Night and Day is a 1946 Technicolor Warner Brothers biographical film of the life of American composer and songwriter Cole Porter. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Arthur Schwartz, with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend and William Bowers.
The music score by Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner was nominated for an Academy Award. The film features several of the best-known Porter songs, including the title song, "Night and Day", "Begin the Beguine" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy".
The film stars Cary Grant as Cole Porter and Alexis Smith as his wife of 35 years, Linda Lee Porter Monty Woolley and Mary Martin appear as themselves and the rest of the cast includes Jane Wyman, Eve Arden, Alan Hale, Dorothy Malone, Donald Woods, and Ginny Simms.
The film is a highly fictionalized and sanitized version of Cole Porter's life, leaving out amongst other things references to his homosexuality. A later film biography of Porter, the 2004 De-Lovely with Kevin Kline, dealt more frankly with his sexuality.[1][2]
Judy Garland performed a medley of Porter's songs at the 37th Academy Awards, the first Oscars ceremony held following Porter's death.
Well, it's not too often that tribute films are made to those who are still active in their lives and profession, but Cole Porter was pretty much at the zenith of his career when this film was released. Which speaks to the greatness of his life and work. Here's some of Porter's music used in this tribute film:
Cary Grant on the piano! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7UwoPT_Xd4 Cary probably couldn't sing too well, and I'm not sure whose voice this is, but a VERY cool scene here.
Mary Martin - My Heart Belongs To Daddy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z95ugtQnmU The song contains one of Porter's most obscure lyrics among its several rhymes for "daddy" - in which the singer talks about her "fine finnan haddie", a Scottish term for smoked haddock. Referring specifically to the melody, Oscar Levant described it as "one of the most Yiddish tunes ever written" despite the fact that "Cole Porter's genetic background was completely alien to any Jewishness."
Begin The Beguine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy92ilkSZ5A Based on the title dance, it is notable for its 108-measure length, departing drastically from the conventional thirty-two-bar form. A beguine is a spirited ballroom dance. Since "begin" and "beguine" are often pronounced the same by some people, it is common to see the song's title misspelled as "Begin the Begin", as when used tongue-in-cheek by R.E.M. as the title to a track on Lifes Rich Pageant.
