History is Made at Night (1937) Criterion Blu-ray Review

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

Director Frank Borzage is known by film fans for his films 1933's Man's Castle, 1940's The Mortal Storm, and his masterpiece 1931's A Farewell to Arms. But some may not know he won two Academy Awards for Best Director for his films, 1927's 7th Heaven and 1931's Bad Girl.

International heartthrob Charles Boyer was every woman's fantasy gentleman. But more than that he was a pretty amazing actor. He was nominated for 4 Best Actor Academy Awards and was some great films over his career most notably The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Gaslight (1944).

In 1937 Charles Boyer joined forces with director Frank Borzage to make a romantic adventure entitled "History is Made at Night". This film was virtually impossible to find on streaming or on physical media, that is until now! Thanks to the great folks at Criterion Collection this classic is getting a Blu-ray release it so richly deserves.

Bruce Vail's wife Irene plans to file for divorce. So to thwart he plans for his money he sends his chauffeur to her Paris hotel room so he can catch her in a "compromising" position. Instead, he finds a masked thief, who kidnaps Irene. The thief is head waiter Paul Dumond who overheard the plot and decided to intervene. After a romantic evening, Irene falls in love with Paul, but Bruce will stop at nothing to ruin them.



Frank Borzage does a masterful job in the direction and pacing of this film. Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur have great on screen chemistry. But I have to admit the thing that is so cool to see is Colin Clive as Bruce Vail. Colin Clive is best known for his role as Victor Frankenstein in the 1930s Frankenstein films. Love seeing him in this film.

Some may feel that the film tries to capitalize on the tragedy that was the Titanic, but I feel the story is much much more than this. That story line is just a 10th of the movie. There is so much more and it is told so well!

The film has been transferred to Blu-ray from a 4K scan of the 35 mm nitrate negative preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The image quality is dazzling! When the say in glorious black and white, they mean this picture. This film glistens in High Definition! There is just the perfect amount of film grain. The film is in 1080p but presented in it's original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. There is no stretching of the screen, thank goodness!

The audio is the original monaural soundtrack remastered and sounds crystal clear. There is no signs of his or pops. It is a great soundtrack! All the way around The Criterion Collection should be applauded for this release.... it is that good.

Bonus features

* New conversation between author Hervé Dumont and film historian Peter Cowie (23:53)
* Interview with critic Farran Smith Nehme about Borzage (13:21)
* Audio excerpts of an interview with Borzage (30:47)
* Radio adaptation of the film from 1940 (27:05)
* Restoration feature (8:52)
* An insert that features a write-up entitled "Taking a Chance on Love" by  Dan Callahan, production credits and information about this transfer.

As you can see there is enough bonus features here to keep you entertained for quite a while. What makes Blu-rays a must own is the bonus features and Criterion Collection loaded this one up with great stuff. Everything added is awesome, but I love the radio adaption. As a fan of old radio shows to me that is a spectacular bonus.

So if you love classic movies or Charles Boyer this Criterion Collection release of History is made at Night is an absolute must own. The stunning Blu-ray release would make a great addition to anyone's classic movie library. Head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today!

Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of History is Made at Night receives...