User Reviews

I had no expectations for this movie before I saw it, expect a high regard for Gary Cooper and director King Vidor, and neither disappointed me in this nice effort from them.

As mentioned before, this story concerns married writer Gary Cooper --one not unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald -- who has lost his groove, and had his latest novel rejected by his publisher. He is forced to give up his Manhattan apartment and move back to the abandoned family homestead in Connecticut. There he meets a community of Polish immigrants, and slowly falls in love with beautiful young Polish girl Anna Sten, who he had hired to help around the house.

My first thought about this movie as I watched it, was that the leading man was more beautiful than the leading lady, as Gary Cooper certainly looked fabulous and was photographed with great sensitivity. Cooper in his modern American clothes certainly had the upper hand over Sten, who was always wearing dowdy traditional Eastern European dresses and hats. She was almost completely covered up in these costumes for the duration, and it would have been a treat to see her in American garb.

The speed that Cooper's character falls in love with the young girl is questionable, especially considering he has a beautiful, funny and intelligent wife played by Helen Vinson. Perhaps it's the Polish girl's youth and innocence he's attracted to, but I think he's not as heroic as the movie-makers intend him to be. The wife does leave him alone in snowy New England to work on his novel, but he needn't stab her in the back by falling in love with another. Cooper's character comes off somewhat of a cad, and I never was able to sympathize with him enough to make me really care about his final happiness.

The movie paints the wife as a shallow but glamorous socialite, caring only for the next party of get-away weekend at his expense. But at about two-thirds into the movie and after she has read his manuscript, she has a strong and wonderful scene with Sten where she discusses the hypothetical endings for the novel. Vinson really shines in this scene, which includes one incredibly long take with at least three pages of dialog. I thought both Vinson and the often-maligned Sten made it all work very nicely. This was the moment when you can see the strength under the airy facade, of Vinson's character.

The movie takes a very dark turn partway through, and some of the scenes really rise to the level of verbal and physical abuse, something I hadn't expected to see. But the production values are great, Greg Toland's camera work shines, and the locations and sets are really convincing.

But what somewhat bothered me in its intensity were these two scenes with Sten and her family. How brutal is the scene where her father and Ralph Bellamy want her to watch Bellamy slaughter pigs? I mean she said about 5 times that it makes her sick, and they kept insisting. And then finally after she runs off -- she and the audience get to hear the sound effect of pigs squealing as they're being butchered. Didn't expect this movie to go there...

And then when her father, who was introduced as an amiable figure, gets so angry at Sten that he slaps her face with such intensity. Seemed pretty violent by today's standards...

Finally, I admire and still wonder about the ambiguous ending. Obviously, the Polish girl has died. Vinson is standing next to Cooper as he gazes out the window. She speaks to him and then he remembers aloud how Sten would look coming up to the house. He sees her in his imagination. The camera pulls back, and now Vinson is no longer in the room or the scene. Did she leave him after all? Did she decide she didn't want to stay with a man who had such a love for another woman?

When Sam Goldwyn can with great conviction Instruct Anna Sten in diction Then Anna shows Anything Goes.

That was of course just a small section of Cole Porter's celebrity-studded lyric for the title song of his 1934 Broadway show and up to today it was one of the very few things I knew about Sten, mostly variations on the theme that Sam Goldwyn 'discovered' her in Europe, brought her to Hollywood and lost a young fortune attempting to make her a star. The overriding impression was that she was beautiful but had the acting talent of an amoeba with learning difficulties. Now that I have seen her at last in a film produced around the time Goldwyn was actively promoting her I realise how wrong it was to believe the misinformation of the day. The fact is she was a fine actress and clearly Porter was exaggerating her speech problems to serve his lyric; as it happens she possessed a fine speaking voice and had no problem with English. If anyone is miscast here it is Ralph Bellamy who is about as convincing as a Polish farmer as Percy Kilbride would be as a Boston Brahmin. The plot has Manhattan sophisticate Gary Cooper moving into his family home in Connecticut and falling for the Polish girl (Sten) on the farm next door. If anything Sten turns in the best performance in a film that boasts, in addition to Cooper, Helen Vinson, Sig Ruman, and Walter Brennan. On the strength of this performance I intend to seek out other movies featuring Sten.

