All great movie careers must start somewhere. With 1932’s This Is the Night, we get the cinematic debut of future legend Cary Grant.

Claire Mathewson (Thelma Todd) conducts an affair with Gerald Grey (Roland Young) and they plan a romantic getaway. However, this gets disrupted when her husband Stephen (Grant) returns from the Summer Olympics and he discovers their train tickets to Italy.

Claire quickly claims that those belong to Gerald and his (non-existent) wife. This sends all involved on a journey of charades and new romances.

94 years after its release, the biggest question related to Night revolves around Grant. Does the film deserve any merit beyond the fact it represented that legendary actor’s cinematic debut?

I would say yes – at least to some degree. Nothing about Night makes it a classic romp, but it keeps us entertained.

Night delivers the slightest of stories and relies on various shenanigans to keep us occupied. I wouldn’t quite call this screwball comedy, as it lacks the rapid-fire pace one expects of that genre, but it does come with some amusement thanks to its antics.

Nothing related to the plot will surprise viewers. Even with a mix of twists and turns, the movie evolves along a predictable path.

Still, we find a tale that moves well and manages some clever moments. Though we occasionally get broad gags, much of the comedy seems fairly understated and reasonably bright.

The actors flesh out their parts well. Grant shows the ample charm that helped make him a star – maybe a little too much charm, actually, as it becomes tough to swallow that Claire would cheat on Stephen with the substantially less attractive and charismatic Gerald.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t turn into a major impediment. With a brief 78-minute running time, Night doesn’t wear out its welcome, so it delivers a modest but amusing diversion.

This Is the Night appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Given its age, this became a positive presentation, albeit one that could’ve used a little more work.

Overall sharpness appeared fine. Some softness crept in at times but the majority of the film boasted reasonable accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed moderate and occasional source flaws popped up via some lines. These remained modest, however.

Blacks seemed adequate, although some shots felt a bit crushed. Shadows offered reasonable clarity. The image didn’t compare to the best restorations but it still seemed more than watchable for something from 1932.

The picture comments above discuss the film’s standard black and white presentation, but the disc also includes a color tinted version. I initially assumed that meant a colorized Night but the end product represents something different.

As originally intended, the film featured a blue tint for nighttime scenes. This doesn’t seem consistent, as some evening shots lacked the tint.

Still, most came with this color scheme. I didn’t think the blue added to the experience but I appreciate that the disc offers viewers the choice.

Outside of the hues, the two presentations seemed identical. I didn’t witness any obvious differences in terms of picture quality between the tinted and black and white versions.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural audio, it also felt appropriate for its era. Speech leaned tinny but the lines remained easily intelligible and they lacked edginess.

Though both effects and music seemed thin, they also didn’t suffer from notable roughness so they felt fine overall. No issues with noise or pops impacted the mix. Expect a perfectly adequate track.

No extras appear on the disc.

Noteworthy mainly as Cary Grant’s film debut, This Is the Night manages reasonable entertainment value in its own right. Though the movie does nothing to really excel, it becomes an amusing little farce. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio but it lacks supplements. Expect an enjoyable comedy here.