Star of Midnight
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
New York lawyer and playboy Clay Dalzell (William Powell) is asked by old friend Tim Winthrop to locate his girlfriend Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in Chicago a year ago. Winthrop cannot stop thinking about her and believes she is in New York.
Along with Donna Mantin (Ginger Rogers), who has romantic designs on him, "Dal" attends a hit stage show called "Midnight" that stars a masked actress, Mary Smith, who vanishes in mid-performance when Winthrop recognizes her and blurts out the name Alice.
Gossip columnist Tommy Tennant claims to have discovered a vital clue to the mystery, but before he can reveal it, he is shot in Dal's suite. Dal is the main suspect, but Inspector Doremus does not believe him to be guilty, and gives the resourceful lawyer the freedom to investigate on his own.
Dal negotiates with gangster Kinland to retrieve letters embarrassing to Donna. When he gets them (using a bit of blackmail), he is annoyed to discover that they actually belong to a friend of Donna's.
Dal runs into an old flame, Jerry, now wed to a lawyer named Classon. Classon, it turns out, is also searching for Alice; she can provide an alibi for his client, convicted of a murder in Chicago.
Dal sets up a trap in a Greenwich Village apartment, pretending to have located the missing Mary there and notifying each of the suspects that she is leaving there to meet him at his suite. He reasons that those who are innocent will go to his suite, while the murderer heads to the apartment to silence Mary.
The killer indeed turns up, in disguise, putting Dal and Donna in grave danger. Fortunately, Dal and Inspector Doremus are able to subdue the culprit. It is Robert Classon. It turns out that Jerry had carried on affairs, first with the Chicago murder victim, then with his accused killer. Robert Classon killed one of his wife's lovers and tried to frame the other. To achieve the latter, he also needed to silence Alice, unaware that she had fled to avoid testifying. She hated the convicted man for ruining her father.
With everything wrapped up, Dal finally gives in and marries Donna.

Review: 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).
Nobody beats Powell as the suave lawyer and Ginger Rogers is a wonderful light comedienne.
Yes, "Star of Midnight" is a bit of RKO Radio Pictures reworking, or ripping off, MGM's "The Thin Man," but so what?
William Powell plays rich and debonair lawyer, Clay Dalzell, who gets involved in a murder, and is himself, a suspect.
At his side, Ginger Rogers, co-starring as Powell's romantic companion.
This pairing of Powell and Rogers is not as perfect as was Powell and Loy, it's a good match up, never-the-less .
The mystery centers around the disappearance of of an actress -- the star of a play entitled "Midnight" -- hence from which the film get its title.
William Powell as a lawyer/detective.
William Powell and Ginger Rogers are a neat screen team in "Star of Midnight," a 1935 comedy-drama that concerns the disappearance of a woman named "Alice." Alice's hapless boyfriend spots her starring in a show under another name and wearing a mask.
When Alice fades from view, it signals a web that connects a couple of crimes and an old girlfriend of Powell's.Powell plays a lawyer who often doubles as a detective, and Rogers is a young woman who decided as a child that she was going to marry him.
Lots of time is spent in Powell's impressive apartment, and the slim Rogers shows off a beautiful wardrobe.
There is also some footage of New York in the '30s which is marvelous."Star of Midnight" has a somewhat colorless supporting cast, the exception being Paul Kelly, with most of the focus being on Powell and Rogers.
A very enjoyable movie -I wish Powell and Rogers had been paired together more..
Frivolous mystery plot seems like another "Thin Man" adventure....
STAR OF MIDNIGHT could easily be mistaken for a Nick and Nora mystery, so similar are the central characters played by WILLIAM POWELL and GINGER ROGERS.
Powell is his usual debonair self as a lawyer who sets about to solve a murder he becomes mixed up in and Ginger is her charming self as the girl who wants to marry him some day.
The police even suspect Powell may have committed the murder of a gossip columnist.The mystery is full of suspicious looking characters who might be at the bottom of the crime, but a quick look at the cast and I guessed who the murderer was before the plot even unraveled.
From then on, I concentrated on the art deco settings for Powell's pad, especially that modern looking bathroom shower.PAUL KELLY has a good tough supporting role and RALPH MORGAN is a distinguished looking gentleman (a more serious version of his brother, Frank Morgan), and LESLIE FENTON does what he can with the role of another suspect.
GENE LOCKHART is amusing as Powell's butler.Typical murder mystery from the '30s combining screwball comedy and the usual twists and turns..
Yes this movie is a rip off of The Thin Man, but that doesn't mean that it's not good at what it does.