When a problematic writer (Gary Cooper) moves back to his country home with his very city oriented wife (Helen Vinson), he falls in love with the innocent Polish girl (Anna Sten) who lives next door. But her father has already promised her hands in marriage to another farmer (Ralph Bellamy), and when problems erupt between Cooper and Vinson, he finds himself falling in love with Sten and she longs to get out of this arranged marriage. But an agreement in the old world is an agreement, and any chance of getting what they wish could lead to tragedy.

This very sweet and simple tale has all the elements for great drama, but somehow it never really rises to the heights which it is trying to attain. The leads are young and attractive, and the plot moves briskly, but even with excellent production design and direction by the masterful King Vidor, it still lacks that magic that could have made it explode into something special. I think that occurs because there really is no chemistry between Cooper and Sten, and their unsympathetic partners (Vinson and Bellamy) are not really fleshed out as characters. It also gives the impression that poor European immigrants were lead by an uncompassionate papa and a quietly dignified mama who always suffered in silence. In these roles, Sig Ruman and Esther Dale seem more like stereotypes than real people. Walter Brennan adds some zest to a few scenes as another local, but the end result is a drama that seems like something Lillian Gish may have starred in during the silent era.

Gary Cooper and Anna Sten, an actress I'm not too familiar with, star in this romantic tale called "The Wedding Night." Complications arise right away when we open on Gary Cooper, married to Helen Vinson. Gary is an author who's written several books, but they have gotten progressively worse and his latest his publisher won't publish. With literally no money to their name, they decide to leave New York and go to a country house he owns in Connecticut on farmland. Neighbors Sig Ruman and daughter Anna Sten drop by to make an offer to buy the fields from him. Desperately needing the money, he accepts and talks his wife into going back to New York, because she never liked the place and loves the bustle of New York. With no else around save for a cook, Anna Sten feels a little sorry for him and starts coming around, and when the cook leaves, she starts making him breakfast. With all this time spent together, they begin to have feelings for each other. But, she is engaged to Ralph Bellamy, kind of, that is, as father has been arranging it for some time. But she doesn't love him. Such begins a no win situation. What begins as a very romantic and involving film turns into tragedy I didn't see coming. Granted, Gary was already married. But really this gets bad! No one's happy at the end. A very enjoyable and well made film is marred by an abrupt ending. Even Helen Vinson is especially good as the wronged wife, who gives one of her best performances, aside from Paul Muni's film, "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang." You'll love this film, like I did - up to the last minute, but be prepared for a downbeat ending.

I like Gary Cooper films--he was an excellent actor and usually starred in wonderful films. However, this one is very forgettable and I just felt bored as I watched it. While the film isn't BAD, it is pretty much just a time-passer.

Cooper plays a fun-loving writer. He and his wife were so busy having fun and partying in New York that they quality of his work had sharply declined and he was all but broke. As a result, he decided they should move into a home in rural Connecticut. Oddly, Connecticut in this film looks nothing like I expected it to look--it was all tobacco farm land and, at times, blizzards. His wife is a spoiled lady and soon she leaves along with the household staff. So, a neighbor lady (Anna Sten) comes to help with housekeeping and a romance begins to bloom--even though he's still married and she's engaged to Ralph Bellamy. By the way, as usual, because Bellamy is in the film, you know that he and Sten will never live happily ever after as man and wife! This is because no actor in the history of Hollywood ever cast as a fiancé and left all alone at the end of the film like Bellamy. He must have played this role in about a dozen films, so there isn't a lot of suspense in this regard--though he gets closer to getting the girl and living happily ever after than in most of these films.

