Le flic se rebiffe

Burt Lancaster's last attempt at directing was in this sadly neglected film, The Midnight Man. I was lucky enough to catch it theaters back in the day and a few times on television. Why it was panned by so many critics is as big a mystery as the one Burt Lancaster has to solve.

In The Midnight Man Lancaster plays a former police detective who did a stretch for homicide himself, he killed his wife's lover. Now released from prison and on parole, he gets a job courtesy of an old police buddy Cameron Mitchell as a campus security guard at a small southern college. No sooner does he arrive there than the murder of a pretty and popular coed occur and an incriminating diary she kept goes missing.

Of course this is the job of the local sheriff Harris Yulin, but Lancaster's instincts just take over and before long three other murders occur. Of course they all arise out of the initial incident.

The Midnight Man is a good and complex tale of murder and blackmail and was shot on Clemson College campus on location for a good ring of authenticity. Lancaster and co-director/writer Roland Kibbee put together a very good cast. Note the following roles besides those I've already mentioned: Morgan Woodward as a southern senator and father of the first victim, Susan Clark as a faculty member who takes a romantic interest in Lancaster, and Ed Lauter and Mills Watson as a pair of Deliverance type inbreds who are working for someone who really wants Burt out of the way. Burt's son Bill Lancaster is in the cast as another college student who also winds up a murder victim.

Some of the results will surprise you and what I like about the film is that Lancaster probably could have covered for a couple of the perpetrators, but his own sense of integrity wouldn't let him do that. Best scene in the film for action fans is his escape from those Deliverance types who capture him and are awaiting instructions. At least we know they're no good. Who else winds up on the wrong side of the law will surprise you and you will keep guessing until the end.

When The Midnight Man was first released it received a very patchy distribution. Catching up with it on TV I was surprised how effective it is, although it is definitely over-long. It's not the greatest mystery ever, but it is long on atmosphere, and has an interesting cast (Cameron Mitchell, Robert Quarry etc). If this comes your way, give it a shot. It may not be to everyone's tastes, but then nor's peanut butter.

Towards the end of his life and film career, Burt Lancaster, created some of the best and most enduring characters in the movies. His 'Twilight Last Gleeming and 'Lawman' are a couple of the more notable ones. This film, "The Mid-Night Man" has got to join that long list as one of the very best. The film is straight forward, the murder of a beautiful and seductive college coed, the long suspicious list of suspects and the unsavory secrets which accompany them. Also the county sheriff, needs to known the reason, why a campus security guard, a man on parole, and former homicide detective doesn't think, the pervert janitor didn't do it. Were it not for the serious cast which include some of the best character actors in the business, this movie would have been just so so. Fortunately, the cast includes Susan Clark as Linda Thorpe, Cameron Mitchell as Quartz, Morgan Woodward as Senator Clayborne and Harris Yulin as Sheriff Casey. Nick Cravat and Lancaster' own son completes the memorable list. With Ed Lauter rounding out the cast, this film cannot go anywhere except to the top of Lancaster Classics. Highly recommended. ****

Former cop Lancaster is just out of jail on parole after catching his wife in bed with her lover, and killing him. He is now a college nightwatchman and no sooner he arrives on the scene than the daughter of a senator is murdered. That is not all, either: he actually gave the girl a lift home so he was one of the last persons to see her alive.

Thankfully, he has a good friend in Cameron Mitchell, who receives him in his house despite having broken a leg; and an even more wonderful parole officer in the stunningly beautiful Susan Clark. And so begins a rollercoaster of events and all is definitely not what it seems in this flick.

Joint direction by Kibbee and Lancaster is effective; script is credible, peeling away each layer of the mystery at a leisurely pace; photography is competent, standard 1970s fare; and acting by Lancaster and Clark is exceptionally good. Mitchell, Yulin, Splawn and Lauter prove more than adequate in the supporting roles.

I ended up enjoying MIDNIGHT MAN a darned sight more than I had expected. 8/10

I find this film a great pleasure to watch. The cast is superb, and the plot develops in a deliberate and leisurely manner; with emphasis on the characters and suspense. As always, Burt Lancaster is wonderful to watch. But then so is everyone else in this film including Burt's son, and a young Catherine Bach, in cameo roles. Midnight Man is a film to watch when you really want to settle and get involved for an evening of suspense and great acting. Its even better if someone is there to share it. Burt is an ex-homicide investigator, just paroled from prison for shooting his unfaithful wife and her lover. He is tragic in a sense, but also strong-willed. He takes a job as a night guard at a college and becomes obsessed with solving a murder that occurs there. He is pitted against resistance from local law enforcement, and some mysterious forces who throw constant dangers and obstacles in his path. But a skilled determination enables him to piece together a complex puzzle of deceit and collusion that makes for an exciting and revealing climax. I heartily recommend this classic Burt Lancaster drama!