This Is the Night

Stephen returns from the 1932 Summer Olympics and immediately confronts Claire's romantic scheme. He discovers the train tickets for a Venice getaway that she has planned with her lover Gerald. The discovery heightens his suspicion about Claire's fidelity.

Bunny claims the tickets are for Gerald and his wife, not Claire and Gerald's arrangement. The deception is meant to mislead Stephen and maintain the Venice plan. The lie sets in motion the tangled web of mismatched identities.

Gerald decides to salvage the trip by finding a fake wife. He first approaches the actress Chou-Chou, but her jealous boyfriend makes that impossible. Chou-Chou directs him to Germaine, an out-of-work woman in need of money.

Germaine agrees to pose as a glamorous wife for the Venice trip, impressed by the money and opportunity. She convinces Gerald she can carry the performance with ease. Her willingness kickstarts the elaborate ruse.

The two couples set off toward Venice, beginning the ruse that will test their loyalties. They travel together aboard a train, moving from their ordinary lives into a complex web of deception. The journey marks the moment when the plan starts to unfold in earnest.

Bunny, attracted to Germaine, decides to join the Venice trip, adding another layer of complication to the plan. Her presence deepens the entwined relationships and raises the stakes for everyone involved. The journey now includes an extra, unpredictable element.

On the train, Stephen questions Gerald and Germaine about how they met, probing the origins of their relationship. The exchange reveals the underlying tensions and the gaps in their cover story. The tension foreshadows the trouble that will surface in Venice.

Upon arriving in Venice, Claire grows jealous as both Stephen and Gerald seem fascinated by Germaine. The attraction threatens the fraying arrangement and heightens Claire's resolve to control the situation. The city becomes the backdrop for the evolving relationships.

Claire demands that Gerald disentangle himself from Germaine, insisting that Germaine be sent away. Gerald orders Germaine to depart the next day, attempting to restore the original plan and protect his own relationship with Claire. The tension between truth and deception tightens.

A drunken Bunny climbs a ladder into Germaine's bedroom and offers to take her away. Germaine rebuffs the advances, and Bunny accidentally falls into a canal, drawing police attention. The episode heightens the sense of danger and exposes the precarious nature of the ruse.

Stephen believes he hears a burglar and goes to Germaine's room to investigate. He and Germaine are then caught in a seeming compromising position by Gerald and Claire. The exposure forces a reckoning among the four and tests their loyalties.

Bunny reappears and explains the sequence of events to everyone, revealing the truth behind the misunderstandings. Her clarification helps unmask the deception and clarifies the real motives of those involved. The path toward resolution begins to appear.

Claire decides to break off her affair with Gerald, recognizing the harm caused by the deception. She chooses to prioritize her marriage and distance herself from the complications in Venice. The decision signals a turning point for the relationships.

Germaine reveals to Gerald that she is not Chou-Chou and decides to return to Paris. Gerald catches up to her in a gondola and, moved by the encounter, asks her to marry him. The film closes on a hopeful note as love seems to find a way through the deception.