Cole Porter is one of Americas most renown songwriters and composers; his song “Night and Day” is perhaps the most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook. It was originally written for the 1932 musical “The Gay Divorcee” and has since been recorded by countless performers.
The film “Night and Day” is the 1946 biographical musical starring Cary Grant in a fictionalized account of the life of Cole Porter. In addition to the previously mentioned song of the same name, “Night and Day” features several of the best-known Porter songs, including “Begin the Beguine”, “In The Still of the Night”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “I Get a Kick Out of You” and many more. Producer Jack Warner paid $300,000 for the rights to the songs.
The scriptwriters knew that the film would need to be fictionalized; Cole Porter not only lacked the “rags-to-riches” biographical storyline that audiences embraced but, more importantly, because he was gay; depictions of homosexuality were prohibited by the film industry’s Production Code.
Cary Grant sings several of the songs which made “Night and Day” the closest he came to making a musical; while he is one of our best known and beloved actors, Cary Grant was definitely not famous for his singing.
Today I’m going to be ‘breaking boundaries’ by stealing a page out of Nick’s playbook and featuring Cole Porter himself performing his classic “Night and Day”.
For me, there’s something magical about hearing the great composers such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin, etc., performing their own pieces; it gives me a thrill to hear them, knowing I’m in listening to greatness.
I could have chosen any one of the many famous singers who recorded “Night and Day” for today’s post. Perhaps there’s another version/performer you consider your favorite and would like to share it with us today. Please do so; I love to read your comments.
That’s a wrap, kids. I’ll be back next week with more great music from the movies. Don’t forget Nick will be breaking boundaries once again tomorrow; please be sure to check him out.
See you on the flip side.
I’m The Sicilian Storyteller
NAR © 2023
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Have you seen “De-Lovely,” with Kevin Kline as Porter? Much more honest biopic…
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I have, John. Wonderful little movie!
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Here is another of Cole Porter’s songs sung by Sinatra that Nick hinted at. No one did the standards better than Frank and Ella but this recording by Frank is ineffably sublime. He is at his very best here; I have goosebumps!
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With features like this you can steal pages from my playbook anytime, Nancy!
It’s Alright With Me
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I see what you did there! 😉
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Thanks for sharing this lovely piece of musical history. Love hearing him sing his composition, and I think I’ll call it my favorite version!
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Thanks, D! Cole Porter was so creative, clever and witty … a genius in my book. And his music was not easy to play and/or sing, especially songs like this one and “Begin the Beguine”. Porter also wrote “Anything Goes”, just one example of how funny his lyrics are. Thanks for your comment, my friend!
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