Midnight (1939) User Reviews

Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche really shine in this screwball comedy...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 29 November 2006]

Screwball comedy is an art and in '39 Charles Brackett wrote a perfectly wonderful one for CLAUDETTE COLBERT and DON AMECHE called MIDNIGHT and directed by the talented Mitchell Leisen.

Claudette is down to her last coin when she stumbles out of a taxi-cab driven by Don Ameche and strolls around Paris in the pouring rain in a gold lame dress, not exactly the picture of a girl down on her luck. But the fun begins when she crashes a party given by a bunch of socialites and has to pretend to be there as a member of high society. She calls herself a Baroness and before long, Ameche has caught up with her and goes along with her impersonation, calling himself a Baron.

Of course, it takes many plot twists and turns for the whole story to come to an end, and by that time there are quite a few laughs provided by Claudette and company. JOHN BARRYMORE is in especially good comic form as a man who wants his wife (MARY ASTOR) to get rid of her lounge lizard boyfriend (FRANCIS LEDERER), who happens to fancy Claudette. REX O'MALLEY has a fey role as a house guest and the cast includes HEDDA HOPPER and MONTY WOOLLEY as an exasperated and befuddled judge.

Claudette has her best role since IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and makes the most of it. She schemes her way in and out of trouble with the disarming charm and ease of an actress who has worn many disguises before.

Summing up: A very winning comedy that is a perfect example of screwball at its best.

A sophisticated comedy classic

[Oriel · 9/10 · 17 March 1999]

Although languishing in obscurity in comparison to other great films of 1939, Midnight is a classic that deserves to be ranked among the best comedies. In this sophisticated twist on the Cinderella story, a penniless showgirl (the incomparable Claudette Colbert) passes herself off as a foreign aristocrat to help John Barrymore win back his erring wife from a champagne mogul. If she succeeds in winning this millionaire for herself, she'll have the rich lifestyle--the "tub of butter"--for which she's been scheming, but taxi driver Don Ameche is determined to teach her the age-old lesson that love is better than riches. Not only is the film a delight for fans of Colbert, whose genius for offhand, sophisticated comedy shines here, but viewers are also treated to one of Barrymore's last and funniest performances. Although he is said to have read his lines from cue cards for this film, his performance looks flawless: worldly, cunning, and wildly eccentric. Ameche provides the perfect counterpart for Colbert, holding his own in the dizzying round of deceptions, impersonations, and frivolous lawsuits. This is a sparkling, witty film that should be part of every comedy fan's library.

often hilarious story with some familiar themes

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 13 September 2005]

Claudette Colbert wanders around Paris broke and in gold lame in "Midnight." She meets a cab driver and, finding herself attracted to him, she takes off. While he's organizing a city-wide cabbie search for her, she's at a private party and winds up at the Ritz as Baroness Czerny - which is his last name, chosen by her in a moment of panic. She is backed in all her lies by John Barrymore, in a wonderfully funny performance, who wants her to woo his wife's boyfriend away from her.

There are some familiar themes at work here - one is the suitor for hire and/or opportunity, used (with variations, of course) in "Her Cardboard Lover" and "Palm Beach Story," "Mannequin," and the affable, unambitious man who feels that by having nothing, he has everything, such as in "Magnificent Dope" and "You Can't Take it With You." That's the Ameche character. Knowing she could fall for him sends Colbert running - just as she ran from Joel McCrea in "Palm Beach Story." This hunger for money in some characters (usually women) and loathing of it (usually men) is a strange dichotomy than runs through several post-Depression, pre-war films.

The handsome Czech leading man, Francis Lederer, plays Mary Astor's boyfriend who falls for Colbert. In 1929, when he made a film in Germany with Louise Brooks, Lederer couldn't speak a word of English. He lived to be nearly 101 and in his last years, taught at the American National Academy of Performing Arts, which he and his wife founded.

The funniest scene to me was a phone conversation between Barrymore and Colbert, in which she pretends she's talking to her sick daughter. But everyone is great in this movie, which is very funny and refreshing.

What a wonderful, fun movie!

[Kiwi Mudmask · 10/10 · 6 December 2002]

Quite delightful. Surprised it's not better known. Has been called "The first great Brackett and Wilder screenplay." Fantastic costumes too. Billy Wilder was frustrated that the director was more interested in the style and look of the movie (which is stellar) than in his dialogue, which he had to fight from being cut. This is probably one of the first films that made him think about directing his own, so he could have more control. Really great comic performances from John Barrymore, Don Ameche, and Claudette Colbert.

