Obviously any Broadway play was good enough to turn into a movie in the early thirties - even a flop!!! It was also obvious that when the film was first released Henry Hull, O.P. Heggie and Sidney Fox were the stars. In my copy Humphrey Bogart is given star status, even though his role is just a supporting one. Who was Sidney Fox?? Sidney Fox was a petite brunette who in her first film "Bad Sister" (1931) was predicted to be the "sister" who was going places - Bette Davis played the "good" sister. (Humphrey Bogart also had a role in that movie as well). Unfortunately she didn't and only made 14 films. She had just married Charles Beahan and "Midnight" was supposed to be her "comeback" film but she only made two more and her last, "Down to Their Last Yacht" (1934), was supposed to be one of the worst musicals ever made.
"Midnight" is the story of a righteous juror whose moral high ground comes back to haunt him. Edward Weldon (O.P. Heggie) is the head juror at the trial of Ethel Saxon (Helen Flint) and a question he asks - "did you take the money before or after you killed him" - seals her fate.
On the night of her execution, Weldon, who has been pilloried in the press for his unbending attitude, is determined to stay home - so he doesn't have to face the waiting newspapermen at his door. His son-in-law Joe (Lynne Overman) has made a bargain with a reporter who wants to take a photo of Weldon's face at midnight - the time Saxon is to be executed. Meanwhile, Stella (Sidney Fox) has met Gar Boni (Humphrey Bogart) at the trial and has been having an affair with him. Gar means the world to Stella, but to Gar, Stella is just a pleasant diversion - he is about to leave town and he doesn't intend to take her with him. Stella, who has seemed jumpy all through the movie, comes home confessing she has killed Gar. The reporter, Nolan, (Henry Hull) is the voice of conscience and reason throughout the film. The movie seems to sit on the fence as far as opinions about capital punishment go. I like one reviewer's opinion that it moves like an iceberg - I completely agree. The film ends quite tidily, with no question mark against anyone's values.
Margaret Wycherley, one of Hollywood's greatest character actresses (she played James Cagney's mother in "White Heat" (1949)) didn't have much to do as Weldon's wife.
"Midnight" is the story of a righteous juror whose moral high ground comes back to haunt him. Edward Weldon (O.P. Heggie) is the head juror at the trial of Ethel Saxon (Helen Flint) and a question he asks - "did you take the money before or after you killed him" - seals her fate.
On the night of her execution, Weldon, who has been pilloried in the press for his unbending attitude, is determined to stay home - so he doesn't have to face the waiting newspapermen at his door. His son-in-law Joe (Lynne Overman) has made a bargain with a reporter who wants to take a photo of Weldon's face at midnight - the time Saxon is to be executed. Meanwhile, Stella (Sidney Fox) has met Gar Boni (Humphrey Bogart) at the trial and has been having an affair with him. Gar means the world to Stella, but to Gar, Stella is just a pleasant diversion - he is about to leave town and he doesn't intend to take her with him. Stella, who has seemed jumpy all through the movie, comes home confessing she has killed Gar. The reporter, Nolan, (Henry Hull) is the voice of conscience and reason throughout the film. The movie seems to sit on the fence as far as opinions about capital punishment go. I like one reviewer's opinion that it moves like an iceberg - I completely agree. The film ends quite tidily, with no question mark against anyone's values.
Margaret Wycherley, one of Hollywood's greatest character actresses (she played James Cagney's mother in "White Heat" (1949)) didn't have much to do as Weldon's wife.