Ginger is adorable, and she & William Powell have great chemistry together..
There's plenty of sizzle between Powell and Rogers (of course, Ginger's no Myrna, though).
Powell, of course, looks elegant even in a bathrobe, but surely no star ever looked as good as he did in white tie..
This movie is thoroughly enjoyable with just the proper balance of humour, intrigue, and style that only William Powell is capable of .
Ginger Rogers gives one of her better acting performances and seems very natural opposite of William Powell.
The Thin Man without Myrna Loy. So, how does Ginger Rogers stand up against Myrna Loy?
She trades quips with Powell much like Loy. She snoops like Loy. She drinks like Loy. But, she isn't Myrna Loy...If the Thin Man series had never been, I would've enjoyed Rogers' performance more.
It was a fun movie: An incomprehensible mystery where the murderer seems like a name drawn out of a hat at the last minute.
The man who played Inspector Henderson in Night at the Opera plays a cop in this movie as well.There is a nice chemistry between Rogers and Powell, but it just doesn't rise to the chemistry between Powell and Loy. Powell's detective character needs the stern eye of a sophisticated woman like Mrs. Charles to keep him humble.
Makes for better comedy...All in all, though...a good movie....
Lawyer/detective William Powell and his would-be wife, Ginger Rogers, combine to make a pleasant who-dun-it..
The plot was a bit loose and incredulous, but no movie with William Powell and Ginger Rogers can be bad.
It slightly resembles the much better film, The Thin Man (1934), but it was fun nevertheless.
Powell and Rogers have good chemistry together and provide some of the comedy with their antics, with other comedy supplied by inept police officer, Robert Emmett O'Connor.
Mayer got a good price to loan out William Powell to RKO for Star Of Midnight.
No doubt he was thinking of the sequel to the immensely popular The Thin Man that was already on the boards at MGM.Over at MGM Nick Charles was a reluctant detective who liked his new bride, martinis, and mysteries in that order.
In Star Of Midnight Clay Dalzell is a reluctant detective who likes the legal profession, Ginger Rogers, martinis, and mysteries in that order.
He has to do it with the help of Ginger Rogers who just wants to get him to the altar.RKO got Powell a little later in the decade as another amateur detective in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford.
The eventual murderer, all I can say is that it was one original disguise that was used.Fans of The Thin Man will enjoy Star Of Midnight..
No movie with William Powell can be a complete loss, but he really seems to be sleepwalking through this undernourished RKO mystery.
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.
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.
His grace and bearing made him the picture of dapper sophistication, and no one, save for Fred Astaire, looked better in white tie and tails than William Powell.Here he co-stars with Ginger Rogers, and speaking for myself, I did not miss Myrna Loy. Ginger Rogers was more attractive and energetic, and was a breath of fresh air.
The plot is confusing, but if you are a William Powell fan, it won't matter; go with it..
An actress mysteriously flees the stage during a play, eventually involving an attorney and his girlfriend in a web of intrigue.The movie's something of an obscure oddity.
Only here it's Powell and girlfriend Rogers instead of Powell and wife Myrna Loy solving the murders.
Since the similarities are so close, I wonder if Star was originally written for the Thin Man series, but something happened that forced a change of studios.Anyway, Star is only a mediocre whodunit, lacking the spark and drollery of Powell and Loy. Frankly, Rogers is miscast in a restrained role that does not play to her domineering, brassy strengths.
Perhaps RKO was trying to emulate MGM's Thin Man with a similar entry of its own.The plot is murky, to say the least, and I agree that the suspects, if you can track them, remain a colorless lot.
All in all, the movie remains pretty obscure, likely because it suffers in comparison to the more sparkling Thin Man series that it so resembles..
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.
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..
When I win the lottery, I plan to hand the DVD of "Laura" to the finest interior decorator money can hire and say, "Create Waldo Lydecker's bathroom for me." Now that I've seen "Star of Midnight", I will have to add, "And incorporate William Powell's shower." Besides the fantastic Art Deco sets, Star of Midnight is enjoyable for the excellent comic yet suave performance by William Powell.
I enjoyed "Star of Midnight", especially for William Powell's performance, and will watch it again and again..
I agree with all the good things said about this movie by other users.
We are all used to seeing Myrna Loy as Powell's partner.
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.
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.
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..
The first Thin Man movie came out in 1934.
This movie came out in 1935 and is basically another Thin Man, just different character names.
Ginger Rogers is good as the woman in love with Powell's character since she was ten and yes they end up married.
You sure can tell this is a movie before cigarettes where a no no, Ginger smokes like a chimney in this film.