A Sparkling Gem from Hollywood's Golden Era

[malvernp · 10/10 · 29 March 2005]

There are few films that can be seen often without the viewer tiring of them. Midnight is one of them. It glides effortlessly through the tinsel and magical world of barons and down-on-their heels showgirls without taking a mean shot at anyone. Claudette Colbert shows that she lost none of her "It Happened One Night" edginess, and Don Ameche gives the performance of his career as the romantic cab driver who sees himself as worthy to steal Colbert away from her rich suitor. John Barrymore may have been in decline at this point in his career-----but this is his last great effort at creating a truly endearing comic character. He does so splendidly. Mary Astor combines beauty and bitchiness in a memorable role. And what is there to say about Rex O'Malley as her gay pal in all this business? It is a shame that he is virtually unknown today, and didn't get many opportunities to show what a fine comic actor he was.

Midnight deserves a much wider audience than it now has. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett have written wonderful comic dialog that continues to charm and amuse today's viewers. And it is without doubt Mitchell Leisen's masterpiece.

This is THE romantic comedy to see with someone you love.

a fairy tale, a screwball comedy, a gem

[SlightlyScruffy · 10/10 · 19 December 2004]

Break out the night vision goggles, the pick-axe, and the compass to find this one if you haven't seen it. I caught it at the MOMA cinema in the old museum basement and laughed so hard I was in tears -- and so were the hundred+ people around me. Monty Woolley and Hedda Hopper are a stitch to watch -- but this is definitely Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche's movie. Colbert spends the first 15 minutes of the movie cold, wet, and hungry -- and Ameche (her knight in shining Taxicab) thoroughly enjoys her predicament. The volley of screwball slap-lines goes on for another hour before the shoe finally fits (as we knew it always would.) The best grins are from Ameche's smug insanity -- and a shaving mug fully loaded.

Best of all, the dazzling innocence of the comedy writing from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett is so light and politically incorrect that you can almost smell "Some Like It Hot" on the distant horizon. There is no meanness or cynicism in MIDNIGHT. Just a good story, good laughs, and a cast full of people you want to meet again and again.

A criminally underrated comedy classic

[AnyankaCEJ · 10/10 · 7 July 2002]

Why this simply marvelous comedy is not hailed as a screwball classic standing shoulder to shoulder with "It Happened One Night," "The Awful Truth," and "My Man Godfrey," and just under "Bringing Up Baby," is utterly beyond me. Claudette Colbert sparkles in the role of an American golddigger in Paris, Don Ameche is a charming romantic lead, Mary Astor is a delightfully bitchy rival, and John Barrymore is spectacular in one of the funniest performances I have ever seen on celluloid. As others have stated, it is astonishing that he read his lines off cue cards. Anyway, everything in this film works perfectly together: the acting, the direction, the crackling writing, and the zany plot which I will not go into now, but which is absolutely ideal for a screwball. It is also refreshingly politically incorrect, and while feminists might flinch at one or two scenes, that should not prevent anyone from enjoying "Midnight," which is really one of the best comedies of all time. An enthusiastic and unequivocal 10/10.

Highly pleasurable romp...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 17 February 2008]

Claudette Colbert at her best, playing a down-on-her-luck singer in Paris who is mistaken for a member of Hungarian royalty; she goes along with the deception, but only to help wealthy John Barrymore out of his marital fix. Tightly-wound screwball farce written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, from a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz (with such a distinguished pedigree, the movie has to reach some high expectations--and does so joyfully). Directed in an efficient, brisk manner by Mitchell Leisen, with superb performances by the cast and pleasant, airy surroundings. Remade in 1945 as "Masquerade in Mexico". *** from ****

The perfect comedy

[gmcsourley · 10/10 · 23 August 2001]

"Midnight" is superb in every way - cast, direction, script are all perfection. It's like Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" in the way its plot adds complication upon complication and just as "Figaro" is a perfect opera, so this is a perfect comedy - witty, sophisticated, warm and laugh-out-loud funny. Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert are ideally cast. This should have featured in the AFI's top 100 comedies and its top 100 films - its the epitome of the golden age of Hollywood comedy.

A Screwball comedy delight!

