Middle of the Night

Many years ago I caught this movie on the "Bill Kennedy at the movies" show. It was the film that turned me on to Frederick March and Kim Novak. Both were powerful in there roles. The subject matter, older man younger woman hasn't really been explored in film to the extent I think it warrants. "Lolita is another such film, but I'm hard pressed to come up with others. I would love to see this film again after all those years to see if it still holds up to my standard of excellence, but alas, it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. I've watched for it on TCM and AMC, but I've never seen it listed. I don't know who owns the rights to it, but hope someday to see this film again.

Solid drama of older March falling for young insecure Kim. Both leads are excellent and present their flawed but decent characters simply. Kim was in her peak years and having just come off of Vertigo is a neurotic mess, probably a spill over from that experience but it fits her part. The people in their lives are shown in dark tones, a little heavily so, perhaps to illustrated the disapproval of society to such a relationship in the 50's. It does lend a heavy air to the film though since almost without exception they are a smothering and cruel bunch. Paddy Chayevsky's plays are usually intense emotional exercises but Mann keeps a steady hand on the tiller and the actors make the troubled lovers plight poignant.

Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky adapted his own play about an elderly workaholic (Fredric March, in a stupendous performance) who reaches out to a beautiful woman half his age...but she's got problems of her own, beginning with her shaky self-confidence. Their sometimes-rocky, sometimes-tender courtship provides the basis for this lovely film. As the sad beauty, Kim Novak has seldom been better (it's amazing that professional critics at the time failed to see the growth in Novak as an actress here, focusing all their attention on March, who indeed is terrific). Great N.Y.C. locations, fine support from the always-reliable Lee Grant. Well worth-seeing. *** from **** (Relatively forgotten for years, the movie made its DVD debut August 2010 as part of a Novak collection.)

"The Catered Affair" is better known today, probably because of the studio that released it and who owns it. "Middle of the Night" is similar and probably better. (It is unquestionably better than "Marty," which seems corny, overstated, and dated today.) Fredric March is magnificent. One can easily see how he was the first stage James Tyrone. He'd already won two Academy Awards but the irascible man in love with a much younger woman here is as good as he ever got. And that's very, very good.

Kim Novak was considered sort of a joke at the peak of her career but her movie performances seem very realistic in the 21st Century. This is maybe not her best. She was a charming comedienne and this is a solemn role. Still, she's good.

This is not unlike "Two For The Seesaw," which was made with a much bigger budget and is atrocious.

It differs in one way in its having a superb and large supporting cast. Everyone is good. Lee Grant, Martin Balsam -- and Glenda Farrell. Torchy Blane grown up and old and with an adult daughter in love with an older man.

The Roundabout Theater Company might look into reviving the stage version of this. It's timely and could be treated in many ways. The Novak character could be even young. She could be a he. However it might be done, it would be good but March would be a hard act to follow.

Unlike a lot of soapy relationship dramas from the late '50s filmed in sturdy, widescreen Technicolor, this gruff little movie actually has a pulse that still resonates! The dialog, the real NYC settings, the no frills though excellent black & white photography, the energetically committed performances of Novak and March (and everyone else) are a revelation. Some of the characters could have stepped out of a movie from today with hardly a change of appearance or attitude, such as Lee Grant. The technical and creative side of the film is refreshing for the era--just watch the scene in what looks like natural, overcast winter light as Novak and March laugh and joke as they approach a cabin. Feels so alive and spontaneous, minus any glossy photography or stilted direction. This film really breathes! And if there's music (I actually didn't notice),it's very subtle and doesn't hammer away and distract. Novak is at her very best--previously she seemed rather held in and expressionless to me, but this completely explodes that perception. And though March had a tendency to overact in his career, his tormented emoting here seems understandable. We really feel his pain and anxiety. This movie deserves wider attention.