Midnight (1939)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Some lists of screwball comedies include this 1939 film that stars Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore. I think it's a bit iffy for that category – it lacks the long strings of crazy antics that define the top comedies considered "screwball." But regardless, this is a gem of a movie and wonderful comedy. I agree with the other reviewers who note the scene-steeling of John Barrymore. He made only four more films after this one before his death. "Midnight" is his last very good or great film. Colbert and Ameche are excellent in their roles as Eve Peabody (aka, the Baroness Czerny) and Tibor Czerny. Mary Astor, Francis Lederer and Rex O'Malley give very good performances in their roles. But the interplay between Barrymore's Georges Flammarion and Colbert's Eve is the stuff that makes for great comedy. I purchased this film for my library and the DVD had a nice introduction that explained the considerable difficulty in the making of the film. It was mostly about conflicts among directors and writers and with some actors. I appreciate and enjoy these inside looks at movie making from time to time. The fact that Barrymore could no longer remember his lines and had to use cue cards makes one appreciate that much more the great talent of this actor in performing his roles. John Barrymore was known for his great ad-libbing in films – that enhanced his roles of all genres. Of all the stage and screen Barrymores, John is the only one who didn't win major awards. Siblings Lionel and Ethel each won Oscars. His personal life was chaotic and his four marriages each lasted no more than a few years. Drinking took its toll and he died at age 60 from cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. According to biographers, Barrymore had a conversion and reverted to his Catholic faith before he died. Barrymore appeared in 65 films. He began in the silent era and continued his fame in sound films. More than half of his films were with sound. He was equally at home in comedy, drama and mysteries. All of his sound films are a treat to watch. He has to be on any list of the best actors of all time.

The term, "a comedy of manners", is much abused by film and literary critics who often pin this label on bucolic slapstick like The Egg and I (1947) or mismatched romantic formulas like Misleading Lady (1932). The true comedy of manners, like The Philadelphia Story for instance, is set almost exclusively in high society where the foibles of the idle rich who have nothing better to do than play marital games, come under the microscope.As it happens, I'm not a great fan of the comedy of manners. The idle pursuits of the idle rich do not greatly interest me. But there are exceptions – like this movie and the aforesaid Philadelphia Story – where the formula is broadened to include major characters like James Stewart's reporter in P.S. or Don Ameche's cab-driver in Midnight.The latter film also has the advantage of Claudette Colbert's lead character who, like Miss Colbert's lead character in the 1942 Palm Beach Story, doesn't really belong – although she makes a good try (and this fish out of water element serves as the basis for most of the satire and comedy).Most fortunately too, Midnight has a fine supporting cast led by John Barrymore (at his scene-stealing best) and Mary Astor. And right up almost to the end of the movie when Leisen allows Monty Woolley to hog the camera and bring this fast-paced movie to a screeching halt, it's directed at an admirably rapid clip too! You really need to have your ears and eyes fully attuned and your mind clear as a bell to follow the many delightful twists and turns of the plot.

With Don Ameche borrowed from 20th Century Fox and John Barrymore finished with his contract at MGM, the two of them teamed with Claudette Colbert to make Midnight where Colbert plays a chorus girl stranded in Paris. When Don Ameche finds her and takes her in, she's wearing a newspaper for a hat.She could have all her basic needs met with Ameche who's head over heels for her, but Claudette wants more out of life. Enter John Barrymore who would like to have her masquerade as a baroness, to ward off another goldigger of the male kind in Francis Lederer who has been sniffing around Mary Astor who is Barrymore's wife.Colbert pulls it off beautifully, maybe she'll meet a really rich candidate for a husband. Lederer is sniffing all right to Astor's jealousy, but Ameche is on the scent too. He's going to find that woman who came and went out of his life so quickly. And Barrymore, the sly rogue, is presiding over it all like an indulgent grandpa.When you have a director like Mitchell Leisen and such skilled players in comedy as Ameche and Colbert in the lead, the result can't be anything else, but pure entertainment. Barrymore is also grand in the last part he would have in an A budget film.Down in the supporting cast take careful note of Monty Woolley as a judge, a man well versed in the divorce laws of France and who brooks no nonsense in his court. Best scene in the film is Ameche with the help of several Parisian cab drivers getting the hotel maitre'd to tell where Colbert left for. That has to be seen, no description will do.Unfortunately Midnight is not the kind of screen comedy made any more, so see it when broadcast.

In some ways I feel sorry for those that made MIDNIGHT. While it is a wonderful movie, it came out during what many would argue was the greatest year in Hollywood history. 1939 saw such films as GONE WITH THE WIND, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and so it's not surprising that films like MIDNIGHT and THE WIZARD OF OZ somehow took a back seat. Had it come out in a different year, it might have taken home an award or at least been nominated.The story begins with penniless Colbert arriving in Paris and being befriended by cabbie, Ameche. However, soon after meeting, she accidentally bumbles into a society party and is mistaken for a guest. From then on, she is sucked into the finest circle and is wined and dined and lives a Cinderella-like life--that is until Ameche shows up and announces he's there to ask her to marry a lowly cab driver.The film has a pretty impressive pedigree--the screenplay written by the exceptional duo of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, directed gracefully by Mitchell Leisen and starring some exceptional actors--Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore. In just about every way, this was a quality product, though I will admit the story was a bit silly and unbelievable. However, despite these minor limitations, the whole package looked so nice, was constructed so well and was so clever that it was easy to look past how unbelievable the whole thing was.Sweet and enjoyable from start to finish--this is a film worth seeking.