[wisewebwoman · 15 July 2000]

This movie took me by surprise - as I caught it quite by accident and was on the verge of turning it off and it just grabbed me and I could not take my eyes from it until the last shot. Claudette is at her best and the script is witty and way ahead of its time. As Eve, Claudette learns how difficult it is to deceive and keep the web of make believe going. Her comic timing is impeccable. Loved Rex O'Malley in a small but "out" part. Mary Astor, as usual, has that sweet venomous second fiddle role down pat. Barrymore, apparently reading his lines, does very well. He is the only one in heavy makeup. A must see by an unrecognised director who in later life became a tailor, I believe (more info on this if anyone has it, please).

Midnight is a bright comedy.

[st-shot · 7/10 · 8 June 2021]

Eve Peabody rolls into Paris in third class from Monte Carlo dressed in gold lame and broke. A taxi driver (Don Ameche) takes pity on her and helps her look for work but she ditches him once she falls in with some swells. She works out a deal with one (John Barrymore) to pose as a countess and sweep a very wealthy count off his feet but cannot shake the nagging feeling of what she did to the taxi driver. He in turn has every other driver in Paris looking for her. When he does find her matters become even more complicated.

Midnight is another solid contributor to the film year (1939) generally accepted as the finest of the century, holding its own with a crowded field. Style obsessed director Mitchell Leisen as usual drapes his sets in gaudy opulence and his cast in chique fashion while Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's script benignly eviscerates the swells. The slapstick is toned down giving it a more Lubitsch touch than his "Easy Living" screwball making it a more subtle but as effective comedy. Colbert carries the film and her ruse with grace and charm but Ameche's hissy fit recalcitrance is off putting. A dissipated John Barrymore showing the ravages of alcoholism nevertheless registers while his teenage lover from 1924, a pregnant Mary Astor parries well will Claudette. A pleasant, good looking comedy.

Review RE: Cinderella

[Edlamance · 10/10 · 1 June 2004]

Brilliant wit and clever exposition abound in the screenplays of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and are nowhere more plentiful than in the Cinderella inspired, MIDNIGHT (1938). This often overlooked charmer was the first hit in their long and immensely successful collaboration that ended in 1950 with their Academy Award winning SUNSET BOULEVARD. Among their many other screenplays are such milestones as NINOTCHKA, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE LOST WEEKEND, another Academy Award winner, and BALL OF FIRE, another flirtation with fairy tales, wherein seven eccentric professors protect a far from innocent Snow White, Barbara Stanwyck.

In MIDNIGHT, Claudette Colbert, a down-on-her-luck, but street-smart chorus girl, believes wealth, not love, guarantees happiness. (Brackett and Wilder definitely liked tough gals.) Though attracted to smitten taxi driver, Don Ameche, she rejects his entreaties. Fleeing from him, she meets John Barrymore who convinces her to help end the affair between his chic wife, Mary Astor, and playboy Frances Lederer. To show Astor that her lover is only after money, the wealthy Barrymore, like a fairy godfather, makes Colbert appear as an alluring, even wealthier prey: a Baroness. The wicked sisters are recast in the form of the unfaithful wife, and her friend Rex O'Malley-obviously a fairy of another kind. Barrymore's plan works, and Lederer's attention begins to drift toward Colbert. Angered, Astor enlists O'Malley's aid in finding a way to shatter her lover's idealization of Colbert. Believing they've discovered the truth, the 'girls' get ready to expose Colbert as a phony. At a grand ball, Colbert (looking every inch a Baroness in her very Cinderella-ish gown) expects the worse. However, the wicked plans are foiled when Ameche appears and, going along with the subterfuge, verifies her identity by claiming to be her husband: the Baron. Now, with the entire cast assembled, the disentanglement begins and leads to the fairy tale ending, but without a stroke-of-midnight fall from grace. Instead, the dénouement is a ride of hilarious high style farce involving more deception, misunderstandings, accusations of insanity, and finally a court trial, presided over by a befuddled Monty Woolly; this elaborate finale provides a lot more fun than a simple coach to pumpkin routine would have allowed.

The entire cast performs flawlessly, but Astor and O'Malley (rumored to have been the lover of director Leisen) deserve special mention. As the antagonist, Astor mixes vulnerability with comic bitchiness so well; we never dislike her, and cheer her reconciliation with Barrymore. The number of O'Malley's appearances in film is woefully small, as is the size of the roles; he would more often qualify as a bit-player than a character actor. That's too bad, because his appealing friend-of-the-family homosexual in MIDNIGHT has none of the acrimony or overplaying found in so many of the typical queer-types of the period.

