Rose de minuit

Midnight Mary (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Famous Pre-Code has Loretta Young playing the title character, a woman who always finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a stint inside a reform school she winds up on the streets without a job but is taken under the wing of a gangster (Ricardo Cortez). She eventually tries to go straight with the help of a lawyer (Franchot Tone) but soon the gangster wants him dead. Young is one of my favorite actresses and there's no question this here is one of her most famous films but to me the story is really lacking and not too original. It really seems like MGM wanted to throw Young into the sex/vamp role but they didn't put too much thought into the screenplay. The movie certainly isn't bad but at the same time it's not the greatest that it could have been. The biggest issue with Young's vamp here is that she never does anything wrong. She's a good girl from head to toe so there's no point in trying to push her off as the vamp. What makes this film work so well are the incredibly strong performances from the three leads. Young is very sexy and believable in her role. Cortez even manages to deliver a strong performance but the scene stealer has to be Tone. Andy Devine and Una Merkel have supporting roles. To me this film works best as a love story because in heart that's exactly what it is. Throw in the sexy wardrobes of Young mixed with Wellman's direction and you've got a pretty good film that's worth watching.

Midnight Mary (1933)

Wow, you'll never see so many wipe transitions from one scene to the next, which is a big part of how this great little movie moves and moves. Loretta Young is terrific in a common role for the time--a woman who is good at heart getgin in trouble through circumstance and a little too much trust, or plain old willingness. She is surrounded by a mixed and twirling (and large) cast of secondary characters, a couple of them well known such as leading male Franchot Tone.

William Wellman is a director known most of all for being professional. He has no signature style, and unlike say William Wyler or Michael Curtiz, also accused of being professionally style-less, he has no truly amazing films to his name. But boy does have have a dozen really excellent ones. And few duds. In fact, one reason I went out of my way to see this, at a neighbor's house who gets TCM, is because of Wellman.

And also because of Young, who was a starlet and a beauty in her time. If she lacked some on screen spark to make her a superstar, she still had a lovable, solid, convincing presence every time. In a way, she was perfect for Wellman. Tone, in his come and go role, is fine, as is the quirky Andy Devine (the guy with the hoarse, high voice).

Another reason to see this is the freshness it has as a pre-code film. There is a natural acceptance of couples living together (and presumably sleeping together) that is not a salacious part of the film but just makes it true--or at least less artificial. It's a great aspect to many of this era's movies, in some ways my favorite era of all the 1930s, as great as the later and purposely artificial screwball comedies truly are.

What will hold this back at all for some viewers is a lack of total polish and storytelling finesse (filming and editing, as well as writing). It isn't that films in 1933 were always plagued by small flaws like these, but even the masterpieces of the time feel a little raw in spots. This is a charm, a benefit, if you look at it that way. Don't expect "Casablanca" or even "It Happened One Night" (from the next year) and you'll really enjoy this. The plot is familiar, the acting routine, the lighting bright (high key). But it's really fun and well done and a fast ride. Do it.

Ordinarily I do not tolerate soap operas well, and "Midnight Mary" is certainly one of these. Commonly referred to as a 'woman's picture', a soap is generally long on talk and unwind at ice-cutter speed. But this picture is different, more of a melodrama with good pacing and acting throughout, and with a thoroughly absorbing screenplay as well.

Director/Social Commentator William Wellman hits the mark with an MGM production that has a gritty Warner Bros. flavor to it. It is Loretta Young's picture and she delivers, with help from a surprisingly strong performance from Ricardo Cortez and from the dependable Franchot Tone. Mention should be made of the effective, haunting theme music by Dr. Wm. Axt, who supervised many MGM scores in the '30's.

Still very worthwhile although somewhat dated nowadays, its essential social message is intact. Well done all around. I gave it a rating of 8 and felt the film earned every bit of it.

Interesting drama about a young woman named Mary Martin (played by Loretta Young), on trial for murder, who awaits her verdict and remembers back to her past leading up to this crime. From childhood rummaging through garbage at the dump, to being placed in a "house of correction" as a teenager when she is unjustly accused of stealing a pocketbook, to unknowingly playing lookout for a bunch of crooks pulling a job, Mary really is a good girl - she's just had a life that went from one bad break to another, it seems. Unable to find a real job, she ends up a gangster's moll and, along with his gang of hoodlums, she's now dressing to the nines in satin gown, skullcap, and fur coat and assisting them with crimes - but when she meets a handsome, rich playboy (Franchot Tone) one night while out on a "job" with her gang, she asks him to help her get away from this life of crime.

This film is really interesting, well-edited and fast-paced, with compelling story that completely held my interest, and a really great performance by Loretta Young who really makes this film. Una Merkel adds to the mix as Mary's gal pal Bun, and Andy Devine is fun as Franchot Tone's goofy sidekick. Franchot Tone, by the way, looks extremely handsome in this with top hat, white tie, and tails (oh, my), Loretta Young is very beautiful, as usual, and there is just tons of chemistry between the two of them in their romantic scenes. Watch for those kisses - wow!

This Review is worth an 11 for the gowns, 8 for the rest. Loretta in Adrian's clothes was a knockout...I have seen this movie twice on that wonderful TCM and that beaded skullcap hat still makes me marvel...it takes a pretty face to pull that one off. Story is interesting enough but the actors were really perfect for this big little movie. Ricardo Cortez was at his sexy handsome smarmiest..Franchot Tone was at his great kind, rich and wimpiest and sweet Loretta held the whole shebang together and I cannot imagine anyone thinking/saying she wasn't right for the part. Plus, if clothes make the man then clothes really make the woman... Now about the story...Loretta of got a few bum raps along the way, love, etc., but wait, just spend 75 minutes and judge for yourself.