VCI Entertainment announced this past week that director Mervyn LeRoy’s 1931 film adaptation of the Lily Hatvany stage play, Tonight or Never, starring Gloria Swanson and Melvyn Douglas, will be making its Blu-ray debut on Mar. 14.
DVD editions will also be available on the same date.
This is a pre-code production, which meant that it would eventually run afoul of the notorious Hays Commission, which skunked efforts to re-release the film in the mid-1930s. Image Entertainment issued a now long-out-of-print DVD edition in March of 2001 … nothing since.
Gloria Swanson replaced Helen Gahagan from the Broadway production, which ran from November of 1930 to June of 1931 (over 230 performances), while the male lead made the move from stage to screen … it would be this gentleman’s first screen appearance.
Who? None other than Melvyn Douglas, who would go on to win the Oscar twice for his acting (Best Actor in 1970 for I Never Sang for My Father … and Best Supporting Actor for Being There in 1979).
Gloria Swanson plays Nella Vago, a Hungarian opera star, whose latest performance in a production of Puccini's Tosca in Venice is received lukewarmly. Her music coach, Rudig (Ferdinand Gottschalk), basically tells her she sings without passion, which sets her into a rage.
With her entourage and fiancé, Count Albert von Gronac (Warburton Gamble), in tow, she decides to head back to Budapest … but has a mysterious admirer, who may or may not be stalking her.
Through a series of clever comedy bits, Nella ends up in the hotel room of her admirer, Jim Fletcher (Douglas), who is not what he seems — the mysterious old woman he has been seen with turns out to be his aunt. Ah, but there’s more … a clever twist (or two). A delight to be sure!!
Bonus features include commentary from author and film critic Mick LaSalle.
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