IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
A widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.A widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.A widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEdward G. Robinson had played the Fredric March part on stage.
- GoofsIn the last scene in Jerry's apartment, the camera pulls too far back; several pieces of tape, indicating marks for the actors and furniture, are clearly visible on the carpet.
- Quotes
Walter Lockman: And when they bury me, they can put on the gravestone, 'His was a big waste of time.'
- ConnectionsFeatured in Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
Featured review
One of Chayevsky's Best
As others have noted, Frederic March's superb performance is the centerpiece of this well-done drama of the ups and downs of a romance between a 56-year old garment manufacturer and the 24-year old receptionist at his firm. Another plus is the seamless integration of location shooting in NYC and in the studio.
This piece was originally done on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson in the March role and Gena Rowlands in the role played here by Kim Novak. Martin Balsam and Lee Phillips (as the young woman's musical ex-husband) repeated their stage roles in the film. For me, Novak's performance is sometimes good (her scene with Lee Grant, for example); other times you can see the effort and calculation she brings to the scenes and her acting comes off as artificial. Big emotional scenes always seem to tax her as an actress. I've never been a big fan of Novak's, and while this is one of her better efforts, she was never a first-class actress (and certainly not in Rowlands' league).
However, I don't think Novak really hurts the film much, and March and the rest of the cast more than make up for it. Of course, Balsam's big scene where he tells off his wife/March's daughter (played by Joan Copeland, Arthur Miller's sister) is Chayevsky at his most obvious - you can see it and the wife's hypocrisy coming a mile away. But there's not a false note in March's performance, which is certainly one of his finest ever. It's hard to believe he didn't at least get an Oscar nomination for this film - especially considering who won that year (Heston for "Ben-Hur").
This piece was originally done on Broadway with Edward G. Robinson in the March role and Gena Rowlands in the role played here by Kim Novak. Martin Balsam and Lee Phillips (as the young woman's musical ex-husband) repeated their stage roles in the film. For me, Novak's performance is sometimes good (her scene with Lee Grant, for example); other times you can see the effort and calculation she brings to the scenes and her acting comes off as artificial. Big emotional scenes always seem to tax her as an actress. I've never been a big fan of Novak's, and while this is one of her better efforts, she was never a first-class actress (and certainly not in Rowlands' league).
However, I don't think Novak really hurts the film much, and March and the rest of the cast more than make up for it. Of course, Balsam's big scene where he tells off his wife/March's daughter (played by Joan Copeland, Arthur Miller's sister) is Chayevsky at his most obvious - you can see it and the wife's hypocrisy coming a mile away. But there's not a false note in March's performance, which is certainly one of his finest ever. It's hard to believe he didn't at least get an Oscar nomination for this film - especially considering who won that year (Heston for "Ben-Hur").
helpful•72
- baker-9
- Oct 8, 2008
- How long is Middle of the Night?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Usred noci
- Filming locations
- 218 West 37th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(exterior location of Jerry's business)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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