Production values are high. Hans Drier and Robert Usher's art direction and A. E. Freudeman's set décor are about as good as it gets. Frederick Hollander, who later composed the scores for Wilder's A FOREIGN AFFAIR and SABRINA, is in top romantic form for MIDNIGHT. ~ Ed LaMance ~ New York City

Cinderella Rockefella

[Lejink · 7/10 · 30 October 2018]

A racy and amusing screwball comedy from the busy pens of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. Set in contemporary pre-War France, penniless chorus girl Colbert steps off the Monaco to Paris train in the pouring rain wearing only her party gown where she encounters a friendly, handsome taxi driver, played by Don Ameche in a sub-Gable role, even down to his pencil 'tache and a budding if unlikely mutual attraction is immediately ignited. He takes her to an evening's musical entertainment attended by high society which she amusingly gatecrashes and after assuming a glamorous titled nom-de-plume, finds herself the centre of attraction of a rich group of toffs where she's asked by the friendly and generous millionaire Monsieur Georges Flammarion played by John Barrymore, to use her feminine wiles to honeytrap his straying younger wife's (Mary Astor) young and handsome gigolo beau (Francis Lederer).

Ameche meanwhile isn't giving up on his love-at-first-sight quarry and organises a city-wide raffle amongst his Parisian taxi-buddies to track her down and when he does, fully enters into the role-playing farcical proceedings before it all comes to an amusing if somewhat condescending courtroom sequence before the blustery presiding judge unsurprisingly played by Monty Woolley.

With all the screwball elements intact, kooky female lead, fantastic situation, romantic complications, a fast-moving and ever-changing narrative and of course, an all-loose-ends-happily-tied-up conclusion, it's an engaging and often sparkling comedy playing out the Cinderella motif of rags to riches to rags suggested by its title, to the hilt.

Colbert leads the cast delightfully but gets great support from the dashing Ameche, waspish Astor and especially the good-natured Barrymore in this fun-filled French frolic.

One of the best forgotten comedies

[HotToastyRag · 9/10 · 11 March 2019]

Until Claudette Colbert utters the line, "Every Cinderella has her midnight," into the ear of her crony John Barrymore, you'll wonder as to the title of this movie. While you're wondering, though, you'll be in for a hilarious treat. This modern-day Cinderella comedy is adorable, and if you like it, check out The Palm Beach Story, which reunites Claudette and her costar Mary Astor in another comedy.

Claudette Colbert stars as a poor girl who wishes to mingle with high society. She bonds with the wealthy John Barrymore and he helps her weasel her way into the in-crowd, but her brief romance with cab driver Don Ameche threatens to ruin all her plans. Don drove Claudette in his cab, and stayed in his apartment overnight, but left before he could learn her name! When he finally tracks her down, he has two options: expose her or pretend to be her wealthy husband. . .

From start to finish, Midnight is hilarious. The comic timing is perfect, the jokes are witty, and the ending is insanely funny. One of the best forgotten comedies of the 1930s, it manages to create hilarious situations out of the absurd, while using witty banter to entertain the mind as well as the reflexes. Rent it when you're in the mood for something light and silly.

Best smart-ass film of the 1930's

[wpmasters · 9/10 · 3 April 2002]

MIDNIGHT, too often overlooked in the shambles of what has been called the greatest year for movies, 1939, because audiences, accustomed to "screwball comedies" weren't quite ready for this smart-ass comedy of manners scripted by Wilder & Brackett. Claudette Colbert, arriving in Paris dressed only in a gold lame evening gown with matching purse, but without any money or connections, shows how to survive without surrendering her virtue and finds both love and riches. Don Ameche, lethally handsome in beautiful B&W shows he can wear a dinner jacket as well as Cary Grant, or Gary Cooper or Fred Astaire. This film is almost as good as the best Preston Sturges comedies and deserves to be seen by a contemporary audience.

one of the top 10 studio-era romantic comedies of all time

[beckstrom7 · 10/10 · 27 May 2006]

along with "it happened one night", "the thin man", "my man godfrey", "easy living", "the awful truth", "bringing up baby", "the philadelphia story", "the lady eve", and "the palm beach story", "midnight" is indispensable.

one of those seamless Hollywood films that achieves undeniable art for art's sake. it's better than anything with loftier intentions that received more praise in 1939- "wuthering heights", "gone with the wind", etc.

claudette colbert, at her best, proves how smart, funny, and dazzling American female stars could be in this era. it's a shame that after world war 2, women in movies just weren't as exciting as they were before. i guess too much independence was considered a threat to America's "values". we all lost something when women had to go back to the kitchen.

