His Glorious Night
Cast & Crew
Lionel Barrymore
John Gilbert
Catherine Dale Owen
Nance O'neil
Gustav Von Seyffertitz
Hedda Hopper
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Princess Orsolini, known to maintain an icy demeanor, has a marriage arranged for her by her royal parents, but quite suddenly she falls in love with Kovacs, a cavalry captain known for his mastery of horses and women. Though they meet secretly, her mother advises her to break off the affair, and she reluctantly informs the captain that she cannot love the son of a peasant. Kovacs spreads a rumor that he is is an imposter and swindler to avenge himself on the princess and her mother. Fearing scandal, the queen prevails upon the commissioner to bring him to their apartment so that they may retrieve some love letters written by the princess; but Kovacs names as his price the princess' spending the night in his quarters. He and the princess are reconciled.
Director
Lionel Barrymore
Cast
John Gilbert
Catherine Dale Owen
Nance O'neil
Gustav Von Seyffertitz
Hedda Hopper
Doris Hill
Tyrrell Davis
Gerald Barry
Madeline Seymour
Richard Carle
Eva Dennison
Youcca Troubetzkoy
Peter Gawthorne
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
It was in this film that silent screen legend John Gilbert made his disastrous talking-picture debut. His voice sounded high-pitched and frankly odd in a film that called for him to play a romantic swashbuckler. Audiences reportedly laughed at him at the most inappropriate moments.
Legend has it that the reason John Gilbert's voice sounded high and reedy was that M.G.M. studio head L.B. Mayer bore a grudge against Gilbert and told technicians to speed up the soundtrack to discredit the increasingly drunken and troublesome star. Certainly Gilbert's voice is flawless in the later Queen Christina (1933).
The filming of the movie and its disastrous reception were one of the main inspirations for the film Singin' in the Rain (1952).
Notes
In addition to original music composed for the film, orchestral selections include: "Light Cavalry Overture," by Franz von Suppé, "Hungarian Comedy Overture," by Keler-Bela, and "Radetzsky March," by Johann Strauss. Although playright Sidney Howard adapted Molnár's Olympia for an American production that opened on Broadway on October 16, 1928, available contemporary sources do not credit Howard's adpatation as a source for His Glorious Night.
In 1930, this film was remade in Spanish, French and German-language versions (see entries below for Olimpia, Si l'empereur savait ça! and Olympia). Another film based on the Molnár play, but somewhat different in plot, is the 1960 Paramount release A Breath of Scandal, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Sophia Loren, Maurice Chevalier and John Gavin.
