Midnight (1939)

Midnight

This is a great classic movie. John Barrymore steals the show. Very enjoyable. I highly recommend this movie to all. Don Ameche, Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor and John Barrymore. December 18, 2008

Favorite movie of all time

I was thrilled when Amazon began selling this one. I agree with the others - I've shown it to a few people who are dead set against any movie made before 1960, and they loved it. December 4, 2008

Another Classic Screwball Comedy

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Mitchell Leisen directed MIDNIGHT (1939), another delightful screwball comedy of "misunderstandings," written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder.

Set in Paris, Claudette Colbert stars as a penniless showgirl who pretends to be a Hungarian countess in order to better her lifestyle. She has the financial help of aristocrat John Barrymore, who wants her to woo the attentions of Francis Lederer, an interloper trying to steal Barrymore's wife (Mary Astor).

Claudette agrees to the plan, but then she has to deal with the man she really loves, cab driver Don Ameche, particularly after he shows up unannounced at a formal function pretending to be the Hungarian count to Colbert's Hungarian countess.

MIDNIGHT has some smart dialogue and a very capable cast. Barrymore steals every scene in which he appears.

© Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD October 26, 2008

One of the Greatest Screwball Comedies!

This movie is little known compared to It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby and several other films. I can't understate how great this comedy is. I first saw it several years ago at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY which is a classic movie theatre attached to the George Eastman House. I was in high school and loved screwball comedies. I had never heard of this one though. I laughed until my sides hurt and totally fell in love with John Barrymore and Don Ameche. Claudette Colbert was already one of my favorites. This movie is a classic of any age and deserves a bigger reputation. October 16, 2008

"Midnightly Madness"

Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche sizzle in another production which displays Colbert's genius as a commedienne. She goes smoothly from one ridiculous situation to another in her attempts to take on the persona of a baroness, while in actuality she is a down and out "American in Paris." There is a reason for her facade and the story gets juicier and juicier. This classic of the Thirties is superior to most other comedies and a model of what a good romantic comedy should be. Take heed Hollywood. October 8, 2008

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