Glamorous Night | |
Director: | Brian Desmond Hurst |
Producer: | Walter C. Mycroft |
Based On: | musical play Glamorous Night by Ivor Novello[1] |
Starring: | Mary Ellis Otto Kruger Victor Jory Barry MacKay |
Cinematography: | Fritz Arno Wagner |
Music: | Ivor Novello (composer: songs and incidental music) Harry Acres (musical director) |
Editing: | Flora Newton |
Studio: | Associated British Picture Corporation |
Distributor: | Associated British Picture Corporation |
Runtime: | 81 minutes |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Language: | English |
Glamorous Night is a 1937 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Mary Ellis, Otto Kruger, Victor Jory and Barry MacKay.[2] It is an adaptation of the musical Glamorous Night by Ivor Novello.[3] In a mythical European kingdom, King Stefan clashes with his prime minister and falls in love with the gypsy Melitza.
Sky Movies wrote, "The story creaks like a dowager's stays in this torrid tale of Ruritanian romance and skulduggery based on Ivor Novello's stage success. There are compensations, however, in the tuneful music and elegant production values, to say nothing of gipsies who appear to be addicted to ballet dancing. Victor Jory plays the villainous prime minister with steely determination and an American accent, Mary Ellis is suitably lively although she is hardly a believable Romany. Barry Mackay stands out as an English oil prospector, the role originally played on stage by Novello."[4] Writing for The Spectator in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a mixed review, describing it as "about as bogus as a film could be", but praising Novello's efforts to bring the film "up to date", and appreciating the photography, the camerawork, the direction, and Ellis' "daemonic good looks".[5]