Really Surprised!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Disappointment for a huge fan!

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

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.

Ginger Rogers is the last of the Myrna Loy hopes (producers, studios) as sidekick to the variety of sleuths played by William Powell in the 30s. Entering the decade with his successful Philo Vance series (The Kennel Murder Case) he hit the jackpot when teamed up with Myrna in The Thin Man series but that did not stop producers from testing other couplings such as Jean Arthur in The Ex Mrs.Bradford and Ginger Rogers in Star of Midnight. Adequate at best they go pale with the spirit of Nora hovering over them so much you find yourself wishing she would walk through the door and tell Jean and Ginger to beat it, she'll take it from their.Clay Dazzle, wealthy dilettante detective (Nick by any other name) does a pal a favor to avoid a scandal and instead gets mixed up in a murder mystery. Flaky society girl Donna Martin with a major crush on Clay tags along for the ride. Sound familiar? Rogers in the midst of partnering in an even greater duo is rather ditsy and passive and like Arthur displays little chemistry with the focused Powell. She is more obstacle than full partner and her verbal chops just not up to sparring with him.The mystery itself is both convoluted and contrived and with Rogers unable to hold her own with Powell Star of Midnight falls fast.

Before watching this film, I need to mention that the co-star of this film, Ginger Rogers, plays a woman named 'Miss Mantin'. This character is NOT to be confused with the character from "The Mad Miss Manton"--a detective film starring Jean Arthur and William Powell. And, to make it more confusing, "Star of Midnight" is ALSO a detective movie starring William Powell as a hard-drinking gentleman amateur crime-solver!! William Powell plays a lawyer, 'Dal' Dalzell. A murder is committed in his apartment and he's shot (and only slightly injured) by the killer. When the cops come to investigate, one wants to arrest Powell (which makes no sense--and the cop is a stereotypical idiot cop you find in these sort of films). The other (J. Farrell MacDondald) is MUCH more pragmatic and does something I can't recall any other cop doing in a film--he lets Powell do all the investigating and just waits for Powell to uncover the killer!! This is a GREAT thing about the film, as is the nice repartee between Powell and Rogers. As a result, it's a fun and enjoyable film--in the same tradition as Powell's "Thin Man" movies. The only drawback concerns the crime itself. It seems like some things were missing and the heroes made a few logical jumps in reasoning--like the writer needed to hash out the story just a bit better. Still, it's enjoyable and worth a look.

I love this movie!!! Although it is a rip-off of the repartee between the main characters of "The Thin Man" (and even has William Powell in the lead), it is absolutely a delight. The title song,"Midnight in Manhattan" which is heard in bits and pieces throughout and in full toward the end of the film,seems to grow on you after a while (I found myself humming it and trying to remember the words). Some of the supporting actors are a little weak.....Leslie Fenton, who is not a particularly appealing actor to begin with (although he was effective as Nails Nathan in "Public Enemy")....nor did I appreciate the bumbling policeman of Robert Emmett O'Conner. J. Farrell MacDonald is a joy as the Inspector and Paul Kelly, surprisingly handsome in his early career, is good as the local crook. Ralph Morgan is what you would expect and good at it. The leads are great, of course. Nobody beats Powell as the suave lawyer and Ginger Rogers is a wonderful light comedienne. They play very well together. All in all, this is one super little film. Plus, Powell's apartment is an art deco dream and what about that bathroom!!!