While not all early sound pictures have poor sound quality, "Tonight or Never" does. This is a problem because Image Entertainment does not have closed captions or DVD captions on the disk--meaning you'll need to really crank up the volume to hear this one well, as the sound range is a bit poor. This is a serious problems with many American films from 1927-1931 and this is because Hollywood still hadn't perfected all the intricacies of sound. Normally this isn't a huge problem--many films from this era do have decent sound, but seeing "Tonight or Never" or "Coquette" is just tough without captioning.
This film finds Gloria Swanson playing a diva--literally and figuratively. She is a very successful opera star, but her singing, while very good, lacks something that would take her to the next level. It turns out that what it needs is passion--and a new man in her life (Melvyn Douglas) turns out to be this key to greater success. And until she discovers love, she is a diva in every sense of the word--quick-tempered, demanding and impossible to those around her. But, once she discovers Douglas, her troubles are not over, as she mistakenly thinks he's a gigolo!
While I enjoyed this cute film, I found Melvyn Douglas' performance to be amazing. Considering this was his first film, he came off very well--and better than the veteran actress, Swanson. He seemed relaxed and suave. As for her, Ms. Swanson's acting, at times, seemed a bit mannered--as if she WAS acting and not real. Now this might have been due to the type character she played, but I found her performance less approachable and impressive.