''On Such a Night'' is a 1955 British

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

semi-documentary film directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

which lists 1955 as year of release which offers a snap-shot of the

Glyndebourne opera house Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundred ...

in the 1950s, including extracts from ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'', and a fictional first visit to the opera house by an American. The film was "very discreetly aimed at potential American audiences fascinated by British eccentricities".

Background

It was filmed at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

and

Lewes railway station Lewes railway station serves the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. It has five platforms and is on the East Coastway Line, from via . Train services are provided by Southern. The station has a café and there is a taxi office on the mai ...

on 28 May to 12 June 1955, with the operatic excerpts on 6 June 1955. After a private viewing on 25 October that year, the first public showing was on 24 November 1955 at the

Gaumont Haymarket The Odeon Haymarket was a cinema on Haymarket, London. Three cinemas occupied the site between 1925 and 1996, predecessors being Capitol Cinema (1925–1936) and Gaumont Haymarket (1937–1959). It became the Odeon Haymarket in 1962, before closing ...

cinema, London, on a bill with ''

Simon and Laura ''Simon and Laura'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Muriel Box and starring Peter Finch and Kay Kendall. Play Satirising the early days of BBC Television, ''Simon and Laura'' focuses on an argumentative theatrical couple called Simon a ...

''.Julia Aries. The Story of On Such a Night. Booklet essay for the DVD ''On Such a Night'', 2010.

Synopsis

An American tourist (David Knight) has been persuaded by to visit

Alfriston Alfriston is a village and civil parish in the East Sussex district of Wealden, England. The village lies in the valley of the River Cuckmere, about four miles (6 km) north-east of Seaford and south of the main A27 trunk road and part ...

but is bemused by what he witnesses at Victoria Station when people in evening dress join his train. After a confusing journey in a compartment with two men talking about a new countess, he alights at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

and is more baffled still when the formally dressed people get on a Southdown bus waiting there. He gets in a taxi and asks the driver to follow the bus. Arriving at the entrance of Glyndebourne, he explains to an upper-class lady (

Marie Lohr Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...

) he had noticed at Victoria Station who is with her niece ( Josephine Griffin) that he does not have a ticket, at which they ask John Christie who sees that he gets one. During the performance he watches

Sesto Bruscantini Sesto Bruscantini (10 December 1919 – 4 May 2003) was an Italian baritone, one of the greatest buffo singers of the post-war era, especially renowned in Mozart and Rossini. Biography and career Bruscantini was born in Civitanova Marche, Marche, ...

sing " Non più andrai" and

Sena Jurinac Srebrenka "Sena" Jurinac () (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011) was a Bosnian-born Austrian operatic soprano. Biography Jurinac was born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), the daughter of a Croatia ...

(the "new Countess") sing "Porgi, amor". The end of the second-act finale is shown, with

Franco Calabrese Franco Calabrese (22 July 1923 in Palermo – 13 November 1992 in Lucca) was an Italian bass singer. Biography Calabrese grew up in Lucca, graduating from the Boccherini Institute In 1947. He made his stage debut at the Teatro Comunale i ...

, Monica Sinclair,

Hugues Cuénod Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (; 26 June 19026 December 2010)

and Ian Wallace, and the very end of the opera. There is also a scene of

Carl Ebert Carl Anton Charles Ebert (20 February 1887 – 14 May 1980), was an actor, stage director and arts administrator. Ebert's early career was as an actor, training under Max Reinhardt and becoming one of the leading actors in his native Germany duri ...

rehearsing Jurinac and Rizzieri and of the conductor

Vittorio Gui Vittorio Gui (14 September 188516 October 1975) was an Italian conductor, composer, musicologist and critic. Gui was born in Rome in 1885. He graduated in humanities at the University of Rome and also studied composition at the Accademia Naziona ...

and the administrator

Moran Caplat Moran Victor Hingston Caplat, CBE (1 October 1916 - 19 June 2003) was an English opera manager, associated throughout his career with Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Life and career Early years Caplat was born in Herne Bay, Kent, the only child of Ar ...

, and the orchestra playing

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

. The film ends with the lady giving the American her ticket for ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' the following week so that he can come with her niece.Milnes, Rodney. "''On Such a Night'' –

Rodney Milnes Rodney Milnes Blumer OBE (26 July 1936 – 5 December 2015) was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.Rodney Milnes. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, ...

rediscovers a Glyndbourne gem", ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

'', 2010 Festivals Issue, pp. 44–47.

Cast

* David Knight as David Cornell *

as Lady Falconbridge * Josephine Griffin as Virginia Ridley *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as 1st gentleman * Peter Jones as 2nd gentleman In the opera extracts: *

as Figaro * as Susanna * Ian Wallace as Dr Bartolo * Monica Sinclair as Marcellina *

Frances Bible Frances Lillian Bible (January 26, 1919 – January 29, 2001) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had a thirty-year career at the New York City Opera between 1948 and 1978. She also made a number of opera appearances with other companies t ...

as Cherubino *

as Count Almaviva *

Hugues Cuénod Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (; 26 June 19026 December 2010)

as Don Basilio *

as Countess Almaviva * Gwyn Griffiths as Antonio * Jeannette Sinclair as Barbarina * Daniel McCoshan as Don Curzio The

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

is conducted by Vittorio Gui, and the film was issued on DVD in 2010, using a print from the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

References

External links

* * {{Anthony Asquith 1955 films British short films Films directed by Anthony Asquith Films with screenplays by Paul Dehn Films about opera Films shot in East Sussex