Midnight

Quite delightful. Surprised it's not better known. Has been called "The first great Brackett and Wilder screenplay." Fantastic costumes too. Billy Wilder was frustrated that the director was more interested in the style and look of the movie (which is stellar) than in his dialogue, which he had to fight from being cut. This is probably one of the first films that made him think about directing his own, so he could have more control. Really great comic performances from John Barrymore, Don Ameche, and Claudette Colbert.

Claudette Colbert wanders around Paris broke and in gold lame in "Midnight." She meets a cab driver and, finding herself attracted to him, she takes off. While he's organizing a city-wide cabbie search for her, she's at a private party and winds up at the Ritz as Baroness Czerny - which is his last name, chosen by her in a moment of panic. She is backed in all her lies by John Barrymore, in a wonderfully funny performance, who wants her to woo his wife's boyfriend away from her.

There are some familiar themes at work here - one is the suitor for hire and/or opportunity, used (with variations, of course) in "Her Cardboard Lover" and "Palm Beach Story," "Mannequin," and the affable, unambitious man who feels that by having nothing, he has everything, such as in "Magnificent Dope" and "You Can't Take it With You." That's the Ameche character. Knowing she could fall for him sends Colbert running - just as she ran from Joel McCrea in "Palm Beach Story." This hunger for money in some characters (usually women) and loathing of it (usually men) is a strange dichotomy than runs through several post-Depression, pre-war films.

The handsome Czech leading man, Francis Lederer, plays Mary Astor's boyfriend who falls for Colbert. In 1929, when he made a film in Germany with Louise Brooks, Lederer couldn't speak a word of English. He lived to be nearly 101 and in his last years, taught at the American National Academy of Performing Arts, which he and his wife founded.

The funniest scene to me was a phone conversation between Barrymore and Colbert, in which she pretends she's talking to her sick daughter. But everyone is great in this movie, which is very funny and refreshing.

Screwball comedy is an art and in '39 Charles Brackett wrote a perfectly wonderful one for CLAUDETTE COLBERT and DON AMECHE called MIDNIGHT and directed by the talented Mitchell Leisen.

Claudette is down to her last coin when she stumbles out of a taxi-cab driven by Don Ameche and strolls around Paris in the pouring rain in a gold lame dress, not exactly the picture of a girl down on her luck. But the fun begins when she crashes a party given by a bunch of socialites and has to pretend to be there as a member of high society. She calls herself a Baroness and before long, Ameche has caught up with her and goes along with her impersonation, calling himself a Baron.

Of course, it takes many plot twists and turns for the whole story to come to an end, and by that time there are quite a few laughs provided by Claudette and company. JOHN BARRYMORE is in especially good comic form as a man who wants his wife (MARY ASTOR) to get rid of her lounge lizard boyfriend (FRANCIS LEDERER), who happens to fancy Claudette. REX O'MALLEY has a fey role as a house guest and the cast includes HEDDA HOPPER and MONTY WOOLLEY as an exasperated and befuddled judge.

Claudette has her best role since IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and makes the most of it. She schemes her way in and out of trouble with the disarming charm and ease of an actress who has worn many disguises before.

Summing up: A very winning comedy that is a perfect example of screwball at its best.

There are few films that can be seen often without the viewer tiring of them. Midnight is one of them. It glides effortlessly through the tinsel and magical world of barons and down-on-their heels showgirls without taking a mean shot at anyone. Claudette Colbert shows that she lost none of her "It Happened One Night" edginess, and Don Ameche gives the performance of his career as the romantic cab driver who sees himself as worthy to steal Colbert away from her rich suitor. John Barrymore may have been in decline at this point in his career-----but this is his last great effort at creating a truly endearing comic character. He does so splendidly. Mary Astor combines beauty and bitchiness in a memorable role. And what is there to say about Rex O'Malley as her gay pal in all this business? It is a shame that he is virtually unknown today, and didn't get many opportunities to show what a fine comic actor he was.

Midnight deserves a much wider audience than it now has. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett have written wonderful comic dialog that continues to charm and amuse today's viewers. And it is without doubt Mitchell Leisen's masterpiece.

This is THE romantic comedy to see with someone you love.

Although languishing in obscurity in comparison to other great films of 1939, Midnight is a classic that deserves to be ranked among the best comedies. In this sophisticated twist on the Cinderella story, a penniless showgirl (the incomparable Claudette Colbert) passes herself off as a foreign aristocrat to help John Barrymore win back his erring wife from a champagne mogul. If she succeeds in winning this millionaire for herself, she'll have the rich lifestyle--the "tub of butter"--for which she's been scheming, but taxi driver Don Ameche is determined to teach her the age-old lesson that love is better than riches. Not only is the film a delight for fans of Colbert, whose genius for offhand, sophisticated comedy shines here, but viewers are also treated to one of Barrymore's last and funniest performances. Although he is said to have read his lines from cue cards for this film, his performance looks flawless: worldly, cunning, and wildly eccentric. Ameche provides the perfect counterpart for Colbert, holding his own in the dizzying round of deceptions, impersonations, and frivolous lawsuits. This is a sparkling, witty film that should be part of every comedy fan's library.