The Midnight Girl

...in this melodrama from the Chadwick Pictures Corporation. Lugosi stars as Nicholas Harmon, an opera impresario whose current singing star and girlfriend Nina (Dolores Cassinelli) is starting to have vocal troubles. Harmon's stepson Don (Gareth Hughes) disapproves of his stepfather's romances, but he himself is engaged to the gold-digging Natalie (Ruby Blaine). After Don and Nicholas have a falling out, Don heads out on his own, where he discovers recent Russian immigrant and budding opera talent Anna (Lila Lee). But what happens when both Don and Nicholas fall for Anna?

This is pretty dull stuff, and another instance of music being an integral part of the story of a silent film. It's hard being impressed with Anna's opera skills when they're never heard. Lugosi, who was already in his early 40's, is dashing in an Adolphe Menjou sort of way, with a slightly curled mustache and goatee.

This 1925 film was one of the best silent film roles for Bela Lugosi, before he had even played Dracula on stage. Lila Lee gets top billing at the young age of 24, as she had already been in dozens of films. The story involves Lugosi as a wealthy art patron whose top singer is getting old. He is searching for a new prima donna, when his son, who is unhappily engaged, leaves his father's riches to prove himself on his own. The son, Don, then finds Lila Lee, Anna, on the streets when her elder music teacher is abused by a bully and he rescues them. Don brings Anna back to his father, only to find that his father is instantly infatuated with her. Many melodramatic twists ensue and there is a nice old-fashioned resolution. The Midnight Girl seems like classic, standard melodrama for its' day. The main standout of it today is the Lugosi presence. He is quite good and isn't the ham you may expect. There is not much directorial style, but ultimately this is a satisfying, enjoyable programmer if you're looking for this type of old-fashioned entertainment.

Midnight Girl, The (1925)

** (out of 4)

A rich, opera lover (Bela Lugosi) is looking for his next star but his son is looking for freedom. The son leaves home, as well as leaves his father's money, in order to make it on his own. The son eventually returns with a beautiful woman but his father wants her for his own. This is certainly one of Lugosi's best roles and he does a lot of good in it. That same stiffness from the previous film is also here but it works to his advantage here. He does a wonderful job here and his "look" in the film is wonderfully wicked. The rest of the film is pretty much a bore as the two other leads are quite tiresome and the story really takes too long to tell even at 84-minutes.

Nicholas Harmon (Bela Lugosi) is a fan of the arts and he finds himself in-love with Anna (Lila Lee) - the same woman his stepson, Don, is in love with. Things get ugly between Nicholas and Don - who will Anna choose or will she decide to forget both of them?

The visuals in the film are stunning - in particular the stage performances with Anna. The love-triangle story is interesting enough to keep me watching. I also enjoyed the piano music throughout the entire film - very nice to hear.

I was surprised to find a good copy of the film to watch - and I was not disappointed. It's a much better movie than I guessed it would be. Bela Lugosi fans should enjoy this film quite a bit.

7/10