Tonight and Every Night (1945) (NTSC)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Patricia Clarkson on Tonight and Every Night (4:20) Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1945
Running Time	91:50
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Victor Saville
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Rita Hayworth Lee Bowmen Janet Blair Marc Platt Ernest Cossart Florence Bates Leslie Brooks Jim Bannon
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Morris Stoloff Marlin Skiles

     Towards the end of WW2 a photographer for Life Magazine (Jim Bannon) comes to London to do a spread on the Music Box Theatre, its owner Mrs Tolliver (Florence Bates) and its star, American Rosalind Bruce (Rita Hayworth). The Music Box Theatre is famous for never having stopped performances, even at the height of the Blitz. While taking his pictures, long time stage hand Sam (Ernest Cossart) tells the photographer about the triumph and tragedy of those years starting before the war when dancer Tommy Lawson (Marc Platt) first came to London from Manchester and teamed up in the theatre with Rosalind and her friend and fellow singer / dancer Judy Kane (Janet Blair).

     Later, during the Blitz when London is being bombed every night, Squadron Leader Paul Lundy (Lee Bowmen) of the RAF Coastal Command and his crew come to a show at the Music Box and Paul is immediately smitten by Rosalind. When a bombing raid forces a suspension of the performance and the cast and patrons seek shelter in the theatre’s basement, Paul finds a way to talk to Rosalind and later asks her out. Their relationship has its misunderstandings and ups and downs, with the Blitz, and the bombings, always a threat. Then, just as it seems all will be fine, and Rosalind marry Paul and accompany him to Canada on his next posting, tragedy strikes.

     By 1945 when Tonight and Every Night was released Rita Hayworth was a bona fide superstar, especially after the runaway box office success of her previous film Cover Girl (1944). Her name now appears above the film’s title and she sings (or rather her character does as Hayworth’s singing voice was again dubbed by Martha Mears), dances and plays light comedy and the more serious scenes with aplomb; although as Rita was pregnant after marrying Orson Welles her singing and dancing sequences were filmed first in the schedule before the pregnancy became too obvious. She is the clearly the main attraction: while in previous films she had been teamed with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly this time the primary male dancer is Marc Platt in his first feature role. Although Platt did appear in a film with Janet Blair in a leading role the next year in Tars and Spars (1946), again with Rita in Down to Earth (1947) and was one of the seven brothers in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) his career never really took off. Indeed, the most prominent second singing / dancing performance in Tonight and Every Night is by Janet Blair who acquits herself very well in her routines, whether alone or with others, including Rita. Blair was another whose career was mostly as a support actress in features or on TV, not really fulfilling the potential she shows in Tonight and Every Night.

     The male lead in Tonight and Every Night was Lee Bowman who was fated in his two films with Hayworth not to get the girl! In Cover Girl (1944) he lost out to Gene Kelly and although in Tonight and Every Night he won Rita’s heart, the war and tragedy intervened. Bowmen was not the only one who was in both Cover Girl and Tonight and Every Night; the others were Leslie Brooks, who was actually in her third film with Rita, as she was also in You Were Never Lovelier (1942), and Dusty Anderson, although her part in Cover Girl was a cameo as a “Cover Girl”. Such is the closeness of the old Hollywood studio system.

     Tonight and Every Night is based on the play Heart of a City by Leslie Storm, itself inspired by the real Windmill Theatre in London which did stay open during the Blitz. Tonight and Every Night was directed by Englishman Victor Saville; he is probably best known as a producer of films such as Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939) but he keeps the performances flowing nicely.

     Tonight and Every Night is another Technicolor extravaganza by Columbia, filmed by Rudolph Mate who had been co-cinematographer of Cover Girl the previous year. While the costumes look dazzling, with stunning deep red, green, blue, yellow and gold gowns, and the sequins sparkle, Tonight and Every Night is darker and not as vibrant as Cover Girl, perhaps reflecting London in wartime. As a result it was not nominated for a best cinematography Oscar, unlike Cover Girl, receiving nominations only for best music score (Marlin Skiles / Morris Stoloff) and best song for Anywhere (Jule Styne / Sammy Cahn) but winning neither.

     The set piece performance numbers of Tonight and Every Night are colourful and well-staged, there is light comedy, romance, cockney humour, a touch of tragedy, sadness and Hayworth looking gorgeous and in fine form; it is a good, entertaining musical although it does not quite have the magic of Cover Girl. Mind you, that film set the bar pretty high.

Video

     Tonight and Every Night is presented in Technicolor in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in NTSC and not 16x9 enhanced.

     This is another of those old Technicolor films that look wonderful. The colours on the gowns and costumes are rich and vibrant, sequins sparkle and there is an impressive depth of field with both foregrounds and backgrounds strongly detailed. Skin tones can be somewhat rosy if one was being picky. In the Blitz scenes, blacks are solid, shadow detail very good. Some minute marks were hardly noticeable and the picture was solid in motion.

     English subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps.

     The dialogue is easy to hear. The sounds of the dancing and the orchestra in the production numbers comes over loud and clear. The effects of the Blitz, such as the explosions of bombs and the antiaircraft fire, are very decent for a mono audio and have some depth.

     There was no hiss or crackle.

    Lip synchronisation is generally fine except for an occasional lapse during songs.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Patricia Clarkson on Tonight and Every Night (4:20)

     Clarkson touches on the source material of the film, the story, Hayworth, the director and the cinematographer.

Original Theatrical Trailer (2:12)

     Tonight and Every Night is available in other regions in both stand-alone DVD or as part of various DVD collections of the films of Rita Hayworth. None of the DVDs as far as I can see have more than the short Clarkson featurette and a trailer as extras. This release of the film is as part of The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection Two which collection itself forms part of The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection. See the summary section below.

     Tonight and Every Night is a dazzling Technicolor musical set in the London Blitz with dancing, singing, chorus lines, glamour, cockney humour, a romance, a touch of tragedy and, of course, the beautiful Rita Hayworth at the height of her popularity. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore.

     The Technicolor video is excellent, the audio is the original mono. A short feature and the film’s trailer are the only extras, but there is nothing more elsewhere.

     Tonight and Every Night is included in the 12 disc / 12 film set The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection. The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection itself comprises the The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection and the The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection Two. Both of these individual Collection packs have been released previously. If you have an interest in the stars or musicals and have not picked up the earlier releases, this collection is great value.

     The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection was supplied for review by ViaVision Entertainment. Check out their Facebook page for the latest releases, giveaways, deals and more.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall