Tra mezzanotte e l'alba

Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien are buddies from the war. Now they are cops together in the same patrol car. When Gale Storm comes into their lives, it seems that they might fight, but O'Brien bows out gracefully. This is, until hoodlum Donald Buka escapes from prison and kills Stevens.

One of the reasons that O'Brien is so good in his B pictures around the end of the fifth decade of the 20th Century is that he looks like an ordinary Joe: all right looking, but nothing to right home about, and he could afford to take off a few pounds. For anyone else, this would have meant supporting roles, and he did a lot of those. However, he also played leads in noirs and cop movies like this one, and even westerns. That's because he typified how American men thought of themselves: ordinary people, yeah, but capable of important things. To watch his descent into brutality after Stevens' death here, even with the Production Code still in force, is a fine bit of acting.

An American Cinematheque presentation at The Egyptian.

B-movie, second-feature that plays as a cross between classic noir and serial melodrama. As such, it's easy to see how it's often credited with being a predecessor of the police procedural.

Stevens and O'Brian play two likable LAPD patrol cops. Gale Storm the wholesome new dispatch girl who keeps their attention at night. Most of the movie deals with the growing and affectionately written romance between Stevens and Storm, making the whole thing seem at times like a vintage episode of 'Payton Place'. But make no mistake, we're in noir territory, and it's only a matter of time before we're dealing with gangsters, their molls, heartbreaking tragedy and small children being held from eighth floor windows.

The leads are so charismatic, and the writing so sharp, that it's almost impossible not to like this film. Another little post-war gem of a movie.

Notable for its unusual shifts in nuance, tone and timbre, 'Between Midnight and Dawn' opens as a fly on the wall docu-noir, detailing the experiences of prowl car cops Stevens and O' Brien, during the hours of the title. Stevens' increased interest in Gale Storm results in a gawky, screwball rom-com sequence in which O'Brien finds himself cast as the disgruntled, gauche, threes-a-crowd outsider. Latterly, the movie returns to base as a ruthless hood vs dedicated cops drama.

Impressively scripted, acted and executed, including a prolonged, compelling, must see car chase, 'Between Midnight and Dawn' is one of the more laudable second division noirs. With the odd curve ball thrown in for good measure, it's worth an extensive prowl to seek out.

I would be lying if I said that I know Gordon Douglas' work as director. I did see his 1954 sci-fi effort, THEM, which was OK and in line with the many sci-fi movies of the 1950s, but it did not exactly stay in my memory.

BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN is an entirely diverse kettle of fish: no sci-fi, plain human emotions as two cops - Stevens and O'Brien - try to discharge their police duties both manfully and professionally.

One spanner in the works: Stevens likes the voice of a police phone operator, pretty Gale Storm, gets to meet her, whereupon a second spanner springs up: both cops love Storm. O'Brien gentlemanly lets Stevens sweep the lady off her feet but from that point on one recalls his words that it would get "crowded" if all three went out together... and one knows that one of the coppers will be sacrificed for the sake of the plot (poor Edmond had already played a bigamist, he probably did not wish to repeat it and become stereotyped as cheater).

Cinematography and script are OK, some notable police car chases do not hurt, though for the most part this film looks and feels more like a B product - the cast is what raises it above that status.

Acting is uniformly competent, with Donald Buka stealing the show as the clean-faced criminal who thinks nothing of using a child as shield. O'Brien delivers a performance as dependable as that of the cop he portrays.

Certainly no waste of time. 7/10.

Ed O'Brien and Mark Steven are cop buddies. Gale Storm (whom I had a crush on as a child) plays a female police dispatcher (I think she is miscast here). The film revolves around these three main characters and a lowlife sleazeball who runs the rackets in the city. Another lowlife tries to horn in on Mr. Local Sleaze, but gets dispatched with efficiency by the kill-happy thug. When convicted in court and sentenced to fry, he vows revenge on the two cops. Margie, I mean Gail Storm, logically falls for Mark Stevens, who is slimmer and better looking than O'Brien. And the film is fine up to that point. Then it kind of veers off in undesirable directions and I am sure audiences were disappointed with the final half of the film. I will let you be the judge.