History Is Made at Night Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Frank Borzage
USA 1937

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.

***

A bizarre movie from Borzage, who invades the sophisticated territory of Lubitsch and Leisen - Paris hotels, cruise liners, impersonations, two-timing wives, jealous husbands - and turns it all into a romantic thriller, complete with an ending that recalls A Night to Remember. Jean Arthur's marriage to Colin Clive is on the rocks, and suave Boyer - a waiter who poses as a thief, later turning up as patron of a Manhattan restaurant - comes to her rescue. Emotions run high, implausibilities pile up, Borzage keeps the motor running, and the stars - especially the rather neglected Arthur, who is now a Carmelite recluse - are immensely watchable.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 5th, 1937

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Review: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Criterion Spine #1072 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:37:40.688
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,911,485,847 bytes Feature: 29,345,857,536 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,911,485,847 bytes Feature: 29,345,857,536 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie (23:53) • Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love (13:21) • Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum (30:47) • Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen • Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer (27:05) • Restoration demonstration (8:52) PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan Blu-ray Release Date: April 13th, 2021 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 15

Comments:

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