A Movie You Might Have Missed #73 — Midnight (1939)

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

When out-of-work showgirl Eve (Claudette Colbert) arrives in Paris with no work in sight, she asks taxi driver Tibor (Don Ameche) to drive her from club to club. But the more time she spends with Tibor, the more Eve realizes that he is falling for her. Unwilling to accept his feelings, Eve escapes to a charity concert, meets the charming Georges (John Barrymore) and disguises herself as a Hungarian baroness. But love-struck Tibor is not willing to let Eve go without a fight.

This is a lovely bit of hilarious farce, beautifully acted by big stars in a script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.

Supposedly Wilder hated last minute script changes so much that he began his own directing career so no one would do that to him again. We can thank this movie for giving us Wilder the director whose movies I love so much.

This particular movie has fire-cracker dialogue, a delightfully twisty farcical plot, and tons of charisma. Perfect for viewing any time but especially perfect for our current anxious times.

If you like this, try It Happened One Night for more of Claudette Colbert or Trouble in Paradise directed by comic genius Ernst Lubitsch (a major influence on Billy Wilder) for a couple pulling cons on the rich in witty style.