On Such a Night

David Knight
Josephine Griffin
Marie Lohr

David Knight of The Young Lovers plays a young American who visits Glyndebourne for an evening of music, he hears excerpts from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, as well as seeing the beauty of England. We see the young American the next morning standing on a hillside and admiring the beauty of the South Downs.

The script was written by Paul Dehn. Benjamin Frankel, who had composed the music for Asquith's films The Importance of Being Earnest and The Final Test, helped with a selection of excerpts from Mozart's opera, but the entire production was under the approving eye of Carl Ebert, the musical director of Glyndebourne, one of whose greatest triumphs was in fact The Marriage of Figaro. The sound-recordings were made during rehearsals at Glyndebourne; the scenes on the stage were photographed during a special performance. Oliver Messel designed the sets. The Times verdict was: 'On Such a Night manages to commemorate Glyndebourne in a way which is at once lyrical and light-hearted.'
Excerpt© 'Puffin Asquith' by R.J. Minney.