''This Could Be the Night'' is a 1957
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
comedy-drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed by
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...
and starring
Jean Simmons and
Paul Douglas
Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...
.
Anthony Franciosa
Anthony George Franciosa (né Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of t ...
made his debut in the film, which is based on the short stories by
Cornelia Baird Gross.
Plot
Anne Leeds is a school teacher with only four weeks of experience. She takes a part-time job as a secretary to an ex-bootlegger and horse-playing gambler by the name of Rocco. He's a Broadway nightclub owner with a heart of gold who falls in love with Anne. However, he knows he's too old for her, so keeps his feelings to himself.
Anne "thinks" she's in love with his younger partner Tony Armotti, a typical playboy type who is afraid to fall in love because it might mean marriage. Tony lives in a walkup apartment above the nightclub, where he often entertains beautiful women. The stairs to the apartment are on the alley behind the club.
The entire nightclub loves Anne but Tony resents her because he wants to take care of her and protect her. Eventually after confronting Tony, Anne quits because Tony tells her he does not love her and never will. After she quits the entire nightclub patronizes Tony over whether Anne quit or was fired. He goes to where she is currently working and, after helping her escape when police raid the gambling den, convinces her to take back the job she quit.
Cast
*
Jean Simmons as Anne Leeds
*
Paul Douglas
Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...
as Rocco
*
Anthony Franciosa
Anthony George Franciosa (né Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of t ...
as Tony Armotti
*
Julie Wilson
Julie May Wilson (October 21, 1924 – April 5, 2015) was an American singer and actress widely regarded as "the queen of cabaret". She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1989 for her performance in '' Le ...
as Ivy Corlane
*
Neile Adams
Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams (born July 10, 1932), known professionally as Neile Adams, is a Filipino American actress, singer, and dancer who made more than 20 appearances in films and television series between 1952 and 1991.
Early life and fami ...
as Patsy St. Clair
*
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
as Crystal St. Clair
*
J. Carrol Naish
Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 credits during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films '' Sahara ...
as Leon
*
Rafael Campos
Rafael Campos (13 May 1936 – 9 July 1985) was an actor from the Dominican Republic whose credits include ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), '' Dino'' (1957), '' The Light in the Forest'' (1958), ''Slumber Party '57'' (1976), ''The Astro-Zombies'' (1 ...
as Hussein Mohammed
*
ZaSu Pitts
Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...
as Mrs. Katie Shea
*
Tom Helmore
Tom Helmore (4 January 1904 – 12 September 1995) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1927 and 1972, including three directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Helmore was born in London, England and died in Longboat K ...
as Stowe Devlin
*
Murvyn Vye
Marvin Wesley Vye Jr. (July 15, 1913 – August 17, 1976) was an American character actor. He is best known for portraying Prince Ken Arok in the comedy film ''Road to Bali''.
Early years
Vye was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and educat ...
as Waxie London
*
Vaughn Taylor
Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour.
Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High School ...
as Ziggy Dawit
*
Frank Ferguson
Frank S. Ferguson (December 25, 1906 – September 12, 1978) was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television.
Background
Ferguson was the younger of two children of W. Thomas Ferguson, a native Scottish ...
as Mr. Shea
*
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
(cameo appearance)
*
June Blair
Margaret June Blair (October 20, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American model and actress. She was best known for being ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its January 1957 issue and for being part of the TV series ''The Adventu ...
as chorus girl
*
Bess Flowers
Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerous ...
as nightclub extra
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the film was jazz-based, featuring performances by
Ray Anthony
Raymond Antonini (born January 20, 1922), known as Ray Anthony, is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, and actor. He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Biography
Anthony was born to an Italian family in Ben ...
and his Orchestra, with vocals throughout, including the film's title song, sung by
Julie Wilson
Julie May Wilson (October 21, 1924 – April 5, 2015) was an American singer and actress widely regarded as "the queen of cabaret". She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1989 for her performance in '' Le ...
. Both Wilson and Anthony had roles in the film. Wilson played singer Ivy Corlane, while Anthony, with his Orchestra, played himself.
[Internet Movie Database]
Cast credits for This Could Be The Night
Retrieved March 1, 2013.
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $870,000 in the US and Canada, and $650,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $804,000.
See also
*
List of American films of 1957
A list of American films released in 1957. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-H
I-N
O-Q
R-T
U-Z
See also
* 1957 in the United States
References
External links
1957 filmsat the Interne ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:This Could Be The Night
1957 films
1957 comedy-drama films
American comedy-drama films
American black-and-white films
1950s English-language films
Films directed by Robert Wise
Films set in New York City
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films produced by Joe Pasternak
1957 comedy films
1957 drama films
CinemaScope films
1950s American films