He is excellent as the lawyer/detective with a penchant for booze and crime just like in the Thin Man movies.
The chemistry between Powell and Rogers is pretty good but not as entertaining as Powell and Loy in the Thin Man shows.
This movie is a decent one if a rip off of the Thin Man..
The kinda Thin Man. William Powell and Myrna Loy made six THIN MAN movies together (and about seven others) and by my estimate, STAR OF MIDNIGHT is better than half of them and about on the level of the third (the THIN MAN series pretty steadily deteriorated as it went along).
Still, it was more the common presence of William Powell as the lead 'detective' that provoked comparisons.
Two amateur detectives personally involved with one another run about wisecracking and pratfalling as they try to solve some murder case.
Heck, Ginger Rogers had done it before opposite Lyle Talbot (in the B-movie A SHRIEK IN THE NIGHT) using the more common template of two reporters doing the investigating.
STAR OF MIDNIGHT is one of the best examples of this kind of film, and I believe it would be better appreciated if it wasn't compared with the absolute best of the breed, THE THIN MAN.There's a decent balance between the comedy and the convoluted mystery elements in STAR OF MIDNIGHT.
Powell is playing the character that he had already portrayed multiple times and would often portray again in the future, a debonair, hard-drinking yet always alert amateur sleuth with a sardonic tongue and attitude.
Outside of a single nose crinkle, Ginger Rogers doesn't seem to be channeling Myrna Loy at all (and wisely not), but it's interesting that the enormous chemistry between Loy and Powell is such that comparisons seem inevitable (and they were inevitable in 1935 as well though Powell and Loy had yet to do the bulk of their important work together).
Rogers' feisty fiancée and Loy's cool, witty spouse are really miles apart.
If it's not up to the perfection that is Loy and Powell, I would say that Rogers and Powell work very well together on their own terms (whereas hooking up Myrna Loy with Fred Astaire would likely produce a travesty.
They live and die on the witty badinage and romantic chemistry between their leads (and good supporting characters add a lot to any kind of film).
William Powell was superb in these movies because his line readings demonstrate an all but infinite variety that never grows stale.
Ginger Rogers' way with a wisecrack was almost equally memorable, though she surely seemed more natural with a working class background than in Park Avenue Society, as here.
They seem to enjoy working together and make this the best of the many THIN MAN copies that I've seen.A word must be spared for the sets of Clay Dalzell's apartment, an Art Deco wonder, particularly its bathroom.
STAR OF MIDNIGHT was a popular film in 1935 and remains a joy to watch today.
William Powell and Ginger Rogers may have been half of the best teams in all of Hollywood history, but it's a shame that they couldn't have had another go at it together.
Another murder, another Willian Powell detective..
Whether playing Philo Vance or Nick Charles, William Powell always served it up with sophistication, a beautiful woman, a little wisecrack and a lot of martinis.
Here, with Ginger Rogers by his side, he gets involved with murder among the theatrical crowd.
It is all very nice to look at with smashing art deco sets and a great supporting cast, including Ralph Morgan, Gene Lockhart and Paul Kelly.
While Ginger is fine, she's not Myrna Loy, and Powell isn't Fred Astaire.
Unlike Astaire, William Powell already had "sex" and Rogers doesn't bring anything to the role in the case of class that out-shined the marvelous Loy (paraphrasing a quote by Katharine Hepburn about Astaire and Rogers).
But the one who is trying to solve the case is William Powell.If there's a real reason to watch this film, it's William Powell.
There's something special about Powell in virtually every film he ever appeared in.Ginger Rogers is "okay" as the female lead, but she seriously pales in the shadow of Myrna Loy in the Thin Man series (which was filmed a year before this movie).
It's just not a really good film match.Paul Kelly was somewhat interesting here as a high class gangster.
Farrell MacDonald as the Police Inspector.Again, the reason to watch this film is William Powell, though the basic story is decent.
Rogers and Powell.
While each in their own right is a good actor/actress, together they lack the chemistry that Powell and Loy have.
And it's clear that this film was wanting that chemistry.This movie is straight 'Thin Man-lite'.
And while it's acceptable, one can not help but think at how much better every line and scene would have been with Loy in the role rather than Rogers.Perhaps the most interesting thing about the plot is that we, the audience, never see the character around which the entire story revolves.
That's the sort of bathroom anybody would be proud to have in their home/apartment.It's a decent plot, with decent acting, and one could easily see it having to be tweaked in only the most minor of ways to become another one of the 'Thin Man' films.
It's worth watching, if only to mentally picture each scene with Loy in it instead of Rogers.