What a Night!

The daughter of an industrialist, Dorothy Winston, arranges to work on a newspaper in which her father places a substantial amount of advertising, Joe Madison, the reporter son of the paper's editor, offers to show her the ropes. A gunman employed by Mike Corney lands in jail, and Dorothy succeeds in interviewing him, getting him to divulge the whereabouts of a canceled check that will link Corney to Patterson, a corrupt political boss. Dorothy and Joe get the check, and Joe telephones his father to urge him to print an exposé of Patterson. Corney recovers the check, however, and Patterson institutes a damaging libel suit against the paper. Dorothy gets the check back and obtains photographic evidence to further incriminate Patterson and Corney. Dorothy and Joe decide to write the story of their life with each another. A lost film.

Directed by A. Edward Sutherland, What a Night! leans on a strong ensemble — Bebe Daniels, Neil Hamilton, William Austin — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1928.