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| Tonight and Every Night | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Victor Saville |
| Written by | Abem Finkel Lesser Samuels |
| Based on | Heart of a City 1942 play byLesley Storm |
| Produced by | Victor Saville |
| Starring | Rita Hayworth Lee Bowman Janet Blair Marc Platt |
| Cinematography | Rudolph Maté |
| Edited by | Viola Lawrence |
| Music by | Marlin Skiles Morris Stoloff George Duning |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Tonight and Every Night is a 1945 Americanmusical film directed byVictor Saville and starringRita Hayworth,Lee Bowman andJanet Blair.[1] The film portrays wartime romance and tragedy in aLondon musical show, loosely modelled on theWindmill Theatre inSoho, that determined not to miss a single performance duringthe Blitz. Hayworth plays an Americanshowgirl who falls in love with anRAF pilot played by Bowman.
The film was adapted fromLesley Storm's 1942 playHeart of a City. It was used byColumbia Pictures as aTechnicolor vehicle for Hayworth after her success withCover Girl (1944), directed byCharles Vidor. A major highlight of the film is Hayworth in the "You Excite Me" number, often cited as one of her best performances.
The film was nominated for twoAcademy Awards at the18th Academy Awards:Best Scoring of a Musical Picture andBest Original Song (for "Anywhere").
Near the end of the war, a photographer fromLife magazine comes to the Music Box Theatre inLondon to write a story about themusic hall that never missed putting on a performance duringthe Blitz.
Stage manager Sam Royce recalls the halcyon days at the beginning of the war:Theatricalimpresario May "Tolly" Tolliver is rehearsing her performers when dancer Tommy Lawson comes to audition. Although Tommy is a naturally gifted dancer, he improvises all his steps and consequently, Tolly refuses to hire him. Taking pity on him, American members of the troupe, Rosalind Bruce and Judy Kane, teach him their routines, and he wins a part in the show.
One night,RAF pilot Paul Lundy comes to the theater and is infatuated with Ros. When German planes discharge their bombs over the theater, the audience and performers take refuge in the basement, and there Paul meets Ros and invites her to dinner. She refuses his invitation, but after the raid, she and Judy stop by the neighborhood restaurant, and Paul is waiting with champagne. Ros begins to date him, but when he tricks her into coming to his apartment by promising to introduce her to a non-existent soldier from her home town ofSt. Louis, she feels betrayed and refuses to talk to him.
Desperate to see Ros, Paul convinces his group captain to request that the Music Box troupe appear at the upcoming RAF theatrical. At the RAF show, Paul begs Ros to forgive him, and when he is called away on a mission, she relents and accepts his confession of love. Tommy, who is also in love with Ros, begins to drink to dull the pain of rejection. After returning from his assignment, Paul tells Ros that he must leave again the next morning, and the two plan to spend an intimate evening at Paul's apartment. When they arrive, however, they find that Paul's building has been flattened in a German bombing raid.
The next day, Paul is planning to propose to Ros when he is ordered to leave immediately on a secret assignment. Two weeks pass without word from him, causing Ros to worry. One night, she sees several flyers from his squadron, and when they tell her that the entire squadron has been on a two-week leave, she believes that Paul has lost interest in their romance.
When Ros receives a note from Paul's father, Reverend Gerald Lundy, asking to meet her after the show that night, she assumes that he has sent him as an emissary to terminate their relationship. She is relieved when he explains it all and shows her a Bible that Paul had sent to him. The Reverend opens it to the page marked by Ros's picture, showing her a highlighted passage, proposing marriage. The Reverend then proposes for his absent son and welcomes Ros to the family.
Upon learning of Paul's proposal, Tommy jealously predicts that Ros will desert the theater. When he returns soon after and asks Ros to honeymoon inCanada, she refuses to leave the troupe until Tommy offers his congratulations and insists that she go. Afterward, Judy, who is secretly in love with Tommy, goes to console him at thepub, and after drinking a toast to Ros, they kiss. Their happiness is short-lived, however, as a German bomb strikes the pub, killing them both. Despite the tragedy, the night's performance goes on, and as Ros sings Judy's song, she determines to stay with the show.
