Midnight (1939)
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92% of critics liked it
(13 reviews) -
88% of users liked it
(885 ratings)
Paramount's screwball comedy Midnight is the first collaboration between director Mitchell Leisen and screenwriting duo Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. The film merges Brackett and Wilder's early emphasis on repartee and masquerade with ex-costume designer Leisen's flair for high… More Paramount's screwball comedy Midnight is the first collaboration between director Mitchell Leisen and screenwriting duo Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. The film merges Brackett and Wilder's early emphasis on repartee and masquerade with ex-costume designer Leisen's flair for high style and sophistication. American Eve Peabody (Claudette Colbert), a wily ex-showgirl, must impersonate Hungarian royalty in order to infiltrate the Parisian jet set. Midnight begins during a midnight rainstorm as Eve arrives penniless at Paris' Gare de L'Est, owning only the gold lamé gown on her back. She attracts the attention of Hungarian cab driver, Tibor Czerny (Don Ameche), but walks out on their budding romance; Eve will no longer make the mistake of dating for love rather than money. Instead, she finds shelter from the downpour by crashing a socialite's late-night soirée using a pawnticket and a pseudonym, the Baroness Czerny (the cab driver's surname). There, Eve meets aristocrat Georges Flammarion (John Barrymore), who entices her with a place in society if she agrees to remain disguised as the Baroness and seduce his wife's playboy lover. Meanwhile, Tibor Czerny has not given up his search for Eve. When he locates her whereabouts and discovers the fact that she is using his name, Tibor also travels to the Flammarion estate -- to win back Eve, and to pose as her husband, the Baron. What ensues is quintessential screwball comedy, full of deception, love, quadruple entendre, and outright farce. Midnight remains Leisen's most heralded directorial effort, as well as one of Brackett and Wilder's earliest successes. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mitchell Leisen
- Written By
- Charles Brackett
- Genres
- Romance, Classics, Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Mar 15, 1939 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Direction by Mitchell Leisen is generally satisfactory, although picture is slow in getting under way and has several spots that could be tightened.
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Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Funny and forgettable.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
It has a superbly malicious script by Brackett and Wilder, gorgeous sets and camerawork, and a matchless cast. All in all, probably Leisen's best film.
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Frank S. Nugent, New York Times
Pictures like Midnight should strike more often.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Starring Colbert and Barrymore, this charming fairytale is one of the best screwball comedies as well as a highlight of Mitchell Leisen's career.
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Cast
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Claudette Colbert
as Eve Peabody/"Baroness Czerny"
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Don Ameche
as Tibor Czerny
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John Barrymore
as George Flammarion
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Francis Lederer
as Jacques Picot
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Mary Astor
as Helen Flammarion
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Hedda Hopper
as Stephanie
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Elaine Barrie
as Simone
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Rex O'Malley
as Marcel
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Monty Woolley
as Judge
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Armand Kaliz
as Lebon
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Eugene Borden
as Porter
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Paul Bryar
as Porter
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Eddie Conrad
as Prince Potopienko
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Gino Corrado
as Taxi Driver
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Gennaro Curci
as Major Domo
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Billy Daniels
as Roger
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Carlos De Valdez
as Butler
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Sarah Edwards
as Party Guest
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Arno Frey
as Room clerk
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Charles Judels
as Doorman
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Joyce Mathews
as Girl
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Louis Mercier
as Cafe Pianist
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Ferdinand Munier
as Major Domo
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Nestor Paiva
as Woman's escort
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Lionel Pape
as Edouart
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Harry Semels
as Policeman
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Leonard Sues
as Bellboy
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Michael Visaroff
as Footman
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Leander De Cordova
as Footman
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Bryant Washburn
as Guest
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Joseph DeStefani
as Head Porter
- William Eddritt
- Judith King
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Joseph Romantini
as Footman
