Viaje a la medianoche

I hadn't bothered watching this before because of the negative reviews it always seems to get, but I love Sophia and she made so few decent movies in the genre's I like to watch, that I finally gave it a go, and I was pleasantly surprised I found this to be a very enjoyable sub Hitchcock vehicle Anthony Perkins is very effective as the wheedling, manipulative man child that is his trademark and Gig Young is effectively ambiguous as the smarmy, stranger, who may turn out be an ally or an enemy The movie teases you with possibilities for violence or revelation that come to nothing, so that when something does happen it is all the more of a surprise (Which is considered slow and old fashioned these days, but was par for the course back then) Black and white suits the ambiance that they producers are aiming for, the veneer of French avant guard for a film that aspires to be more than it is, however what it is, is still fine by me PS; - Those who strangely expected Sophia to take her clothes off at some point obviously don't know her very well, as apart from, and perhaps because of, her experiences in her very early days in the movie business, she never does more than undo a couple of top buttons, as she does here

Rather pedestrian, generally slow, and, as others have succinctly noted, very miscast "thriller" about a husband surviving a plane crash and forcing his estranged, unhappy wife into acting like he is dead in order to cash in the huge insurance settlement. Tony Perkins plays the mean, horrible husband - and there are times when his boyish looks and behaviours actually come off as somewhat convincing but more often as not he just seems not up to the part. Sophia Loren - wildly miscast as the downtrodden wife and the wife of this guy to boot. She opens the film doing what has to be the best version of the Twist I have ever seen(she is lovely, absolutely lovely!). But Loren is given really very little to do and she looks so disinterested throughout most of the film until she has some climatic scenes at the end and overacts. There is little thriller here at all - mostly Loren looking unhappy and Perkins smiling and trying to be shocking. Huhhhhh! Sorry I was stifling a yawn. Gig Young, again miscast, plays some former police detective leering at Loren throughout and getting in so to speak to the Italian Zone in Paris. The Parisian backdrops and even the French-themed music are rather nice but I saw the ending coming well before the five mile marker and way before midnight.

FIVE MILES TO MIDNIGHT seems to leave other reviewers on here bored and cold. Maybe my positive reaction is due to my expectations being next to dinosaur bones, but I enjoyed myself a lot. Loren and Perkins are playing a mismatched married couple, so the lack of romantic spark between them WORKS. The two are each manipulative in their own way-- Perkins narcissistic and immature, Loren vulnerable and looking for a safety net-- so I enjoyed watching the cat and mouse games between them.

If the film has any flaws, it's a lack of punch in the suspense scenes. I feel like the director never milked these moments enough, certainly not the way a master like Hitchcock would have. Still, the characters are great and I liked the fatalistic noir vibe of the whole story.

Five Miles To Midnight is another of those Alfred Hitchcock type films that could have been a classic had he decided to do them. I think he was busy with The Birds when this came out.

Sophia Loren is the star both in billing and performance. She's married to former American GI Anthony Perkins and it's an abusive relationship. Perkins has to take a flight to Casablanca, but the plane crashes near Bordeaux and miracle of miracles he survives but is not found.

What a golden opportunity for a little insurance fraud. And a battered Sophia goes along with it. The rest of the film is the masquerade that Loren plays as she pretends he's dead like everyone suspects and what she endures with an increasingly unbalanced Perkins.

When Sophia Loren won her Oscar for Two Women she showed her acting chops and this film also has a lot more to do with Sophia the actress than Sophia the sex symbol. As for Anthony Perkins he started out playing callow youths with issues. After Psycho he started out playing far more deranged characters with issues although his character here is descending into a bit of madness unlike Norman Bates who was one fully formed whack job.

Other men in Sophia's life are Gig Young and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Won't give any ending away because in the end we don't know what's to become of the main characters most especially Sophia Loren.

"Five Miles To Midnight" is a thriller with very few thrills. It does, however, offer some redeeming qualities which make it worthwhile for select viewers. Unlike many of the reviews posted here, I don't think the film is miscast. Anthony Perkins may not fit the description of a physical brute, but his persistent neediness is just as controlling and abusive. Creating such an unlikeable character is a complete reversal of Norman Bates, who was so endearing you almost wanted him to get away with murder. Sophia Loren not only looks beautiful, but turns in a fine, convincing performance. Remember, English is not her first language, yet her phrasing and tone are utterly real, as are her reactions. No surprise that she was awarded a Best Actress Oscar two years previously. The Paris we see here is not a postcard view, but rather a seedier image captured in stark black and white photography. The fault with this film is the script, which is lazy and weak and squanders an intriguing premise. "Five Miles To Midnight" is still worth a look.