Capital punishment is questioned, indirectly, by "Midnight," as is whether "the law" is or even can be applied equally. Or should be.
"Midnight" is a stage play, and director tricks tried to make it into a motion picture, not entirely successfully.
Director Chester Erskine, billed here as Erskin, used a lot of gimmicky camera angles, including mirror shots and fast cuts, and actually intruded on the drama of the situations.
This is not "a Humphrey Bogart movie." Bogey plays a pivotal but lesser character -- and in my opinion gives one of his best performances. He was not stiff or stilted and his speech was clear. All in all, an excellent performance.
Who really is the star? Lovely Sidney Fox becomes the center of attention late in the film, but O.P. Heggie is the focus earlier.
He plays the father of her character, and father-in-law of the character played by that excellent Lynne Overman, here Lynn. His character brings into the bosom of the family a character, a breed of person in 2016 and 2017 generally reviled, and deservedly: a reporter.
Startling to me was Henry Hull, who plays that reporter and who apparently did not age well, because here he is young and good looking, and I didn't even recognize him at first. Henry Hull became simply better and better as his career ran on, and he was usually just outstanding.
In "Midnight" most of the characters are fairly equal. Each has important lines and actions.
But even more important than the people is what they say and what they are dealing with: Heggie's character was foreman of a jury that found the defendant guilty, and she is sentenced to death.
Whether she does die, whether she should have been found guilty, whether she should have even been sentenced to the chair are all considered. And thus the movie, despite its datedness, is still timely.
There are several versions at YouTube. I have watched only one so don't know if one is better than another, but I do recommend you try to watch "Midnight."
Remember it's a set piece. There are no car chases, no beheadings, no explosions, just a serious drama, beautifully performed.
"Midnight" is a stage play, and director tricks tried to make it into a motion picture, not entirely successfully.
Director Chester Erskine, billed here as Erskin, used a lot of gimmicky camera angles, including mirror shots and fast cuts, and actually intruded on the drama of the situations.
This is not "a Humphrey Bogart movie." Bogey plays a pivotal but lesser character -- and in my opinion gives one of his best performances. He was not stiff or stilted and his speech was clear. All in all, an excellent performance.
Who really is the star? Lovely Sidney Fox becomes the center of attention late in the film, but O.P. Heggie is the focus earlier.
He plays the father of her character, and father-in-law of the character played by that excellent Lynne Overman, here Lynn. His character brings into the bosom of the family a character, a breed of person in 2016 and 2017 generally reviled, and deservedly: a reporter.
Startling to me was Henry Hull, who plays that reporter and who apparently did not age well, because here he is young and good looking, and I didn't even recognize him at first. Henry Hull became simply better and better as his career ran on, and he was usually just outstanding.
In "Midnight" most of the characters are fairly equal. Each has important lines and actions.
But even more important than the people is what they say and what they are dealing with: Heggie's character was foreman of a jury that found the defendant guilty, and she is sentenced to death.
Whether she does die, whether she should have been found guilty, whether she should have even been sentenced to the chair are all considered. And thus the movie, despite its datedness, is still timely.
There are several versions at YouTube. I have watched only one so don't know if one is better than another, but I do recommend you try to watch "Midnight."
Remember it's a set piece. There are no car chases, no beheadings, no explosions, just a serious drama, beautifully performed.