View source for One Night of Love

{{short description|1934 film}}
{{For|the 2008 Russian historical drama TV show|One Night of Love (TV series)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
  | name = One Night of Love
  | image = Onenightoflove.JPG
  | caption = Theatrical release poster
  | director = [[Victor Schertzinger]]
  | producer = [[Harry Cohn]]
  | writer = [[Charles Beahan]] (story)<br/>[[Dorothy Speare]] (story)<br/>[[James Gow (writer)|James Gow]]<br/>[[S.K. Lauren]]<br/>[[Edmund H. North]]
  | starring = [[Grace Moore]]<br/>[[Tullio Carminati]]<br/>[[Lyle Talbot]]
  | music = [[Alfred Newman (composer)|Alfred Newman]]<br/>[[Victor Schertzinger]]<br/>[[Louis Silvers]]<br/>[[Howard Jackson (composer)|Howard Jackson]]
  | cinematography = [[Joseph Walker (cinematographer)|Joseph Walker]]
  | editing = [[Gene Milford]]
  | distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]]
  | released = {{film date|1934|09|05}}
  | runtime = 83 minutes
  | language = English<br />Italian
  | country = United States
  |budget=$500,000<ref name="wall"/>
  |gross = $2,500,000 (worldwide rentals)<ref name=wall>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety-1962-11/page/n5/mode/2up|title=Wall St. Researchers' Cheery Tone|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=November 7, 1962|page=7|access-date=2022-06-08|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref>
}}
'''''One Night of Love''''' is a 1934 American [[Columbia Pictures]] [[romantic musical film]] set in the [[opera]] world, starring [[Grace Moore]] and [[Tullio Carminati]]. The film was directed by [[Victor Schertzinger]] and adapted from the story ''Don't Fall in Love'', by Charles Beahan and Dorothy Speare.

In the relatively new use of sound recordings for film, ''One Night of Love'' was noted at the time for its innovative use of [[vertical cut recording]], for which [[Columbia Pictures]] received an [[Academy Honorary Award|Academy Scientific and Technical Award]]. It also won the academy's first [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Award for Best Original Score]].

==Plot==
[[Opera]] singer Mary Barrett ([[Grace Moore]]) leaves to study music in [[Milan]], Italy to the disappointment of her family in New York City. Mary gets a job at the Cafe Roma, where Giulio Monteverdi ([[Tullio Carminati]]), a famous vocal coach, hears her sing. Giulio promises to make Mary a star if she will allow him to control her life. He also tells her that there cannot be any romance between the two of them, as that would distract from the process of growing her talent. Mary discovers she has [[stagefright]] as she prepares for a tour of provincial [[opera houses]], however Giulio helps her overcome it.

Years later, still under Giulio's tutelage, Mary begins to tire of his dominance and discipline. The two meet one of Giulio's old pupils, Lally ([[Mona Barrie]]), while in [[Vienna]]. Lally once tried to be romantic with Giulio, but was rejected. This past history renders Mary jealous and she pretends to have [[laryngitis]]. Mary thinks Giulio has gone to Lally to rekindle a romance, and so visits Bill Houston ([[Lyle Talbot]]), a longtime friend who has proposed marriage. In a jealous huff, Mary decides not to sing that night in order to punish Giulio. Giulio realizes what is going on and tells Mary that Lally will replace her on stage, but then proposes to Mary.

She decides to go on, and Mary's performance of [[Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'' wins her an invitation to the [[Metropolitan Opera]], her dream venue. Giulio, however, still does not believe that she is ready for such a venue. Later at dinner, Lally lies to Mary by telling her that she is still involved with Giulio. On the night of her debut in ''[[Madame Butterfly]]'', Mary is too nervous to go on stage until she sees Giulio in his usual place in the prompter's box.<ref>[[Stanley Green (historian)|Green, Stanley]] (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation {{ISBN|0-634-00765-3}} page 32</ref>

==Cast==
[[File:One Night of Love.jpg|thumb|Lobby card]]
*[[Grace Moore]] – Mary Barrett
*[[Tullio Carminati]] – Giulio Monteverdi
*[[Lyle Talbot]] – Bill Houston
*[[Mona Barrie]] – Lally
*[[Jessie Ralph]] – Angelina
*[[Luis Alberni]] – Giovanni
*[[Andrés de Segurola]] – Galuppi
*[[Nydia Westman]] – Muriel
*[[William Burress]] - Mr. Barrett, Mary's father (uncredited)

==Production==
The complete [[proscenium]] and part of the wings and seating plan of the [[Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)|Metropolitan Opera House]] were duplicated for this production and occupied the whole of Columbia's largest [[sound stage]].<ref name="AFI">[http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=1&Movie=6511 "One Night of Love"]. [[American Film Institute]]. Retrieved February 27, 2014.</ref>

