made at Night is a sublime paean to love from Frank Borzage, classic Hollywood’s supreme poet of carnal and spiritual desire. On the run through Europe from her wealthy, cruelly possessive husband, an unhappy socialite (Jean Arthur) is thrown together by fate with a suave stranger (Charles Boyer)—and soon the two are bound in a consuming, seemingly impossible affair that stretches across continents and brings them to the very edge of catastrophe. Lent a palpable erotic charge by the chemistry between its leads, this delirious vision of lovers beset by the world passes through a dizzying array of tonal shifts—from melodrama to romantic comedy to noir to disaster thriller—smoothly guided by Borzage’s unwavering allegiance to the power of love.
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie
- Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love
- Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum
- Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer
- Restoration demonstration
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan
New cover by Abigail Giuseppe
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie
- Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love
- Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum
- Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer
- Restoration demonstration
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan
New cover by Abigail Giuseppe
Cast
- Charles Boyer
- Paul Dumond
- Jean Arthur
- Irene Vail
- Leo Carrillo
- Cesare
- Colin Clive
- Bruce Vail
- Ivan Lebedeff
- Michael
- George Meeker
- Norton
- Lucien Prival
- Private detective
- George Davis
- Maestro
Credits
- Director
- Frank Borzage
- Producer
- Walter Wanger
- Screenplay
- Graham Baker
- Gene Towne
- Additional dialogue
- David Hertz
- Vincent Lawrence
- Director of photography
- David Abel
- Art direction
- Alexander Toluboff
- Special technical effects by
- James Basevi
- Musical direction
- Alfred Newman
- Film editor
- Margaret Clancey
- Costumes by
- Bernard Newman
- Assistant director
- Lew Borzage
A scene from History Is Made at Night
