History Is Made at Night

Directed by Frank Borzage, this 1937 romantic drama has Charles Boyer as a suave Parisian headwaiter who falls for an American socialite played by Jean Arthur and tries to free her from her possessive, jealous ex husband, played by Colin Clive. The film's strangest turn is its ending: consumed by jealousy, the husband arranges for the ocean liner carrying his wife and her lover to strike an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Overcome by guilt, he kills himself and leaves a note confessing that he murdered Paul, but the ship's bulkhead doors contain the flooding, it stays afloat, and the couple is rescued. Producer Walter Wanger reportedly arrived on set a week before shooting wrapped and decided the film needed to end with a shipwreck, which is how the disaster climax got there. Critic Andrew Sarris once called it the most romantic title in the history of the movies, and the film is regarded as one of Borzage's finest expressions of carnal and spiritual longing, restored in 4K by the Criterion Collection. Who it's for: Classic Hollywood melodrama fans, especially those who love Borzage's brand of heightened romance. Who it's not for: Not for viewers wanting tonal consistency, since the film lurches from comedy into melodrama and then into disaster picture.