Moore's recording and performance of the ''[[Un bel di]]'' aria from ''[[Madame Butterfly]]'' did not go smoothly, as she had trouble hitting the high notes. According to a later biography, she flew into a rage and blamed the orchestra. However, when studio boss [[Harry Cohn]] asked Columbia music director, [[Morris Stoloff]], what the problem was, Stoloff replied, "There's nothing wrong with the orchestra. These are the original Puccini orchestrations." Moore was then told that either she went back to the recording stage or she would be responsible for paying the day's salary for the entire orchestra, and she returned and recorded the aria.<ref name="TCM">[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16082/one-night-of-love#articles-reviews "One Night of Love"]. [[Turner Classic Movies]]. Retrieved February 27, 2014.</ref>

==Featured music==
Grace Moore's title song "One Night of Love" was composed by Victor Schertzinger himself, with lyrics by [[Gus Kahn]]. The lyrics began "One Night Of Love, When two hearts are one". It was later recorded by [[Anna Moffo]] as the title track of a 1965 crossover album. 
{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
;Opera arias
* ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor|Chi mi frena]]'' from ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'' by [[Gaetano Donizetti]]
* ''[[La traviata|Sempre libera]]'' from ''[[La traviata]]'' by [[Giuseppe Verdi]]
* ''[[La traviata|Ah! fors' è lui]]'' from ''La traviata''
* ''[[Habanera (aria)|Habanera]]'' from ''[[Carmen]]'' by [[Georges Bizet]]
* ''[[Un bel di]]'' from ''[[Madame Butterfly]]'' by [[Giacomo Puccini]]
{{col-break}}
;Traditional songs
* ''[[Funiculì, Funiculà]]'', [[Neapolitan dialect|Neapolitan]] song by Luigi Denza 1880 
* ''[[Santa Lucia (song)|Santa Lucia]]'', traditional Neapolitan song
* ''[['O sole mio]]'', by [[Eduardo Di Capua]]
* ''[[The Last Rose of Summer]]'', by [[Thomas Moore]]
* ''[[Ciribiribin|Ciri-Biri-Bin]]'', by [[Alberto Pestalozza]]
{{col-end}}

==Reception==
''One Night of Love'' was selected as one of the ten best pictures of 1934 by ''[[Film Daily]]'''s annual poll of critics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Alicoate|first=Jack|date=1935|title=The 1935 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures, 17th Annual Edition|publisher=The Film Daily|page=59|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdailyyearboo00film_5/page/58/mode/2up|access-date=2022-07-23|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref>

Through October 1936 ''One Night of Love'' had [[theatrical rental|theater rentals]] in the U.S. and Canada of over $733,000 according to [[Variety (magazine)|Variety magazine]] surveys of the time.<ref name=sedgwick>{{cite journal|first1=John|last1=Sedgwick|first2=Michael|last2=Pokorny|title=The Film Business in the United States and Britain during the 1930s|journal=The Economic History Review |series=New Series|volume=58|number= 1|year=2005|pages=79–112|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2005.00299.x |jstor=3698918 |s2cid=152896495 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3698918|access-date=2022-07-05}}</ref> The film earned an estimated $2.5 million worldwide.<ref name="wall" /> Although it did not do well in rural areas and small towns, ''One Night of Love'' was the first Columbia film to gain important bookings in the powerful [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loews chain]] of theaters, which was a milestone in Columbia's progress.<ref name="TCM" />

==Awards and nominations==
At the [[7th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]], the film won two out of six nominations, as well as a Technical Award.
;Wins<ref name="Oscar">{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1935 |title=The 7th Academy Awards (1934) Nominees and Winners|access-date=2014-02-27|work=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref>
* [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Music (Scoring)]]: Columbia Studio Music Department, [[Louis Silvers]], head of department (Thematic Music by Victor Schertzinger and [[Gus Kahn]])
* [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound Recording]]: Columbia Studio Sound Department, [[John Livadary]], Sound Director
* [[Academy Scientific and Technical Award|Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)]]: ''To Columbia Pictures Corporation'' for their application of the [[Vertical cut recording|Vertical Cut Disc Method]] (hill and dale recording) to actual studio production, with their recording of the sound on the picture ''One Night of Love''."

;Nominations
* [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Production]]: Columbia
* [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Directing]]: Victor Schertzinger
* [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]: Grace Moore
* [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]: Gene Milford

The film was also recognized by the [[American Film Institute]]:
* Nominated in 2006: [[AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/musicals_ballot.pdf |title=AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees |access-date=2016-08-13 |archive-date=2016-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052845/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/musicals_ballot.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0025601|title=One Night of Love}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|one_night_of_love}}
* {{TCMDb title|16082}}
* {{AFI film|id=6511}}

{{Victor Schertzinger |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1934 films]]
[[Category:1930s romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Victor Schertzinger]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award]]
[[Category:American romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Alfred Newman]]
[[Category:Films scored by Victor Schertzinger]]
[[Category:Films scored by Louis Silvers]]
[[Category:Films scored by Howard Jackson (composer)]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic musical films]]