MovieChat Forums > So Ends Our Night (1941) Discussion > Margaret Sullavan and Erich Maria Remarq...

Margaret Sullavan and Erich Maria Remarque


I posted this inquiry at the Margaret Sullavan board a little while ago. No bites there, and it is a longshot, but I am posting it here as well to increase my chance of getting an answer from some learned person.

It is striking that Margaret Sullavan starred in two adaptations of novels by the writer who was most famous for having written "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Now, to be honest, I haven't seen "Three Comrades".

"So Ends Our Night," in my opinion, is one of the most under-rated movies in the whole history of motion pictures.

Now, here is my question. Many years ago, I read a biography of F Scott Fitzgerald which referred to him working on the script for "So Ends Our Night." Fitzgerald DID work on "Three Comrades," and got a credit for it. Is it possible he also worked on "So Ends Our Night" or did the biographer just suffer some understandable confusion between the two Remarque/Sullavan projects?

The thing about it is, some of the bittersweet moments in "So Ends Our Night" are actually very Fitzgerald-esque.

While I am raving about "So Ends Our Night" I'll just mention one of the oddest things about it, the strange moments where the character's inner thoughts are revealed in voice-over. I suppose this comes from the stage; and in particular from Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude" (memorably parodied by Groucho in- I think- "Animal Crackers") but the way it is done is really very peculiar. When I saw Terence Mallick's "The Thin Red Line," I was almost jumping out of my seat, pointing my finger at the screen and shouting, "So Ends Our Night! So Ends Our Night!" but I didn't.

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I have noticed characters' thought voice-overs in other films but they have always been whispered before. And more often than not when characters are on their own. This is different. Glenn Ford's character are spoken fairly loudly and when he is standing directly in front of another character. This does make for strange moments in this film as you say.

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