1939 is generally regarded as the greatest classic movie year of all time, largely due to The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, and yet this sparkling romantic comedy has somehow been largely overlooked. Criterion’s new Blu-ray aims to right that injustice, adding their formidable stamp of approval to a film that’s already stacked with a lead turn by Claudette Colbert, hilarious co-star turns by Don Ameche and John Barrymore, a script co-written by Billy Wilder, and direction by Mitchell Leisen.
Buy Midnight Criterion Collection Blu-rayEve Peabody (Colbert) is a broke American chorus girl who arrives in Paris after losing everything in Monte Carlo. She’s quickly rescued by an amorous cabbie with a heart of gold (Ameche), at least until she finagles her way into Parisian high society by pretending to be a Hungarian baroness. With a suddenly improved social situation, Eve proceeds to spin an ever-expanding web of lies to maintain her standing, eventually falling in with a rich co-conspirator (Barrymore) who hires her to catch the eye of his wife’s lover. The twisty, amusing plot is deliciously unpredictable and impeccably acted, making for a fully satisfying take on the Cinderella story.
Colbert is pitch-perfect as the spunky dame trying to avoid being crushed by her rapidly toppling house of cards. She’s constantly on the run, making it impossible to avoid thinking of her prior work as an heiress on the lam in It Happened One Night. She’s the inverse of that wealthy character here, a penniless grifter trying to escape her troubles, and that attribute of hopeless desperation makes for a far more interesting character as we watch her constantly scheming to turn situations to her advantage.
John Barrymore is always at the ready with a knowing twinkle in his eye, with his flamboyantly named character, Georges Flammarion, figuring out Eve’s game long before anyone else in his socialite circle. While he’s as expected, Don Ameche is the big surprise here. If you only know Ameche from his late-career cinematic reemergence in Trading Places, Coming to America, and the Cocoon movies, you’re in for a treat. He’s a natural leading man: tall, dark, and dashingly handsome, but also gifted with a deft comedic touch that makes him the ideal pairing for Colbert. Watching him here, it’s a mystery why he never got the prime jobs handed to the likes of Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, but I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the two subsequent films he made with Colbert.
The new 4K restoration was created by Universal from a 35mm nitrate composite fine-grain, which also served as the source for the remastered original mono soundtrack. While the sound is excellent, with smooth, full-bodied tones and no hiss, the picture still shows faint scratches and minor debris, along with more grain than expected. It’s not a thorough restoration, but the well-defined black and white contrast shows off the superb original lighting design.
The primary bonus feature is the full Lux Radio Theatre audio adaptation of the film produced the year after the film, again starring Colbert and Ameche. This has become a fairly regular feature on Warner Archive classic releases, so it’s a nice surprise to find it on a Criterion disc for a change. However, the best bonus is a brief archival audio interview with Leisen from 1969 where he reminisces about the shoot, including spilling the tea on Barrymore’s abhorrent bathroom habits on set, as well as how Leisen hired Barrymore’s wife in a small acting role in the hopes of keeping his legendary drinking under control.
Now that Midnight has finally struck (on Blu-ray), this rags-to-riches Cinderella tale makes its strong case for modern-day recognition as one of the best films of the incredible 1939 year.
