His Glorious Night (1929) - Is the 'I Love You' scene really that bad?

Should you watch this today? Honestly, only if you are a huge nerd for movie history or you want to see a train wreck happen in slow motion.

If you want a real romance that doesn't make you cringe every five minutes, you should probably skip it. Modern audiences will likely find the whole thing pretty creepy and very slow.

Everyone knows the story about John Gilbert. They say his voice was too high and that’s why his career died after this movie came out.

But listening to it now? His voice is actually fine. It’s just the way he talks that is the problem.

He sounds like he’s trying to reach the back row of a theater in 1910. It’s too much. Everything is too much.

The plot is basically about a Princess named Orlanza who is supposed to marry some boring guy for politics. But she’s in love with Captain Kovacs, played by Gilbert.

Kovacs is a bit of a jerk, though. He basically blackmails her into spending one last night with him or he'll tell everyone about their affair.

It’s hard to root for a guy who says 'give me what I want or I'll ruin your life.' 😬

The most famous part is the 'I love you' scene. It goes on forever.

He says 'I love you' like twenty times in a row. It starts off romantic, then it gets weird, and then it gets actually funny.

You can see Catherine Dale Owen just standing there. She looks like she’s waiting for a bus that’s thirty minutes late.

The acting is so stiff. It’s like nobody told them they could move their heads while talking.

They probably couldn't move much because of the giant microphones hidden in the flower pots. You can almost feel the actors being scared of moving an inch away from the mic.

Compared to something like A Woman of the Sea, this feels like it was filmed in a closet. There is no air in the room.

Catherine Dale Owen is... well, she's very pretty. But she acts with her eyebrows and nothing else.

There’s this one shot where she’s looking at a chandelier and her face is totally blank. I kept wondering if she forgot her line or if she was just thinking about lunch.

The sets are huge and look expensive, but they feel empty. Like a furniture store after closing time.

I did like Gustav von Seyffertitz as the villain. He has a great name and a great face for being mean.

But the movie just stops every time someone starts talking. The rhythm is all wrong.

It’s like the movie is holding its breath and waiting for the sound engineer to give a thumbs up.

If you’ve seen A Night of Mystery, you know how these early sound films can feel a bit lost. This one is the poster child for that feeling.

The dialogue is written by Willard Mack, and man, it’s repetitive. People repeat the same sentence three times just to fill the silence.

'You are beautiful. So beautiful. Truly, you are beautiful.' We get it, Willard. Move on.

There is a scene where Gilbert puts on his hat and it’s probably the most natural thing he does in the whole film. Just a guy and a hat. No talking.

The ending is supposed to be dramatic, but I was mostly just glad it was over. It's only about 80 minutes but it feels like three hours.

It’s a shame, really. Gilbert was a king in the silent era.

Watching this feels like watching a champion athlete try to play a sport they don't understand. 🏀

You feel bad for him, but you also kind of want to turn the TV off.

Anyway, if you're curious about why the 'talkies' were so scary for actors, this is the best evidence you’ll find. It’s a fascinating disaster.

Just don't expect to actually enjoy the story. It's pretty rough.