Tonight or Never (1931)A young opera singer finds her career stalled because of her cold and passionless performances, until she finds romance with a handsome admirer. Director:Mervyn LeRoy |
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Tonight or Never (1931)A young opera singer finds her career stalled because of her cold and passionless performances, until she finds romance with a handsome admirer. Director:Mervyn LeRoy |
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| Cast overview: | |||
| Gloria Swanson | ... |
Nella Vago
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| Melvyn Douglas | ... |
Jim Fletcher
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Alison Skipworth | ... |
Marchesa Bianca San Giovanni
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Ferdinand Gottschalk | ... |
Rudig
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Robert Greig | ... |
Conrad
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Warburton Gamble | ... |
Count Albert von Gronac
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Greta Meyer | ... |
Emma
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| Boris Karloff | ... |
Waiter
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A young opera singer finds her career stalled because of her cold and passionless performances, until she finds romance with a handsome admirer.
Gloria Swanson was a great star and her talkie films of the early 1930s were vastly underrated. Tonight or Never is a nice comedy that pits opera star Swanson against maybe gigolo Melvyn Douglas. She's a great singer but she lacks passion because she has never been in love. Douglas is the protégé of a countess (Alison Skipworth), but is secretly in love with Swanson.
Swanson is wonderful, even though she does not sing--a major fault of the film--as the naive opera star. Douglas is suave; Skipworth is (as always) hilarious. And Ferdinand Gottschalk is wonderful as Swanson's teacher.
Swanson should have had a major talkie career. She made the transition in the smash hit The Trespasser and made a series of delightful talkies before she hung it up in 1934. Her voice is so wonderful. It's ironic that a silent star would have such a terrific voice. As in Indiscreet, Swanson proves to be a star actress----one of the greats.
Robert Greig, Greta Meyer and J. Carroll Naish co-star. And remember the motto: our spaghetti is longer than our name!