Husband & Wife Detectives: Star of Midnight (1935)

In the comments section of the Husband and Wife Detectives entry, Hollywood Dreamland reader Brian Sheridan mentioned the 1935 William Powell-Ginger Rogers Thin Man-style mystery, Star of Midnight. In Star of Midnight, Powell is a lawyer and amateur detective who is asked to find a friend's missing girlfriend. The movie is often dismissed as a lightweight misfire, but with those two stars, I will be tuning in! It should be noted that Powell and Rogers technically do not play husband and wife, though they are soon to be married, but who cares? She and Powell were near their peak in 1935.

"Just because I like to solve a mystery once in awhile, everyone thinks I'm Charlie Chan, Philo Vance, and The Sphinx all rolled into one."

~Clay 'Dal' Dalzell (William Powell) in Star of Midnight

Star of Midnight features William Powell as lawyer Clay "Dal" Dalzell who is well known in New York for his expertise in criminal law but also revered for his ability to solve tough criminal cases. Dal's friend Tim Winthrop comes to him and asks Dal's help in finding his girlfriend, Alice, who had vanished a year ago. When a gossip columnist named Tennant is shot in Dal's swank (and I do mean swank!) apartment, Dal must once again take the case to clear his name and find out who the killer is. Dal's fiancee, Donna Mantin (Ginger Rogers) works with him on the case. The complete synopsis is here, complete with spoilers, but one of the things I place the least emphasis on in movies like these are the plots, which are often indecipherable the first time around, at least to me!


This was clearly RKO's attempt to cash in on the Thin Man film, which had been an surprise hit in 1934. No doubt the prospect of Powell co-starring with RKO's box office champ Rogers had the RKO bigwigs seeing dollar signs in their dreams. But RKO's entry into the Thin Man sweepstakes has a lot to offer fans of the earlier film. Powell's Dal Dalzell is a sophisticated New Yorker, with a swellegant apartment complete with his loyal butler, Swayne (Gene Lockhart), and an amazing bathroom including a barber's chair and toilet (unseen, of course) which plays "Pop Goes the Weasel" when someone sits on it! Much of the film takes place in Dal's apartment and with a stellar RKO set by Van Nest Polglase, it's easy to see why; it's gorgeous!



Dal's world is very much in the Thin Man mold, as the amateur sleuth has a steady stream of cocktails flowing at home as well as at the King Charles Hotel's bar. Girlfriend Donna matches him every drink of the way, as well as in witty repartee. In fact, Star of Midnight finds Ginger's Donna every bit Powell's equal here, unlike Nora Charles, who often had to meddle in her husband's cases. Dal even refers to Donna as his "partner"; that's uncommon in 1930s cinema and it was refreshing to see. Initially, I was concerned that the Powell-Rogers chemistry might not be so hot, but about forty-five minutes in, I realized that things were quite good between the two stars, as if they had finally gotten used to one another after an inauspicious beginning. Their rapport is nowhere near the Powell-Loy level, but then, no one's is. Still, it's a shame the two stars never worked together again.


I'd recommend Star of Midnight to anyone who loves what I call the "Husband and Wife Detective" genre. Fans of the Thin Man series as well as RKO features will marvel at the beautiful sets, and of course Ginger Rogers is quite a sight to behold. She's not at her most beautiful ever, but that would come soon enough.


I hope this comes to DVD soon. TCM's voting as of this writing is 145 votes and the movie ranks 494 on their list, so go and vote for Star of Midnight! It's another healthy dose of 1930s wit, glamour, and Thin Man-esque mystery.

Update: Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has an entry on Star of Midnight.

They'd Peak in 1936: William Powell and Ginger Rogers in 1935's Star of Midnight.

Susan Hayward Pic of the Day

After a decidedly macho post yesterday, I thought we'd bring things back to a more tender-hearted level, yet still retain a western theme. This photo from the November 11, 1949 LIFE Magazine session features some famous redhead with a lot of attitude. I should mention that it was fifty years ago today that Susan won her Oscar for her performance in I Want to Live!

"Deadshot" Susan: Brooklyn, New York's most notorious old west outlaw.

Hour of the Gun (1967)

Hour of the Gun (1967) is director John Sturges' (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) retelling of the incidents and characters of his own 1957 film, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas portrayed Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, respectively, in the previous film. Ten years later, it’s James Garner as Wyatt and Jason Robards (1922-2000) as the tuberculosis-ravaged Doc Holliday. As for the rest of the cast, Sturges (1911-1992) initially chose to reuse the actors who played Earp’s brothers from the previous movie, but as it turned out, none of them were available (including Star Trek’s DeForest “Dr. McCoy” Kelley), so the director went with both actors of young, promising talent (Jon Voight; Steve Ihnat) and tried-and-true veterans (Robert Ryan; Albert Salmi; William Windom) to fill out his cast. The movie is largely seen as a flawed, below-average effort from one of Hollywood’s “action” directors, but what fails to get mentioned is how well the movie works as a tale of friendship and loyalty.


“Get this through your heads. If this was the east, I could make law the way they do. But the best I can do out here is buy it.”

~Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) in Hour of the Gun

The movie begins with the October 26 1881 gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona that served as the climax to all the previous movies on the subject. After the gunfight is over, we get a deliberately-paced account ("slow" to the movie’s detractors) of the events that took place after the famous battle. There’s much political maneuvering between the Earps and the powerful, patriarchal Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan), who manipulates the fragile western law. (I'd wager that if Ryan's Clanton had lived in New York, he would have run Tammany Hall). Ryan doesn't have much screentime, but he carries enormous presence in his scenes, and his character’s power is felt, even when he's not there.

