Eve Peabody rolls into Paris in third class from Monte Carlo dressed in gold lame and broke. A taxi driver (Don Ameche) takes pity on her and helps her look for work but she ditches him once she falls in with some swells. She works out a deal with one (John Barrymore) to pose as a countess and sweep a very wealthy count off his feet but cannot shake the nagging feeling of what she did to the taxi driver. He in turn has every other driver in Paris looking for her. When he does find her matters become even more complicated.
Midnight is another solid contributor to the film year (1939) generally accepted as the finest of the century, holding its own with a crowded field. Style obsessed director Mitchell Leisen as usual drapes his sets in gaudy opulence and his cast in chique fashion while Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's script benignly eviscerates the swells. The slapstick is toned down giving it a more Lubitsch touch than his "Easy Living" screwball making it a more subtle but as effective comedy. Colbert carries the film and her ruse with grace and charm but Ameche's hissy fit recalcitrance is off putting. A dissipated John Barrymore showing the ravages of alcoholism nevertheless registers while his teenage lover from 1924, a pregnant Mary Astor parries well will Claudette. A pleasant, good looking comedy.
Midnight is another solid contributor to the film year (1939) generally accepted as the finest of the century, holding its own with a crowded field. Style obsessed director Mitchell Leisen as usual drapes his sets in gaudy opulence and his cast in chique fashion while Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's script benignly eviscerates the swells. The slapstick is toned down giving it a more Lubitsch touch than his "Easy Living" screwball making it a more subtle but as effective comedy. Colbert carries the film and her ruse with grace and charm but Ameche's hissy fit recalcitrance is off putting. A dissipated John Barrymore showing the ravages of alcoholism nevertheless registers while his teenage lover from 1924, a pregnant Mary Astor parries well will Claudette. A pleasant, good looking comedy.