When a beautiful socialite falls in love with an embittered composer who is blind, she feigns blindness herself in order to get closer to him.When a beautiful socialite falls in love with an embittered composer who is blind, she feigns blindness herself in order to get closer to him.When a beautiful socialite falls in love with an embittered composer who is blind, she feigns blindness herself in order to get closer to him.
Whit Bissell
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Leonard Bremen
- Chez Mamie Headwaiter
- (uncredited)
Charles Cirillo
- Sailor at Chez Mamie
- (uncredited)
Angela Clarke
- Woman
- (uncredited)
George Cooper
- Bellboy
- (uncredited)
Lynn Craft
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Suzi Crandall
- Fur-Coated Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
Herbert Evans
- Butler
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDana Andrews wore opaque contact lenses throughout filming to give him a realistic sensation of blindness.
- GoofsWhen Chick begins singing the verses on the song "Who Kill Er", you hear horn riffs playing in the background. But when it cuts to the horn players on stage, they are sitting still and not playing although you can hear the horns in the music.
- Quotes
Miss Willey: My heart's an old wastepaper basket, filled with unpaid bills and paperback novels.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Let's Go to the Movies (1949)
- SoundtracksI COULDN'T SLEEP A WINK LAST NIGHT
(uncredited)
from Higher and Higher (1943)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Performed by "Chick Morgan Band"
Featured review
Formula Romance that Triumphantly Transcends its Material
NIGHT SONG might only appear to be a routine example of the kind of postwar romance that most of the major studios produced. A blind bar pianist (Dana Andrews) is taken up by a wealthy socialite (Merle Oberon), who pretends to be blind herself in order to secure his confidence. After a courtship in San Francisco, the pianist is given sufficient financial backing to have an operation to restore his sight, and receive a concert premiere of his new concerto at Carnegie Hall, New York. He returns to San Francisco, where he meets his beloved, and the two them vow eternal love.
Frank Renton and Dick Irving Hyland's screenplay contains its fair share of intertexts. The idea of a concert performance dates back to Brian Desmond Hurst's huge British wartime hit DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT (1941), that contained the premiere of Addinsell's "Warsaw Concerto," while Andrews's predicament as a war-scarred survivor cross- references Goldwyn's THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), in which the actor had given an equally memorable characterization in a similar role.
Yet nonetheless NIGHT SONG possesses a certain integrity. Director John Cromwell establishes a close bond between Andrews and his boon companion Chick (Hoagy Carmichael, who even gets a solo number), and by doing so suggests the importance of male bonding in an often uncertain world. No one, it seems, knows really what to do with the peace, after having won the war; the only outlet both men can find is playing bands in some cheap SF dive bars.
This relationship is contrasted with the more spiky friendship between Oberon and her boon companion Miss Willey (Ethel Barrymore). The grande dame of the American theater gives one of her more commanding characterizations as a supposed cynic with a heart of gold, who readily understands the agonies her younger friend experiences as she tries to woo the pianist without hurting his feelings. In an environment where people seldom gave vent to their emotions in public, emotional expression is put at a premium.
The end of the movie is enlivened by a live performance from Leopold Stokowski and Eugeme Ormandy playing themselves with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. They do not have to do much, but they set about delivering the concerto (with music by Leith Stevens) with a conviction and gusto that is truly refreshing.
Frank Renton and Dick Irving Hyland's screenplay contains its fair share of intertexts. The idea of a concert performance dates back to Brian Desmond Hurst's huge British wartime hit DANGEROUS MOONLIGHT (1941), that contained the premiere of Addinsell's "Warsaw Concerto," while Andrews's predicament as a war-scarred survivor cross- references Goldwyn's THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), in which the actor had given an equally memorable characterization in a similar role.
Yet nonetheless NIGHT SONG possesses a certain integrity. Director John Cromwell establishes a close bond between Andrews and his boon companion Chick (Hoagy Carmichael, who even gets a solo number), and by doing so suggests the importance of male bonding in an often uncertain world. No one, it seems, knows really what to do with the peace, after having won the war; the only outlet both men can find is playing bands in some cheap SF dive bars.
This relationship is contrasted with the more spiky friendship between Oberon and her boon companion Miss Willey (Ethel Barrymore). The grande dame of the American theater gives one of her more commanding characterizations as a supposed cynic with a heart of gold, who readily understands the agonies her younger friend experiences as she tries to woo the pianist without hurting his feelings. In an environment where people seldom gave vent to their emotions in public, emotional expression is put at a premium.
The end of the movie is enlivened by a live performance from Leopold Stokowski and Eugeme Ormandy playing themselves with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. They do not have to do much, but they set about delivering the concerto (with music by Leith Stevens) with a conviction and gusto that is truly refreshing.
helpful•21
- l_rawjalaurence
- Sep 9, 2016
- How long is Night Song?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Counterpoint
- Filming locations
- Broad Beach, Malibu, California, USA(aka Trancas Beach - beach scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,700,000
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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