The film is in some ways like a "Pre-Code" film, even though when it came out the Production Code had just come into its own. That's because the main theme is about married man Cooper falling in love with a woman who is engaged to be married--something you just wouldn't see in later Hollywood films of the 1930s. However, you can also see that since the Code was just created, the film ended in a way that was in line with the spirit of the Hays Office--the love between Cooper and Sten COULD not be acted upon. So, in many ways, this film is like a transition between Pre- and Post-Code films.

When people talk of a film being dated, "The Wedding Night" is a perfect example of this.

Anna Sten looks at you from the screen with those sad eyes. You know you're in for a tear-jerker. By the title, I thought I was in for a comedy. Comedy? That's a laugh in itself.

Instead, the viewer is subjected to a tragic film on par with Anna Karenina. The only thing is that we only have to be subjected to an hour and twenty four minutes of this soap opera junk.

There are two good performances here. Sten, since she so vulnerable and Sig Ruman, who portrays her strict by the book father. Yes, this is old fashioned about a girl spending a night with a man, a married man, but after all, the film was made in 1935.

Gary Cooper plays an author in this film who is obviously suffering from writer's block. That all changes when he meets, by chance, a young Polish girl, Miss Sten, who inspires him to write a novel. The problem is that Cooper is married and that Sten is engaged to a blustering Ralph Bellamy.

The tragedy at the end of this film will make you shed a tear for about a minute. Why? You'll be so glad that this film is over.

I just watched this movie this morning on Turner Cable Movies. Gary Cooper, in my opinion, was the most handsome movie actor, ever. Writer Tony and his wife Dora move to Connecticut to his ancestral home. Actually a beautiful big country home that I would love to live in! He meets his Polish neighbors who buy a plot of land from him for $5,000. His socialite wife hates the house and the desolation of living in the country. Gary (Tony) gives his wife the $5,000 so she can go back to New York to see her old friends and "shop." The daughter of the Polish neighbor, Manya, delivers milk to Tony every morning, then cooks him breakfast, and eventually comes to take care of the house. Tony starts writing a book about Manya and her family. Manya and Tony start falling in love. But Manya is committed to marry a man whom she does not love, Frederik played by Ralph Bellamy. Then the wife comes back, and Tony tells her he wants a divorce, that he loves Manya. The wedding between Frederik and Manya takes place, but Frederik gets totally drunk and realizes that Manya loves Tony. Frederik goes off to Tony's house to kill him. Then there is the tragedy that ends the movie.

When I was watching the movie, I was wondering where this movie was filmed. There is no "filming location" listed in IMDb. It is quite obvious that there are several outdoor scenes, not on a sound stage.

A lovely movie. I enjoyed it tremendously.

I wasn't really expecting too much from this one. Gary Cooper is not exactly the most versatile actor there ever was but surprisingly, he covers a range of emotion in this one. That being said, he's not the real star of this film...Anna Sten is.

Words can't describe at how beautiful Anna Sten is in this. She plays her part so believable it'll make you wonder why she never hit it big in Hollywood. She never caught on after this film and she faded into obscurity but when you see this, you'll be blown away at how good she was. Such a wasted talent. She should have done so much more.

A not-so-successful writer and his wife run out of money and he decides they should go back to his country home because it's paid for and they need no money to live there. She's not too enthused about it cause she loves NY city life but she acquiesces. They get there and she doesn't like it but she soldiers on. Not long after they arrive he gets a visit from neighbors, Anna Sten and her father, who want to buy a section of land from him. He agrees and comes into money. The wife is quite happy and decides she wants to go back to NY...where she likes it. He agrees and lets her go while he stays behind. After this, the neighbor comes back and she becomes inspiration for his next novel. From this he falls in love with her...as she does with him. Problem is, she's from a strict Polish family with deeply religious values.

If I were to get too much further into this one it would ruin it but needless to say there's a lot more coming after the synopsis I just gave you. Hang on to your seat though, you won't wanna miss any minute of this mid 30's soap opera.

Without a doubt a film that deserves a serious look. I think it gets no credibility because of Gary Cooper. He was never an actor who was gonna win Oscars. He's a one trick pony and most probably thought that when this one came out. That's OK though, those who missed this one....missed out.