''Miracle at Midnight'' is an American TV movie based on the
rescue of the Danish Jews
The Danish resistance movement, with the assistance of many Danish citizens, managed to evacuate 7,220 of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, plus 686 non-Jewish spouses, by sea to nearby neutral Sweden during the Second World War.[Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...]
during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. It is a
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
production and premiered on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
on May 17, 1998.
Plot
Set in Denmark during September 27 - October 3, 1943, ''Miracle at Midnight'' is a dramatization of the true story of the Danish rescue of Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps.
Doctor Karl (
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...
) and Doris (
Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
) Koster are a Christian couple living in Copenhagen with their two children, 18-year-old Henrik (
Justin Whalin
Justin Garrett Whalin (born September 6, 1974) is an American former actor and teacher. He is known for his roles as the teenage Andy Barclay in '' Child's Play 3'' and Jimmy Olsen in the American television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adven ...
) and preteen Else (
Nicola Mycroft).
As Chief Surgeon of
Christiana Hospital
Christiana Hospital is a 906-bed nationally ranked, non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Stanton, Newark, Delaware, servicing the entire Delaware area and parts of southern New Jersey. Christiana Hospital is the ...
, Doctor Karl Koster initially uses his position to protect a young resistance fighter shot by the Nazis. Meanwhile, Henrik is secretly working for the same group, commandeering weapons sent to the Nazis.
On Wednesday, September 29, 1943 (three years into the occupation), Doctor Koster learns of the imminent arrest of the
Danish Jews
The history of the Jews in Denmark goes back to the 1600s. At present, the Jewish community of Denmark constitutes a small minority of about 6,000 persons within Danish society. The community's population peaked prior to the Holocaust at whi ...
on midnight Friday (the beginning of
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
) from a former government minister, who had been alerted by German
maritime attache Georg Duckwitz. The Kosters start by hiding Rabbi Ben Abrams and his family, but soon realize they can help more Jews and become an integral part of an effort to transport over 7,000 Jews to neutral Sweden.
Doctor Koster, his family, the hospital staff and the majority of residents work with the resistance to save the Danish Jews from deportation to the
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
. From hiding them in their own homes to admitting them as patients under Christian names, to even hiding them in the morgue. As Doctor Koster declares, "In every language and religion, to be humane is to love your neighbor."
Henrik and his friend load up a truckload of Jews, planning to drive them to the coast from whence they'll be taken to safety in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. En route, they are stopped by German Nazi officials who tell Henrik to open the back of the truck. When the Nazis find Jews, Henrik's friend runs and hides in the woods, and gets help from Henrik's father, who springs Henrik, but Henrik's friend is killed while distracting the Germans.
First they find hiding places for the Jews to survive the initial raids, and then work with the Swedish government and local fishermen to transport them to safety. Meanwhile, Henrik secures trucks and other transport to get people to the coast. They discover that one of the fishermen that was helping them transport Jews was a traitor and tried to turn them in to the Germans. This results in them almost getting caught by the descending SS, but the resistance fighters are able to show up in time and provide cover for the remaining boat to get away.
Finally, the Kosters themselves have to flee when the Nazis discover their activity. Doris Koster is captured by the Nazis, but the rest manage to escape to Sweden. Doris is questioned by the Nazis and released two years later and the family reunites (the reunion is not shown in the film, but is mentioned).
Cast
*
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...
as Dr. Karl Koster
*
Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
as Doris Koster
*
Justin Whalin
Justin Garrett Whalin (born September 6, 1974) is an American former actor and teacher. He is known for his roles as the teenage Andy Barclay in '' Child's Play 3'' and Jimmy Olsen in the American television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adven ...
as Henrik Koster
*
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Gerald Duggan (born 24 March 1945), known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a veteran British film, television and theatre actor, author and producer, known, amongst other things, for his roles as Inspector Alleyn in ''The Inspect ...
as
Georg Duckwitz
*
Andrew Scott as Michael Grunbaum
* Halina Froudist as Ruth Abrams
*
Daisy Beaumont
Daisy Beaumont (born 5 May 1974) is an English actress.
Career
Beaumont's television work includes a variety of shows, among others '' The Border'', ''EastEnders'', '' Hotel Babylon'', ''A Touch of Cloth'', ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', ''Mu ...
as Hannah Abrams
*
Eva Birthistle
Eva Birthistle (born 1974) is an Irish actress and writer. She is best known for her role in '' Ae Fond Kiss...'' and since 2015 has starred in ''The Last Kingdom''. She won the London Film Critics Circle British or Irish Actress of the Year Aw ...
as Karin
Production notes
The film opens with a map of
Nazi-occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
in 1943. The map includes numerous errors. Austria is not displayed as an incorporated part of Germany. Yugoslavia shows its current division into independent republics.
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
is not shown; the
Kaliningrad enclave appears instead.
Notes
* First aired: Sunday, May 17
* As part of the ''
Wonderful World of Disney
The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...
'' Classroom Edition series, ''Miracle at Midnight'' has a website with a range of supporting educational materials
See also
*
List of Holocaust films
These films deal with the Holocaust in Europe, comprising both documentaries and narratives. They began to be produced in the early 1940s before the extent of the Holocaust at that time was widely recognized.
The films span a range of genres, wit ...
*
List of World War II films
This is a list of fictional feature films or miniseries which feature events of World War II in the narrative.
There is a separate list of World War II TV series.
Criteria
* The film or miniseries must be concerned with World War II (or the ...
External links
*{{IMDb title, id=0157996, title=Miracle at Midnight
Holocaust films
Jewish Danish history
Films set in Denmark
Films set in the Baltic Sea
1998 television films
1998 films
Disney television films
Films directed by Ken Cameron