Everything Happens at Night (1939)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Art Arthur (original screenplay) and
Robert Harari (original screenplay)

Release Date:

22 December 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Two newspapermen, one British and one American discover a murdered political commentator and compete to tell his story...

Plot Keywords:

Englishman Abroad | Echo | Gestapo | Switzerland | Police

Cast

Sonja Henie	...	Louise
Ray Milland	...	Geoffrey Thompson
Robert Cummings	...	Ken Morgan
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Dr. Hugo Norden (as Maurice Moscovich)
Leonid Kinskey	...	Groder
Alan Dinehart	...	Fred Sherwood
Fritz Feld	...	Gendarme
Jody Gilbert	...	Hilda
Victor Varconi	...	Cavas
William Edmunds	...	Hotel Clerk
George Davis	...	Bellhop
Paul Porcasi	...	Pierre - Bartender
Michael Visaroff	...	Otto - Woodcutter
Eleanor Wesselhoeft	...	Woodcutter's Wife
Christian Rub	...	Telegrapher

Runtime:

78 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Sun Valley, Idaho, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Lester Matthews as "Philip" and Roger Imhof as "Judge" are in studio records/casting call lists, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Quotes:

Hilda: So, you're an American!
Ken Morgan: Yes.
Hilda: Are you a millionaire?
Ken Morgan: Well, a few of us aren't.
Hilda: Is it true that in America they have buildings as high as this mountain?
Ken Morgan: Oh, higher.
Hilda: Why do they build them so high?
Ken Morgan: I beg pardon?
Hilda: Why...do they build 'em...so high?
Ken Morgan: Oh! Well, that's so the people that build them and can't seem to rent them have a nice place to jump off.

Movie Connections:

References Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)

Soundtrack:

The Blue Danube Waltz, Opus 314

Lots of Romance - Not Much Skating

Two rival journalists in Switzerland search for a missing Nobel Peace Prize laureate - but instead discover a lovely young nurse who teaches them that EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT NIGHT.

Sonja Henie was Norway's ice queen when she won Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 & 1936. After going professional, she began a celebrated movie career at 20th Century Fox in 1936 with ONE IN A MILLION, which was her American film debut. Beautiful & talented, as well as being a natural in front of the cameras, she carved out her own special niche during Hollywood's Golden Age. Although Miss Henie's ice routines may look antiquated by comparison to modern champions, there was nothing antique about her dazzling smile or sparkling personality. In this regard, some of today's snowflake princesses could still learn a great deal from her.

As her career progressed, it became increasingly difficult for Fox to find decent stories for Miss Henie and the excuses for the lavish ice dancing numbers were often implausible. No matter. Audiences did not flock to her films to watch Sonja recite Shakespeare. The movies were meant to be pure escapist fantasy, plain & simple.

EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT NIGHT is no exception and its story is often quite silly. Also, unbelievably, Sonja is only given one skating sequence in the film. Incomprehensible omission! One has to wonder what the bosses at 20th Century Fox were thinking?

On the plus side, the movie must be credited as one of the first of Hollywood's films to depict the Gestapo as evil villains - a full two years before America's entry into the Second World War.

A couple of script inclusions may need a bit of elucidation. The BEN-HUR film which is suggested (and rejected) would be the silent 1925 MGM version starring Ramon Novarro; by 1939 it would be considered quite passé. Also, notice the sly reference to 'Ferdinand.' This would be an allusion to Ferdinand the Bull, the flower-sniffing hero of Munro Leaf's 1936 story (and made into an Academy Award winning cartoon by Walt Disney in 1938).

Ray Milland & Robert Cummings are very enjoyable as the ambitious reporters; viewers will be wondering which gentleman will walk away with Sonja at the fadeout - both are heroic, cunning and equally deserve her.

A smattering of familiar faces fill small roles (George Davis, Frank Reicher, Paul Porcasi, Christian Rub). Fritz Feld is especially humorous as an officious gendarme. Jody Gilbert steals a scene or two as an abundantly sturdy Swiss miss.

Ultimately, though, this is Sonja's show. She glides effortlessly into the viewer's heart, while balancing on a thin edge of silver, suspended over frozen water.