If you're feeling down....

[tony_procek · 10/10 · 25 June 2007]

then watch this wonderful film! I could count on two hands the number of films which have genuinely made me laugh out loud, and this is near the top of the list, perhaps even the top, of the list. I first saw it on television many years ago, and I can't remember it ever being shown since - pity. I scoured the net for it and found it on VHS eventually. As others have said, it is right up there with the likes of 'Bringing Up Baby' and 'It Happened One Night' as a sparkling comedy, but the one-liners for me surpass the anything in those films. What a shame it seems to have been forgotten. If, as someone has written, it is to re-made with Reese Witherspoon as Eve Peabody, let's hope it will make people look up this overlooked classic. They really don't make them like this anymore.

A Gem

[NRastro · 13 February 2001]

This movie is a gem -- one of my favorites.

It shows you everything that the golden age of Hollywood was all about. Good writing, direction, great performances, strong supporting cast, effective production design. A lot of fun; a light comedy classic.

Reminds me a bit of "The Lady Eve," especially in that each has a similar, memorable party scene. A difference, though, is that the Colbert character is more realistically drawn, and the film is a notch less manic (and much more enjoyable for my tastes) than the screwball pace of "The Lady Eve."

A dissenting view

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 4 May 2011]

I found the first half of the film to be a bit stuffy. In fact, I was expecting to give it a negative review. But, once they move on to the estate, it really became quite clever. Don Ameche's charming screen persona is evident here, and Claudette Colbert is her usual vivacious self. But considering this film was made in the magic cinema year of 1939, it seemed rather old world. And perhaps the reason is that it was one of those films making sport of the old moneyed rich. And that is so mid-1930ish.

Two things struck me as illogical here. First, the idea that someone as sophisticated as Claudette Colbert's character would we wandering around Europe with not a bit of money in her pocket. Second, John Barrymore was clearly way over the hill in this film; difficult to believe he was once considered a great screen actor; watch his eyes...flashes of silent screen overacting on occasion.

Mary Astor is excellent as the philandering wife of John Barrymore. She is probably one of Hollywood's most underrated actress. Francis Lederer, with whom I was not at all familiar, played the butterfly playboy excellently. And Monty Woolley was delightful as the judge in the divorce court.

Many consider this to be one of the great screwball comedies. I don't rate it quite that highly. It won't find its way onto my DVD shelf. But I'm glad I watched it, and may do so again. It's definitely worth watching just to see the chemistry between Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert.

Cinderella with an opportunistic streak

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 26 March 2007]

This is one of the films at Paramount (with EASY MONEY & REMEMBER THE NIGHT) that Mitchell Leisin was criticized by the screenwriters (Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, and Preston Sturgis) for altering the pacing or direction of the screenplays. He didn't. Leisin was never as cynical as either Wilder or Sturgis, and tended to soften the central characters of his comedies by showing them as human beings. This is true with how he handled Wilder and Brackett's "Eve Peabody" (Claudette Colbert), who is a showgirl/gold-digger who lucks out because a wealthy banker George Flammarion (John Barrymore) needs her to help him win back his wife Helene (Mary Astor).

MIDNIGHT is the "Cinderella" story. Colbert has come to Paris with nothing but the clothes she has on her. She meets a cab driver (Don Ameche as "Tibor Czerny") who is willing to help stake her until she can find work. But Colbert (although she obviously likes Ameche) is determined to take Paris by storm first, and runs away from him - managing to get into a social event. It is a soirée held by Hedda Hopper (one of her few movie roles), where she keeps annoying the pianist by introducing his piece as a Prelude, when it is an Etude.

