Esta noche y todas las noches

It's WWII London. Rosalind Bruce (Rita Hayworth) is the star performer at the Music Box Theatre. A Life magazine photographer is doing a story on the theatre which never closed during the Blitz. A stagehand recounts the story. In flashback, Rosalind is pursued by RAF pilot Paul Lundy (Lee Bowman).

This musical is mostly about watching Rita Hayworth doing her dancing. Of course, she's a great dancer although she is dubbed for her singing. That's perfectly fine. The romance starts well, flutters for awhile, and ends on an important note. It is melodramatic at times, but that's the movie. The war is ending soon and this is bittersweet recall of recent events.

The movie's number one sex symbol carried a lot of films to box office success on the strength of her looks and personality. But Rita Hayworth was definitely asked to tote a lot in Tonight And Every Night, a film set during the air attacks on London about a theater that never missed a performance. There was actually such a theater as the Windmill.

A whole lot of extravagant musical numbers photographed in gorgeous technicolor are held together by a plot involving Rita being the object of a campaign by Eagle Squadron RAF member Lee Bowman. Though she's warned by fellow performer and best friend Janet Blair that Bowman's a wolf in Eagle Squadron uniform, Rita plunges headlong into things. She's also got dancer Marc Platt interested in her as well.

For a British set film, this cast sure had an awful lot of Americans. This film would have been so much better done across the pond with someone like Jessie Matthews or Anna Neagle starring. The numbers are nice enough though, the musical score by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn contained one song, Anywhere which got an Oscar nomination. A much better song of their's that Frank Sinatra sung in Anchors Aweigh, I Fall In Love Too Easily, was also nominated that year, but Rodgers and Hammerstein got the statue that year for It Might As Well Be Spring. Tonight And Every Night also got an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Scoring.

The musical numbers are great, but the plot is pretty thin.

I just saw "Tonight and Every Night" , last night and I was impressed, not just by the lovely Rita Hayworth but also by Marc Platt, the dancer who plays the role of Tommy. What a wonderful dancer he was and it's a shame that he had only one big dancing scene showcasing his talent and I was wondering if he did any other films and if not many then why? Any way, the film was a lovely story loosely based on the "Windmill Theater" that continued having shows during the Nazi bombing of London. One critic's review from the 70's said that this movie wasn't good enough because Fred Astaire nor Gene Kelly were not dancing with her. I beg to differ this movie showcases Rita Hayworth's talent and she really didn't need the other two great dancers to show how talented she was. It was a very good movie with great numbers and a good romantic story.

When I first saw this movie I was a 13 year old boy in love with Rita Hayworth. In many ways the movie is a typical 40's musical chick flick. What is not typical is the story based on real events in London during the blitz instead of a contrived plot to frame the musical numbers. (See the recent "Mrs. Henderson Presents".) The story has bravery and tragedy as well as the usual romance and fluff. Also above average are the score by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn as well as the talents of Rita Hayworth, Janet Blair (in a strong second banana role), and Marc Platt, the dancer who went on to be one of the brothers in "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers". Without giving away the ending, have your hankie ready.

This was the first movie where Rita Hayworth was given credit above the title. It's also the film she did before "Gilda", which would be her triumph. "Tonight and Every Night" is a product of the Hollywood of the late forties, when war themes were not that common. Directed by Victor Saville, the film has some good moments and as Neil Doyle has pointed out in these pages, if you're a fan of Ms. Hayworth, this is a must see! Not that it's one of the best things she ever did on the screen, but it's a good way to spend an evening in good company.

The story is based on a theater in London that never stopped operating, even in the worst days of the blitz. It's to the credit of the woman who ran the venue, May Tolliver, that she wanted to keep some sense of sanity when Londoners were going through such a rough time.

Rita Hayworth looks lovely dressed by Jean Louis. Lee Bowman plays her love interest, Paul Lindy. We also see Janet Blair, Marc Platt and Florence Bates in supporting roles. Jules Stein's music is not the kind that one keeps repeating after viewing the film.

The only thing that hasn't kept well is the Technicolor. The copy we saw recently has not aged well as it shows different skin tones in Ms. Hayworth.

Watch it, if only to get a glimpse at the lovely Rita Hayworth!