The political underhandedness gives way to the Earps and the Clanton gang waging a war of attrition, knocking each other off in brutal fashion. However, I prefer the wonderful character interplay between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday over the traditional narrative elements and gun blazing action of Hour of the Gun. The character dynamic between Earp and Holliday indicates that this was a "Buddy Movie" decades before that term was coined.

“I don't care about the rules anymore. I'm not that much of a hypocrite.”

~Wyatt Earp (James Garner) in Hour of the Gun

There’s nary a trace of sunny and affable Bret Maverick or Jim Rockford in James Garner’s Wyatt Earp. When Wyatt’s brother, Morgan (Sam Melville) is murdered and dies in his arms, Wyatt becomes a dark avenger with vengeance running hot in his heart. It’s a disturbing portrayal unequalled in Garner’s career. Only his other western roles of this period (1966’s Duel at Diablo, 1970’s A Man Called Sledge) come close to comparison in terms of a nasty Garner characterization. Earp’s one mean S.O.B., a facet of his persona not really touched on the character until Tombstone (with Kurt Russell as Wyatt) and 1994’s Wyatt Earp, when Kevin Costner played the lawman. Costner's Earp was hurt by tragedy and not very likable, but Garner’s Earp is frightening. He’s cold, callous, and boiling with rage—except for the relative warmth in his scenes with Jason Robards’ Doc Holliday.

“I'm just educating myself. I've never been on the right side of the law before. I want to see how much good it does you when you are.”

~Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) in Hour of the Gun.

Compared to Earp’s obsession with vengeance, Jason Robards’ Doc Holliday is the calm, reserved member of the tandem and he gives a gem of a performance. You won’t find Robards’ take on the character on many favorites lists, but I’d be so bold as to state that Robards gives the best portrayal of Holliday ever put on film. Robards’ low-key, wryly humorous take on Holliday is the perfect counterbalance to the rigid, humorless Wyatt Earp. Robards delivers the film’s best and most telling lines. He is as much an observer and commentator as he is a participant in the bloody events depicted in the film. Holliday has done his share of killing and now that he nears death, has nothing but his loyalty to his best friend Earp to keep him going. Robards’ rough, boozy voice and wiry frame add genuine flavor to his portrayal of Holliday, and he looks like the sick man that Holliday was. Robards is infinitely superior to the effete and bafflingly over-praised caricature that Val Kilmer popularized in Tombstone. I don’t know if anyone agrees with this opinion of Robards' or Kilmer’s Doc; judge for yourself.

Besides Garner and Robards, the other standout element of Hour of the Gun is the music. When watching the movie, listen to how well Jerry Goldsmith's score works within the film. It’s often understated and subtle but propels the action along when needed (and sometimes this movie needs it). The film’s opening with the Earps and Holliday heading to the gunfight plays out with Goldsmith adding tense, deliberately-paced underscore of the film’s main titles, (of which a “hipped up” 1960s-style version is available on the album). There are dark, ominous passages and delightfully melodic portions of the score that all succeed in enhancing the action sequences. One musical cue (not on the album) is a comparatively "happy" piece. It plays when Wyatt comes to visit the dying Holliday. It’s understandable why it was left off the original LP, as it’s in cheery contrast to the rest of the alternately moody and action-packed score. But it’s the sensitively scored scenes between Earp and Holliday that make this music so special. Goldsmith fashioned a malleable main title that has several wonderful variations.

Hour of the Gun is primarily recommended for those already familiar with the other more famous Wyatt Earp films, especially Sturges’ earlier Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946). Both the previous films add depth to the character relationship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, and this movie adds yet another layer. For the fine character interaction between Earp and Holliday, Hour of the Gun is a better movie than its reputation suggests.

Hour of the Gun will air Wednesday, June 3 on Turner Classic Movies (USA).

Recommended Reading: Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges. By Glenn Lovell.

Poll Results: Libeled Lady (1936)

The votes are in! The majority of you voted the all-star, 1936 screwball comedy Libeled Lady as your favorite non-Thin Man William Powell-Myrna Loy comedy. There wasn’t much competition, as the results clearly show. Here is the vote tally of the twenty-seven brave souls who dared to speak out:

Libeled Lady- 16
Love Crazy- 5
Double Wedding- 4
I Love You Again- 2

Synopsis: When an heiress (Myrna Loy) sues a newspaper, its editor (Spencer Tracy) must postpone his wedding to his feisty fiancée (Jean Harlow) and get a charming roué (William Powell) to play Romeo in order to catch the heiress in a compromising position to get her to call off the suit. Much hilarity ensues…seriously.

I can understand why Libeled Lady won. It’s got all the elements for success. Besides the Powell-Loy chemistry, there’s the addition of Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow and a winning script. Those are but two reasons why MGM was the greatest studio of them all. Metro could put together a dazzling array of stars, provide some great writing and the result is another of the Golden Age’s great laugh fests. Yet this movie probably isn’t very well known outside of classic movie circles. But who cares? We, the annointed few, know about Libeled Lady’s goodness and we can partake in the mirth and merriment of William Powell flopping about in a rough stream while learning to fish in one of the great comic sequences of his career. The film also comes in what has proven to be the finest year that any movie star ever had. In 1936, William Powell appeared in Libeled Lady, My Man Godfrey, The Great Ziegfeld, After the Thin Man, and The Ex-Mrs. Bradford. Powell was Oscar nominated for Godfrey and The Great Ziegfeld won Best Piucture. I challenge anyone to find an actor or actress from any era who had a better year than Powell did in 1936. In the meantime, Go. Watch Libeled Lady. Now.