Barrymore is there with Astor, and with her boy-friend (Francis Lederer as Jacques Picot), as well as Astor's gay confidante Rex O'Malley (as Marcel Renaud). Lederer keeps looking very interested at Colbert (much to Astor's increasing annoyance), and Barrymore notes this. He asks Colbert a few questions, and accepts her answers. Like another Eve in a later film, Colbert does not know enough to keep her comments simple and non-committal. But as the party breaks up, a limousine is there to pick up Colbert and take her to a ritzy hotel suite as Baroness Czerny. After she wanders stunned through the opulent apartments, Barrymore shows up. After pointing out her error about various answers she gave him (you will learn about the oldest subway in Europe), Barrymore explains why he has set her up (and will back her). He wants her to attract Lederer away from Astor, whom Barrymore loves deeply but who is infatuated with the younger man. Colbert agrees, but only because she may end up marrying the wealthy Lederer (his fortune is from an inferior champaign, but Barrymore says that "Everytime his champaign is bought, his fortune bubbles!").

Ameche of course is busy looking for Colbert, and eventually finds her. He confronts her at the Flammarion mansion, and claims he is the husband of the "Baroness". This, of course, adds a complication to the plans of Barrymore (who tries to derail Ameche repeatedly). In the end the entire matter has to go to divorce court. Unfortunately it is run by that stickler for law, order, and the French home: Monty Wooley. And how it is resolved I will leave to the viewer to discover.

It is a witty little film, due in part to the Wilder and Brackett script, but also the master hand of Leisin in getting performances out of his actors - including John Barrymore in his last good performance in a supporting role. Reportedly Barrymore read his lines from cue cards just off the set (he explained that he would not memorize lines from a Hollywood script - only from a classic play). Still look at his moments of zaniness pretending he is the Czerny's child, or in making little sniping remarks at O'Malley's expense. He still could act quite well at this point. Ameche and Colbert also have good timing, and chemistry together. Colbert even has a moment of humanness (that Leisin added) where she explains her avariciousness is based on seeing how her parents grew to hate each other in their mutually entrapped poverty row marriage. Wilder normally never got points like that into his films, nor did Sturgis.

It is a wonderful comedy, and one of the best screwball films of the 1930s. Pity it is not as well known as it should be.

COLBERT/AMECHE SAVE THIS ONE...!

[masonfisk · 7/10 · 27 April 2022]

Claudette Colbert stars in this droll romantic comedy from 1939. Colbert arrives in the City of Lights w/o a dime in her pocket & possibly w/o a hope of finding a job but she runs into a kindly cab driver, Don Ameche, who offers to run her around on the arm to see if she can change her luck. Feeling like she's overstayed his kindness, she leaves him finding herself impersonating a Baroness at a symphonic function, through no fault of her own, which prompts an aristocrat, played by John Barrymore, to use her to break up an affair his wife, Mary Astor, is having w/another while Ameche, desperate to reconnect w/Colbert, puts out an all points bulletin among his fellow cabbies (in hopes of winning a big raffle pot) to track her down which they do which sets up the final third where Ameche pretends to be Colbert's Baron & uncomplicating the mess all the players find themselves in. Written by Billy Wilder & Charles Brackett (based on a story by Edwin Justus Mayer and Franz Schulz) plays fine but I felt the plot itself was a bit lopsided (Ameche is sorely missed from the picture even though he gets some dollops here & there) which prevented me from fully getting invested in the scenario. Also starring famed gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (who would appear as herself in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard) as a friend of Barrymore's & Monty Woolley as a judge.

Leisen applies the Lubitsch touch

[MOscarbradley · 10/10 · 21 August 2008]

As good as a movie can get. Claudette Colbert is the flapper/gold-digger/chanteuse, (take your pick), who arrives in a very rainy Paris in an evening gown and not much else. She is momentarily rescued from her predicament by a gallant taxi driver, (played gallantly by Don Ameche), with whom she immediately falls in love but from whom she runs as fast as her well-turned-out legs can carry her. She runs straight into the clutches of John Barrymore, (a magnificent comic performance), who saves her bacon, so to speak, if only she will seduce gigolo Francis Lederer who is stealing away Barrymore's wife, the always delectable Mary Astor, and thus save Barrymore's marriage.

This is a French farce of the very best kind, although it is written, not by a Feydeau, but by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, and directed with supreme elegance by the under-valued Mitchell Leisen. Colbert is wonderful as the wide-eyed chorine, torn between love and riches, Barrymore displays sublime comic timing and Astor is as sharp as a new pin. It feels and looks like a Lubitsch but I doubt if even Lubitsch could better it.

A rather tedious screwball comedy

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 1 January 2024]

Ever seen one of those movies that had you falling in love with it, then out of it, within the space of two hours? Midnight (1939) was such a film for me. There's a precarious balancing act going on in most screwball comedies - how easily something potentially charming can be downright annoying - but this is the first time I recall the scales tipping from one to the other so perceptibly.

