Directed by:
Michael CurtizComposer:
Cole PorterCast:
Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley, Ginny Simms, Jane Wyman, Eve Arden, Alan Hale, Victor Francen, Dorothy Malone, Tom D'Andrea, Selena Royle, Donald Woods (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Yale University law student Cole Porter's studies suffer because of his interest in the theater. During the 1914 Christmas holidays, Cole travels home to Indiana with his sympathetic law professor, Monty Woolley, and his friend, Ward Blackburn. Also visiting the Porter home are Cole's cousin Nancy and her roommate, the well-to-do Linda Lee. At home, Cole tells his disapproving grandfather Omer that he does not intend to return to Yale, but will instead try to earn a living as a songwriter. Upon returning to the city, Cole and Monty put together a theatrical show called See America First , starring Cole's friend, Gracie Harris. Nancy, Ward and Linda are in the audience on opening night, but Cole's mother remains in Indiana with his grandfather, who refuses to come. The Lusitania is sunk by the Germans the same night, and Cole's show closes after one performance. Cole then joins the French army and is injured. While recuperating in a French hospital, he encounters Linda, who is working there as a nurse. In an effort to ease Cole's despondency, Linda buys a piano for the hospital and Cole recovers enough to write "Night and Day." Linda proposes that Cole join her in a villa on the Riviera, and although Cole loves Linda, he explains that he does not want to take her money anymore than he wanted to take his family's money and intends to return to America to work on his own. In New York, Cole takes a job playing the piano in a music store. Tired of trying to sell the same old songs, Cole's partner, singer Carole Hill, sings one of his compositions, and encouraged by its warm reception, Cole and Monty, who is now working as an actor, produce another show, The New Yorkers . This show is an enormous hit, as is Cole's following show. Eventually Cole is offered the opportunity to write a show in England. There he once again meets Linda, whom he has never stopped loving, and they marry. Immediately after the wedding, Cole and Linda return to New York, where Cole goes into production on yet another show. Cole continues to promise Linda that they will take a trip together, but as soon as one show is completed, he begins another. Finally, Linda becomes tired of Cole's promises and leaves for Europe alone. When Cole's mother telephones with the news that his grandfather is dying, Cole immediately flies to Indiana, and before Omer dies, he and Cole are reconciled. A disheartened Cole stays on in Indiana and, during a storm, is severely injured when he is thrown by a horse. The injury aggravates Cole's war wounds, and he loses the use of his legs. Before he undergoes a long series of operations, Cole forbids Monty to tell Linda about his injury. Later, Cole attends a tribute at Yale. Monty arranges for Linda to surprise him there, and the couple is reunited. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Howard Freeman
USA
Best movies:
Madame Curie (1943)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
The Killers (1946)
Wilbur Mack
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
James Conaty
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Cyril Ring
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Fern Emmett
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
The Rains Came (1939)
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Hobart Cavanaugh
USA
Best movies:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
The House of Fear (1945)
John Alvin
USA
Best movies:
Objective, Burma! (1945)
Deep in My Heart (1954)
Carrie (1952)
Charles Williams
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Love Is News (1937)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Bert Moorhouse
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Sam Flint
USA
Best movies:
Psycho (1960)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Almira Sessions
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Chester Clute
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Mel Tormé
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Eric Wilton
UK
Best movies:
Limelight (1952)
Gaslight (1944)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Philip Van Zandt
Netherlands
Best movies:
Citizen Kane (1941)
Gilda (1946)
Life with Father (1947)
Eddie Kane
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Edward Biby
USA
Best movies:
The Kid (1921)
Edison, the Man (1940)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Jo Ann Marlowe
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Strange Woman (1946)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
George Meader
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Virginia Sale
USA
Best movies:
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Strike Up the Band (1940)