Fifteen years before they menaced one another in Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial ‘M’ for Murder, Robert Cummings and Ray Milland faced off for the favors of another pretty blonde in Irving Cummings’ Everything Happens at Night. Unlike the famous Hitchcock thriller, most of Everything Happens at Night is a romantic comedy, but during the film’s last quarter hour, things do turn menacing and the tone shifts from comedy to melodrama. It’s a rather infelicitous combination of comedy and drama, and those expecting a Sonja Henie skating musical (she does get top billing) are apt to be disappointed.
Studio: Fox
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 480I/MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English 2.0 DD
Subtitles: None
Rating: Not Rated
Run Time: 1 Hr. 17 Min.
Package Includes: DVD
Amaray caseDisc Type: DVD-R
Region: 1
Release Date: 04/22/2014
MSRP: $19.98
The Production Rating: 2.5/5
Art Arthur and Robert Harari have provided the screenplay for a minor vehicle for one of Fox’s top stars with this combination of comedy, drama, and skating (though, to be fair, there really is only one ice production number plus a bit of tomfoolery with the klutzy Cummings trying to teach Louise/Sonja how to skate). For the most part, each of the two male stars gets his chance to woo and win the lady with Milland the more suave and devious of the two and Cummings the more endearingly naive and prone to pratfalls on skis and skates. Henie’s skating is restricted to one lengthy piece scored to some classical music favorites and choreographed by legendary dance director Nick Castle. Because Castle’s forte was tap dancing, Sonja’s skating tricks (which are an admittedly skimpy assortment of maneuvers which she hadn’t expanded on since coming to the movies three years earlier) are embellished by quite a bit of dancing on her toe picks amid the usual spins and single axles. Director Irving Cummings stages a pretty involving chase scene amid Swiss snowdrifts (actually filmed in Sun Valley) near film’s end with the Gestapo in hot pursuit of the fleeing heroes.
Though she was at ease with her English by this time, Sonja Henie is asked late in the film to carry the burden of some dramatic scenes that she’s simply not equipped to deal with convincingly. She’s lovely on the ice and has good rapport with both of her co-stars, but when things turn serious, she’s a bit out of her depth. Ray Milland’s character is actually something of a swine stealing stories and trying to sabotage Cummings at every turn making him not all that likable. While his open-hearted American may be a bit too earnest and gullible, Robert Cummings still manages to be the more appealing of the two gentlemen. Jody Gilbert plays a robust local with eyes for the two gents while Leonid Kinskey slinks around the film without a discernible purpose. Alan Dinehart gets in some good quips as Ken’s feisty boss, and Fritz Feld has an amusing sequence as he detains the Nazis by requiring their papers for inspection. Maurice Moscovich as the focus of the manhunt remains in the shadows for much of the movie making the most of his moments once he’s revealed and on the run.
Video Rating: 2.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 2.5/5
Special Features Rating: 0/5
Overall Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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