Midnight

Director: Mitchell Leisen Mitchell Leisen

Overview

"Universal has released Mitchell Leisen's Midnight on DVD with an introduction by Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne but no other special features. That seems to be the lot with most of the output of Billy Wilder (who co-wrote the screenplay here), whose work deserves better treatment than it has gotten from most of the studios. That said, this is one handsome transfer of the movie -- the full-screen (1.33-to-1) image is crisp and sharp, with a texture of sprayed silver on a black background, with a good full audio track set at a healthy volume. Someone thought enough of this movie to give it a reasonably generous 18 chapters, in addition to that introduction and the original trailer -- it just begs for so much more as a film, in terms of support materials. But as far as it goes, it's fine, and the movie is so rewarding on its own terms, that it should be regarded as an essential acquisition for any fans of sophisticated screen comedy."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/22/2008
UPC:	0025193312921
Original Release:	1939
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	2,184

Special Features

Exclusive introduction by Turner Classic Movies host and film historian Robert Osborne; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Claudette Colbert	Eve Peabody/"Baroness Czerny"
John Barrymore	George Flammarion
Don Ameche	Tibor Czerny
Francis Lederer	Jacques Picot
Mary Astor	Helene Flammarion
Elaine Barrie	Simone
Hedda Hopper	Stephanie
Rex O'Malley	Marcel
Monty Woolley	Judge
Armand Kaliz	Lebon
Lionel Pape	Edouart
Ferdinand Munier	Major Domo
Gennaro Curci	Major Domo
Leander de Cordova	Footman
William Eddritt	Footman
Michael Visaroff	Footman
Joseph Romantini	Footman
Carlos de Valdez	Butler
Joseph De Stefani	Head Porter
Arno Frey	Room Clerk
Eugene Borden	Porter
Paul Bryar	Porter
Leonard Sues	Bellboy
Eddie Conrad	Prince Potopienko
Billy Daniels	Roger
Bryant Washburn	Guest
Nestor Paiva	Woman's Escort
Judith King	Girl
Joyce Mathews	Girl
Harry Semels	Policeman
Gino Corrado	Taxi Driver
Louis Mercier	Cafe Pianist/Taxi Driver
Charles Judels	Doorman
Sarah Edwards	Party Guest
Friedrich Hollaender	Composer

Technical Credits

Billy Wilder

Charles Brackett

Mitchell Leisen	Director
Billy Wilder	Screenwriter
Charles Brackett	Screenwriter
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	Producer
Farciot Edouart	Special Effects
Arthur Hornblow	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The original title of this Cinderella-inspired screwball comedy was Careless Rapture, a heading that signified the devil-may-care euphoria long distinctive of its genre. However, when Paramount released the picture in 1939, its filmmakers had changed its name to Midnight -- the historic hour that Cinderella's party ended -- and skillfully marked the conclusion of screwball's carefree heyday. At the turn of the decade, and on the eve of World War II, even comedies were moving farther away from Depression-era escapism (which gave birth to screwball) and closer to the postwar skepticism that gripped American film way into the '60s. Mitchell Leisen's Midnight survives as a harbinger of this change. As film critic Molly Haskell points out, Leisen's work is the transitional link between the fairy tale Paramount of the '30s and Billy Wilder's acerbic output for the studio in the '40s and beyond. In this initial collaboration between the two filmmakers (Wilder and partner Charles Brackett developed the screenplay), Leisen wisely allows the impending pessimism of his writers to pollute the outdated felicity of his genre. The extroverted intelligence of screwball's conventional heroine, here played by Claudette Colbert, is supplemented by a worldly understanding far beyond the usual bawdy wit. When her potential suitor asks what kind of job she desires, the gold-digging Colbert answers that at this time at night, she is certainly not looking for needlework. Beneath this sentiment's sexual innuendo is a sense not of simply sarcasm, but of a fatalism and resignation presaging Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment -- characters all too aware of their place in the world. In fact, it is the knowledge of their position in the universe that is made strikingly obvious to all of Midnight's characters. Wilder and Brackett's script does not hesitate to remind them and the audience of the war about to ravage Europe -- at the height of the film's shenanigans, a French judge gravely derides the main characters' tomfoolery in the midst of world turmoil. Contrasted with Leisen's sumptuous direction (he was a filmmaker who often mistook opulence for refinement), this outlook exemplifies the notable metamorphosis of the screwball comedy from insouciant to mordant. Midnight, thus, is much more than an amusing diversion; it is remarkable as a turning point in the annals of film history.