Night and Day

Right now you can watch Night and Day in the US on YouTube TV — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 6/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Cary Grant sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight on YouTube TV and see for yourself.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Night and Day earns its spot. Night and Day trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. When his first stage show fails, songwriter Cole Porter goes off to fight in WWI until, injured, he lands in a hospital. He impresses nurse Linda Lee with his creativity, but their budding romance must wait as Cole heads home. Back in New York, he mounts a series of popular shows, and when his work brings him back to Europe, he eventually marries Linda. Cary Grant and Alexis Smith lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 1946. Night and Day resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Night and Day. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Cary Grant is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.