Midnight (Universal Cinema Classics)
by Mitchell Leisen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles Brackett, Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Mary AstorDirector: Mitchell Leisen
Brand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Midnight (Universal Cinema Classics)
Movie Review: Love In Paris
Summary: 4 Stars
Synopsis: Eve Peabody (Claudette Colbert), a down on her luck American girl arrives in Paris with no money or prospects on a cold and rainy night. A handsome Hungarian cab driver named Tibor Czerny (Don Ameche) comes to her rescue and sparks begin to fly almost immediately.
Unfortunately Eve is looking for more than just love and runs off into the night leaving poor Tibor to wonder why. After a series of fortuitous, unforeseen events Eve winds up in the lap of luxury, appearing as though her dreams of wealth and security are about to come to fruition.
However Tibor has been searching for Eve since her departure and when he finally discovers her whereabouts his presence threatens her social climbing aspirations.
Critique: `Midnight' from '39 is a whimsical, enjoyable romatic comedy that not only offers its audience an hour and 35 minutes of laughs but also provides an unintentional time capsule view into the styles and fashions of the thirties (oh those hats!). The production values reflect the classic approach of the times, the storyline clever and the cast contains some of Hollywoods best including; Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore and Mary Astor.
While watching this film I couldn't help but be reminded of the earlier '34 classic starring Claudette Colbert opposite Clark Gable. Don Ameche not only has a noticeable physical resemblance to Gable but his interaction with Colbert in `Midnight' is also strikingly similar. No doubt the studio was aware of these similarities and intended to capitalize on the success of the earlier film to carry over to this one.
All and all `Midnight' is a wonderful example of classic thirties cinema. Enjoy!
Summary of Midnight (Universal Cinema Classics)
Although Hollywood's golden year of 1939 is best remembered for Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, it was also a banner year for sophisticated screen comedy, and Mitchell Leisen's Midnight is a deliciously prime example. Screenwriters Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett were in peak form when they concocted this smooth confection about Eve Peabody (Claudette Colbert), an American showgirl in Paris who is out of work, money, and luck when a handsome cabbie (Don Ameche) offers to drive her around the City of Light to search for employment as a nightclub chanteuse. Nobody's hiring, but Eve has a better plan: posing as a Hungarian countess, she smuggles her way into Parisian high society and suddenly finds herself in the lap of luxury, commissioned by a wealthy aristocrat (John Barrymore) to seduce a French playboy (Francis Lederer) away from Barrymore's not-so-loyal wife (Mary Astor). While Eve is living it up at the Ritz Hotel and enjoying trips to Versailles, Ameche's on a mission to find her and declare his true love.Class distinction, infidelity, false identity... these were daring ingredients for a 1939 comedy, and Midnight (a casebook display of Paramount's shimmering studio style of the '30s) is as fresh today as it was when first released. The silky perfection of the Wilder-Brackett screenplay is expertly served by Leisen (a director who deserves ranking with Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges), and Colbert is merely the brightest star in a flawless cast of screwball veterans. Poking fun at the elite was a Wilder-Brackett specialty, and Barrymore is particularly savvy to the material, giving a performance that's simultaneously sly, desperate, and hilariously inspired. The plot is so elegantly executed that Midnight makes most comedies of later decades look pale in comparison. Gone are the days, it seems, when sophistication, wit, and good taste were an integral part of Hollywood comedy. Midnight offers all of those qualities in abundance, making it a perfect antidote to the crudeness that dominates mainstream comedy at the turn of the millennium. --Jeff Shannon
Academy Award? winners* Claudette Colbert Don Ameche and John Barrymore light up the screen in Midnight - one of the best romantic comedies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The fun begins when a penniless showgirl (Colbert) impersonates a Hungarian countess and with the help of an aristocrat (Barrymore) quickly adapts to her new lifestyle. But can she stop herself from falling in love with yet another poor man (Ameche)? Written by Academy Award? winners** Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett Midnight has been hailed as "just about the best light comedy ever caught by the camera!" (Motion Picture Daily)System Requirements:Running Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SCREWBALL COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 025193312921 Manufacturer No: 61033129
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