THE WEDDING NIGHT

One of King Vidor's very best films yet one of his least known, "The Wedding Night" is a film of immense charm. You could call it a romantic comedy but that devalues it and gives a totally wrong impression of what it's like. It's certainly romantic and yes, there is comedy in many of the situations but the triangle, or quadrangle, that makes up the core of the film and the relationship that develops between the two central characters is quite different from what we might have expected from a Hollywood film of the period.

Gary Cooper is the novelist with writer's block who falls for his Polish neighbour in Connecticut, (Anna Sten), while his wife is in New York. So far so conventional but she is betrothed to fellow Pole Ralph Bellamy and Coop's wife still loves him. Vidor handles both the scenes within the Polish community and the move from comedy to tragedy beautifully and he draws first-rate performances from his entire cast, particularly from Bellamy as the Polish suitor and the wonderful, and underrated, Helen Vinson as Cooper's wife. The Academy overlooked the film but Vidor took home the Best Director prize at the Venice Film Festival. Venice got it right.