Watching some of her movies when growing up with my mum and dad,the only thing that I know about Ginger Rogers is her famous on screen partner Fred Astaire.Taking a look on BBC iPlayer,I was intrigued to find a non-Astaire Rogers film,which led to me gingerly getting set to meet the star of midnight.
The plot:
Whilst trying to track down a friends missing girlfriend, Clay 'Dal' Dalzell attends a show with pal Donna Mantin.During the performance,it hits Dalzell that stage singer Mary Smith, (dubbed "Star of Midnight") (who dresses in black with a veil covering her face)is the missing girlfriend.Yelling out this fact (smart move!) Dalzell causes Smith to run off stage and disappear. Being a fellow audience member,gossip columnist Tommy Tennant claims to have secret details on Smith,but is mysteriously killed in Dalzell's apartment. Faced with his life of luxury coming to an end,Dalzell has to prove his innocence before the midnight hour.
View on the film:
Stepping on stage a week after completing Roberta,(and after Midnight,she would 6 days later start filming Top Hat!) the glamorous Ginger Rogers gives a sparkling performance as Mantin,with Rogers making the light Screwball Comedy exchanges with Dalzell flow across the screen,and Rogers giving Mantin a pleasant, somewhat clumsy, investigating eye. Showing no sign of being a "thin" presence on screen, William Powell gives a debonair performance as Dalzell,who appears to solve the case with a mere click of the fingers,whilst Powell gives his one line exchanges with Rogers a dry wit.
Rolling out their adaptation of Arthur Somers Roche's book just 2 years after Prohibition ended,the screenplay by Howard J. Green/ Anthony Veiller & Edward Kaufman sips up the new era with everyone having a drink in hand,and a number of Mantin's and Dalzell's exchanges being drink puns. Presenting a caper tale on the works,the writers strike a fine balance between easy-going Comedy and a mystery with some sly (and an ending which beats Scobby Doo by decades!)turn,as every attempt Dalzell makes to unmask the killer,leads to himself. Whilst the movie does craft an eerie women in black and fully displays Rogers lavish costumes,director Stephen Roberts disappointingly keeps things stage-bound,with would-be set- pieces being kept off screen via conversations between the two,as Roberts gives the caper a Film Noir atmosphere unmasking,as the star of midnight sings for the last time.
The plot:
Whilst trying to track down a friends missing girlfriend, Clay 'Dal' Dalzell attends a show with pal Donna Mantin.During the performance,it hits Dalzell that stage singer Mary Smith, (dubbed "Star of Midnight") (who dresses in black with a veil covering her face)is the missing girlfriend.Yelling out this fact (smart move!) Dalzell causes Smith to run off stage and disappear. Being a fellow audience member,gossip columnist Tommy Tennant claims to have secret details on Smith,but is mysteriously killed in Dalzell's apartment. Faced with his life of luxury coming to an end,Dalzell has to prove his innocence before the midnight hour.
View on the film:
Stepping on stage a week after completing Roberta,(and after Midnight,she would 6 days later start filming Top Hat!) the glamorous Ginger Rogers gives a sparkling performance as Mantin,with Rogers making the light Screwball Comedy exchanges with Dalzell flow across the screen,and Rogers giving Mantin a pleasant, somewhat clumsy, investigating eye. Showing no sign of being a "thin" presence on screen, William Powell gives a debonair performance as Dalzell,who appears to solve the case with a mere click of the fingers,whilst Powell gives his one line exchanges with Rogers a dry wit.
Rolling out their adaptation of Arthur Somers Roche's book just 2 years after Prohibition ended,the screenplay by Howard J. Green/ Anthony Veiller & Edward Kaufman sips up the new era with everyone having a drink in hand,and a number of Mantin's and Dalzell's exchanges being drink puns. Presenting a caper tale on the works,the writers strike a fine balance between easy-going Comedy and a mystery with some sly (and an ending which beats Scobby Doo by decades!)turn,as every attempt Dalzell makes to unmask the killer,leads to himself. Whilst the movie does craft an eerie women in black and fully displays Rogers lavish costumes,director Stephen Roberts disappointingly keeps things stage-bound,with would-be set- pieces being kept off screen via conversations between the two,as Roberts gives the caper a Film Noir atmosphere unmasking,as the star of midnight sings for the last time.