Frank Borzage

History Is Made at Night

History Is Made at Night

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.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1937
  • 97 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • English
  • Spine #1072

Special Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie
  • Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love
  • Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum
  • Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer
  • Restoration demonstration
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan

    New cover by Abigail Giuseppe

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie
  • Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love
  • Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum
  • Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer
  • Restoration demonstration
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan

    New cover by Abigail Giuseppe
History Is Made at Night
Cast
Charles Boyer
Paul Dumond
Jean Arthur
Irene Vail
Leo Carrillo
Cesare
Colin Clive
Bruce Vail
Ivan Lebedeff
Michael
George Meeker
Norton
Lucien Prival
Private detective
George Davis
Maestro
Credits
Director
Frank Borzage
Producer
Walter Wanger
Screenplay
Graham Baker
Gene Towne
Additional dialogue
David Hertz
Vincent Lawrence
Director of photography
David Abel
Art direction
Alexander Toluboff
Special technical effects by
James Basevi
Musical direction
Alfred Newman
Film editor
Margaret Clancey
Costumes by
Bernard Newman
Assistant director
Lew Borzage

Current

History Is Made at Night: Taking a Chance on Love
History Is Made at Night: Taking a Chance on Love

The feeling of freedom in this swooningly beautiful blend of melodrama and romantic comedy speaks to director Frank Borzage’s belief in the invincibility of love.

By Dan Callahan