Noite de Idílio

Very rare film based on Molnar's THE SWAN (an alternate title), ONE ROMANTIC NIGHT tells the story of a princess who must choose between a romantic tutor (Conrad Nagel) or a rascally prince (Rod La Rocque). Getting in the way and making things difficult is the princess' mother (Marie Dressler).

A terrific cast makes this watchable (although my copy is bad), but the story is rather dull. Gish (in her talkie debut) looks and sounds great; Dressler of course steals every scene she's in. Nagel is OK, and La Rocque is handsome but somewhat prissy.

At age 37, Gish was probably too old for the part of the princess, but it's the kind of character that fit her screen persona. Gish herself did not like the film and considered it slow and dull. She also didn't like the director, whose work she was unfamiliar with. She had not made a film since 1928's silent THE WIND and wouldn't make another film for 3 years. La Rocque, Nagel, and Dressler had all made talkies before this film.

Oddly, this story was filmed again in the 50s as THE SWAN and starring Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness.

Pre-World-War-Two Hollywood got a lot of mileage out of Hungarian plays, in this case one by Ferenc Molnar which had been filmed previously and would be filmed again. These plays had one thing in common – people impersonating other people or pretending to be something other than what they really were in order achieve a status-seeking goal. Here, a princess (Lillian Gish), at the urging of her ambitious mother (Marie Dressler), keeps company with her younger brothers' tutor (Conrad Nagel) in order to make a prince (Rod La Rocque) jealous so that he will propose to her. This is the kind of story that might have been the backbone for an operetta directed by the likes of Lubitsch. But this film plays it straight and without the visual wit that Lubitsch brought to his projects. It begins promisingly as foppish, decadent LaRocque is dragged away by his handlers from a wild party to pay a visit to Gish and Dressler. But as soon as he arrives at his destination the film degenerates into one boring setup after another in which various combinations of people talk a lot about whether they are in love or not or which suitor will win Gish. Occasionally a voice is raised, a kiss is planted on lips or hands, or Dressler pulls nervously on her hanky.

In talkies, La Rocque fared best as a villain (as in THE LOCKED DOOR) but as the prince it's hard to tell whether his character is meant to be bad or good. He has a fey way with line readings that brings to mind the chronologically later Vincent Price. Although he looks magnificent in military garb, he lacks the natural joie de vivre that Maurice Chevalier brought to similar roles and he seems to be mocking himself. Nagel is, as always, dashing and sympathetic but at certain moments pompous. Dressler restrains herself commendably; in general she contributes much needed punch as well as dashes of humor. The ethereally beautiful Gish is every inch the princess in a flawless performance; the role she plays, unfortunately, is so tepid that her efforts hardly matter. She was 36 years old when this was shot but Karl Struss's soft focus cinematography helps.

This film begins rather slowly, but gets more interesting as one progresses through the film. The Swan, later retitled One Romantic Night, was the talkie debut of silent film giant Lillian Gish. The criticism that Gish was too old for this part are baseless because Gish still looked quite young at this point (she certainly didn't look 37). She was also very dolled up and beautiful, looking every bit like a princess. Her talkie debut was great. She spoke well, she had great facial and bodily expressions, and she captivated the audience during her scenes just as she did in her silent films. This role was also a welcome change for Gish fans used to seeing her play the vulnerable, frail, nice girl roles, as she was strong, defiant, and independent in this role. Marie Dressler was great too. She owned her lines expressively without overdoing it, and it was nice to see her in a nobility role, much different than her previous roles. Rod La Rocque and Conrad Nagel could be stiff at times, but there were scenes where they shined as well. The two teenage boys had small roles, but performed them very well. Overall, the film has a rather slow start, and at some point the acting seems quite "stagey," but overall it is an enjoyable film, and it's very worth watching for Lillian Gish fans to see her in her first talkie.

A common misconception about the decline of silent film stars at the dawn of the talkie revolution is that their subsequent unpopularity came from bad voices or an inability to recite dialogue. This idea ignores how much society in general was shifting during the late 20s and early 30s, what with the Great Depression puncturing Roaring Twenties decadence and optimism, as well as the usual shifts in audience taste that had always been occurring among moviegoers. These shifts had a lot more to do with the decline of old favorites than squeaky voices.

Lillian Gish's decline as a movie star was already in effect before moguls accepted sound was more than a fad. Her last few silent films had either underperformed or flopped. Gish was a phenomenal actress, but her tragic ingenue image was falling out of favor, even with attempts to complicate the persona with madness (THE WIND) or innocent sexuality (LA BOHEME and THE SCARLET LETTER). Stars rise and fall on the whims of their public, and the public was losing interest in Gish.

ONE ROMANTIC NIGHT is Gish's first talkie and it's often purported to be a showcase for how bad early sound filmmaking could be. I've seen it twice and honestly, there are way worse early sound films than this one. The acting is largely stiff and the action stagebound, but the script is a diverting trifle. Gish was too old to play the princess, but she had the proper patrician look and the ability to play girlish characters well. She's certainly better than Rod La Roque as the rakish prince, who comes off way too nasally and foolish to strike one as a properly enticing bad boy. Conrad Nagel, Marie Dressler, and OP Heggie all give Gish proper support and there's enough modest entertainment value in the whole affair to keep the film from being a bore.

I found this movie very enjoyable . I didn't Lillian Gish was best for the part but she played it well...her facial expressions and eyes are the most interesting thing to watch in the film . Marie Dressler is usually a very good actress but doesn't fit the role well either ; maybe no one in the film does , but it's a pleasant watch anyway . La Rocque was weak ; Nagel was his handsome self but better suited with Garbo...O.P. Heggie was his usual delight . I would recommend this film .... one question : why does it go by two different titles ? I think the title of The Swan sounds much more interesting..."One Romantic Night" seems rather tripe ...... beautiful early talkie sound/picture quality