Claudette Colbert plays Eve, a penniless showgirl who, fleeing a gambling debt in Monte Carlo, finds herself an improbable Cinderella within Paris society, romanced by a dashing European lothario (Frances Lederer), abetted by the wealthy, fretful husband of his mistress (John Barrymore and Mary Astor respectively, looking a million years from Don Juan (1926), rather than a mere thirteen), and ultimately wooed by a humble Hungarian taxi driver (Don Ameche).

The premise is certainly promising - as you'd expect it to be, with a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett - and the cast is sterling, but once I'd rounded my fourth or fifth twist, I found myself doing something nobody should ever be doing in a comedy: looking at my watch. You know it will all unwind in a satisfactory manner, but waiting for it to do so becomes like the bus that is running five, then ten, then fifteen minutes late. You can feel your patience ebbing away, bit by bit.

Apparently, Billy Wilder thought that it didn't quite work, and I tend to agree with him.

great creative team = oustanding results

[mukava991 · 9/10 · 13 April 2007]

The charming and vivacious Claudette Colbert shines brightly in this fast-paced, witty, hilarious farce. Look at these credits: A script by the great team of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder; a supporting cast that includes John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Rex O'Malley, Hedda Hopper and Monty Woolley - all at their best. (Even Don Ameche as the romantic lead, not known as a particularly exciting or interesting actor, holds his own.) Frederick Hollander, famous as the composer of the Marlene Dietrich signature song "Falling in Love Again," contributes incidental music that successfully evokes the Paris that used to be, or at least the Paris of the imagination, even though this movie was shot at Paramount Studios, USA, with liberal use of process shots of the fabled French metropolis. All in the sure hands of Mitchell Leisen who directed his fair share of golden age films which are still watchable in the 21st century.

The farcical plot is based on the Cinderella concept - in this case, an out-of-work show girl stranded in Paris is first taken in by a taxi driver who falls in love with her, and then by an older gentleman who plies her with riches for reasons which do not become clear until we've laughed our way through several episodes. The plot overflows with ingenious twists and clever, snappy dialogue. Complications build to a wacky courtroom resolution presided over by Monty Woolley.

Anyone who has also seen the 1942 Preston Sturges comedy The Palm Beach Story will wonder if Sturges didn't steal half the idea from Midnight. The parallels are abundant and I highly recommend the Sturges film to anyone who likes Midnight. In the Sturges film, Colbert, on the run from her architect husband (Joel McCrea), impulsively boards a train for Palm Beach, setting in motion a cinematic pandemonium. Mary Astor is again on hand as the daffy, loquacious sister of eccentric millionaire Rudy Vallee.

A night at the Ritz

[jotix100 · 10/10 · 4 January 2005]

"Midnight" was one of the best pictures released in 1939. This delightful comedy was directed by Mitchell Leisen, based on a screen play by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. One can see the influence of Wilder in the way the story is presented. Mitchell Leisen had a keen eye in the styles of his times, being an art director, as well as a costume designer, as he shows in the film.

Claudette Colbert, one of the most accomplished comediennes of her time, shows why her presence in any project was an asset for the director wanting to employ her. If one adds the immensely talented Don Ameche to play opposite of Ms. Colbert, then success was almost guaranteed. These two actors are perhaps, the best reason for watching "Midnight'.

This screwball comedy of manners will enchant anyone willing to be seduced by its star. It's almost an implausible story, but why ask questions about what we suspect will happen. We just go along and have a great time for an hour and a half watching this movie.

John Barrymore makes an appearance, but he seems so out of character, at times, that we realize he must have been doing this picture out of necessity, rather than artistic duty. In fact, he appears to be reading his lines on cue cards. Not one of Mr. Barrymore's best movies.

The rest of the cast is excellent. Mary Astor, makes an elegant Helene, the woman deceiving her husband. Francis Lederer cuts quite a figure as the lover, who has a roving eye for whatever he could conquer. Rex O'Malley, Monty Woolley, and Hedda Hopper are also seen.

The ultimate triumph for Mr. Leisen seems to be the opulent sets that he and his team have created to give us the feeling we are in the Paris of that time. The women's costumes by Irene reflect the fashions of the sophisticated world where the movie takes place.

Watch the film and enjoy one of the best comedies from that period.