''Middle of the Night'' is a 1959 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Delbert Mann, and released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

.'' Variety'' film review; May 20, 1959, page 6.''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' film review; May 23, 1959, page 82. It was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. It stars Fredric March and Kim Novak. The screenplay was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from his Broadway play of the same name.

Plot

A 24-year-old divorcee, Betty Preisser, a receptionist for a clothing manufacturer, takes some office work home which her boss, widower Jerry Kingsley, a man of 56, drops by to pick up. Professional rather than personal acquaintances, Betty tells Jerry of her loveless marriage to George, a musician. Jerry has a married daughter, Lillian, about her age, and a spinster sister, Evelyn, who is very protective of him. Jerry works up the nerve to invite Betty to dinner. He meets Betty's mother, Mrs. Mueller, and sister Alice, who share the apartment with Betty. Their relationship grows, but she professes to be reluctant to date her employer. Jerry wonders if their age difference is really behind this reluctance. Despite this, a May–December relationship between them develops. Female family members of both of them strongly disapprove. Mrs. Mueller calls him a "dirty old man," while Jerry's sister calls Betty a "fortune hunter" and him a fool, although Lillian's husband Jack offers his congratulations, earning scorn from his wife and causing them to quarrel. A colleague, Walter Lockman, trapped in a long and unhappy marriage, urges Jerry to do whatever it takes to find true happiness. George returns to town and tries to persuade Betty to return to him. In a moment of weakness, they have a romantic tryst. Betty regrets it and explains to Jerry that it meant nothing to her emotionally, but he feels humiliated. His sister observes how depressed Jerry has become when he returns home. At his lowest ebb, he learns that Walter has taken an overdose of pills in a likely suicide attempt. Jerry sees it as a sign to seize the joy in life while he still can. He returns to Betty.

Cast

TV play

The story originally appeared as an episode of '' The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse''.

Production

Frank Thompson designed the costumes for the film. Future Oscar winners

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Y ...

(''

A Thousand Clowns ''A Thousand Clowns'' is a 1965 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe and starring Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, and Barry Gordon. An adaptation of a 1962 play by Herb Gardner, it tells the story of an eccentric come ...

'', 1965) and

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's '' Detective Story'', co-starring Kirk Doug ...

(''

Shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is used for cleaning hair. Less commonly, shampoo is available in solid bar format. Shampoo is used by applying it to wet hair, massaging the product into the ...

'', 1975) also star in this film, which was mildly controversial in its day. It was originally a stage play starring

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

. Some of the stage cast were in the film.

Reception

Bosley Crowther, in a mixed but approving review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', said that the film "fitly" brings Chayefsky's play to the screen, but found it bleaker than the play, which had touches of ethnic humor that the film does not:

The characters are more intense and driven by their lonely and neurotic moods han are those in the play They fumble and paw at each other in a more avid and frenzied way, and their squabbles and indecisions are more violent and sweaty with pain. Mr. Chayefsky and Delbert Mann, the director, have worked for the taut, dramatic thing. They haven't wasted much time on humor. This is loneliness, boy, and it is grim. But something that was quite attractive on the stage is not in the film. That is the humor and the temperament of a particular ethnic group. Mr. March is an excellent actor when it comes to showing joy and distress but he isn't successful at pretending to be a Jewish papa and business man.

Awards

* Palme d'Or,

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

- nominated *Best Actor

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

( Fredric March) - nominated *Top Ten Films of the Year, National Board of Review

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Middle Of The Night 1959 films 1959 romantic drama films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films American films based on plays Columbia Pictures films Films based on television plays Films directed by Delbert Mann Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Paddy Chayefsky 1950s American films