5.6/10
Senior Film Conservator

A definitive 5.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. One Night of Love remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you have zero patience for 1930s melodrama or opera, just walk away now. You will probably hate the pacing and the way everyone talks like they are constantly projecting to the back row of a theater. But if you like watching people try to make it big in show business, there is something weirdly charming about One Night of Love.
It is not a masterpiece, and it definitely feels like it was filmed in another century. But it has a heartbeat, which is more than I can say for some of the stuff coming out lately.
Grace Moore really does have a set of pipes. When she starts hitting those high notes, you stop caring that the plot is basically just a string of misunderstandings and professional bickering. She carries the whole film on her shoulders.
The Maestro, played by Tullio Carminati, is exactly the kind of arrogant, brooding mentor archetype you expect. At one point he’s scolding her for not feeling the music properly, and I swear he spends more time staring at his own reflection in the piano lid than at her. It’s a bit much, honestly. 🙄
It reminds me a little bit of the energy in The Triumph of Venus, but with a lot more singing and slightly less statuesque posing. It’s not trying to change the world. It’s just trying to get you to like an opera star.
Some parts of this film are painfully slow. The middle section just sort of drifts, and you find yourself checking your phone or looking at the wall. Then, suddenly, someone starts singing again, and you’re back in it. It’s that kind of movie.
Is it better than Left Over Ladies? Hard to say, they’re such different beasts. But I’ll take a real voice singing over a boring script any day. Even if that script is a bit of a relic.
I left the movie feeling like I’d just had a very long, very fancy dinner with someone who talks a lot about their career. Kind of exhausting, but I’m glad I went. 🎭

IMDb —
1931
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