NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (March 2021): Criterion have transferred Frank Borzage's History Is Made at Night to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New, restored 4K digital transfer". It is wonderfully grain-heavy with plenty of consistent texture. The image is clean with a few imperceptible speckles looking exquisitely in 1080P on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. 

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language (some Italian). The uncompressed transfer supports the film's meager requirements and score by Alfred Newman (Panic in the Streets, Heaven Can Wait, Man Hunt, Cry of the City, The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Song of Bernadette) supporting them in an authentically flat expression. Criterion offer optional English subtitles (SDH) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers quite a few supplements. They include a new 24-minute conversation between Herve Dumont, former director of the Cinematheque suisse and author of Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic, with film scholar Peter Cowie recorded in Lausanne, Switzerland, in January 2018. There is a 2019 1/4 hour interview with critic Farran Smith Nehme discussing director Frank Borzage's obsession with romantic love. Criterion include 1/2 hour's worth of audio excerpts of an interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum. It was conducted by film historian and curator George Pratt in 1958, in honor of Borzage's gift of a print of his film Seventh Heaven to the GMH in Rochester, New York. In them, Borzage discusses his career in Hollywood and working on History Is Made at Night. There is also a radio adaptation of the film, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer who reprises his role as Paul Dumond in this November 10th, 1940, adaptation of History Is Made at Night for the radio anthology series The Screen Guild Theater. Included is a 10-minute restoration demonstration and the package has liner notes with an essay by critic Dan Callahan.

Frank Borzage's History Is Made at Night has been pretty hard to see and own on digital. There were overpriced Spanish and Italian PAL DVD releases - thank goodness Criterion have transferred it to 1080P via an exquisite 4K restoration and added impressive supplements. One of the best of the romantic vintage era films - if not the best. Jean Arthur is as lovely as ever and Boyer as suave.  Pure joy. The Criterion Blu-ray gets a very strong recommendation!

Gary Tooze