The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) User Reviews

Just What Do They Put In That Paradise Coffee, Anyway?

[gftbiloxi · 7/10 · 24 April 2005]

In his long running radio and television show, Jack Benny often built jokes around THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT--a movie described as so awful that it put an end to his movie career. These jokes always got a laugh, but rumors of the film's failure were really only comic exaggeration; true, it had not been a major hit, but neither was it a major failure. And if Benny's film appearances were few and far between after 1945, this was more a matter of his incredibly popular radio and television series than with a lack of offers.

THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is not a great film, but it is a very interesting one and quite often a very entertaining one. The story concerns a trumpet player (Benny) in love with a harpist (Alexis Smith)--who gets him a radio job on the "Paradise Coffee Program," which advertises a coffee that promises a gentle sleep and sweet dreams. And dream he does, but one would not call it sweet: he dreams he is an angel sent to earth to blow the trumpet that will destroy the world.

Although the script is a bit weak, it has some really great concepts. Heaven is a bureaucracy beset by an endless orchestra and a shortage of angel-power. Elevators take angels to earth, right to the lobby of a New York hotel--and tie up elevator traffic, much to the annoyance of guests. And fallen angels lie in wait to trip Ethanael up! The art direction is extremely fine, dribbling comic surrealism with tremendous flair. In perhaps the film's most memorable scene, Ethanael finds himself drowning in a gigantic cup of coffee. Paradise Coffee, no doubt! Benny, co-star Alexis Smith, and such memorable characters as Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, and Guy Kibbe perform the show with as much energy as they can muster, and at it's best the movie is hilariously over-the-top. The script lets them down once too often for comfort, but even so the whole thing makes for an entertaining show. Recommended as imaginative, often extremely clever fluff.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A Comedy Classic

[arossen · 8/10 · 3 August 2002]

If you have to watch one Jack Benny movie, this one would probably be the one to watch. As other reviewers have noted, this movie bombed at the box office after its release and Benny joked about this fact often in his monologues. Even though it was poorly received at the time it came out, its stands up better now. Its best when watched not just as a comedy but as a parable that has timeless themes, that are not just relevant to the 1940's.

Good versus evil, greed versus generosity, heaven versus life on earth. The "fish out of water" sequences where Jack Benny, as an angel, struggles to adjust to the realities of life on earth, are also very funny and timeless. All that and Jack Benny's warm and funny screen presence make this an appealing picture.

Benny himself lampooned this film

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 25 May 2016]

Even though I cannot for the life of me wrap my mind around the concept of a coffee that puts you to sleep Jack Benny's The Horn Blows At Midnight is not as bad as the reputation it has. A reputation by the way that Benny himself gave the film. It was a running gag on his radio and television show that Benny forsook movie making because of the bad reviews the film received.

Seeing it today it's not as bad as all that, in fact it has a few funny moments. Benny is a trumpeter in a radio studio orchestra and he falls asleep during the announcer's commercial for Paradise Coffee, the coffee that makes you sleep. In his dream Benny becomes an angel playing trumpet in a heavenly orchestra, larger than anything Leonard Bernstein ever directed. He gets an assignment from one of the bosses Guy Kibbee to blow his heavenly trumpet at midnight to signal the utter destruction of a minor planet the natives call Earth.

Needless to say Benny bungles the job and the film is his effort to complete his assignment. Kibbee's not pleased and he sends Alexis Smith down from heaven to babysit Jack. Later on Kibbee himself shows up. There are a couple of fallen angels played by Allyn Joslyn and John Alexander who like the life they've got on earth now. And there's Reginald Gardiner who's a musician and a society burglar with his assistant Dolores Moran who Benny interrupts mid crime and a host of other familiar movie faces which in itself is reason enough to watch The Horn Blows At Midnight.

Jack plays some tribute to Harold Lloyd with some stunts at the climax involving some great height. There's a gag involving a human pendulum that was later used with other familiar faces in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Jack also becomes rocket man at one point, clearly copying Bob Hope being shot out of a cannon in The Road To Zanzibar.

Don't believe the hype about The Horn Blows At Midnight, you might actually like it.

An underrated comedy classic

[SFMike · 21 December 1998]

This film was an ongoing joke with Jack Benny as at the time of its release it took a flop at the box office. However, time has treated this comedy/fantasy well and if you give it a try you will find a truly original comic masterpiece. Here is a film with many 1990's themes...angels, the end of the world, great visual effects, sex, and slapstick comedy. Maybe it was a little ahead of its time. Great performances from Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, and Guy Kibbee as well as a memorable "Looney Tune" style score from the great Franz Waxman. Give this zany 1945 film a chance as you will be surprised how wild they could get back then and how funny and strange an "old" film can be.

Very funny Jack Benny comedy

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 11 April 2009]

Jack Benny was a fabulous comedian who was very successful in radio and television, and made a few films. This one, "The Horn Blows at Midnight," was one that apparently wasn't a big hit - one hears everything from it bombed to did okay but no smash. Benny, however, made a lot of jokes about how it died at the box office.

Maybe the film works better today than it did toward the end of World War II, but it's fun to watch. Benny plays a trumpet player stuck on a harpist (Alexis Smith). She helps him get a radio job playing during the "Paradise Coffee Program." The coffee, instead of keeping you awake, however, advertises that it helps one sleep and have pleasant dreams. During a broadcast, Benny falls asleep and dreams he's an angel dispatched to earth to blow a trumpet and start the world's end. Being Jack Benny, he has a few problems.

The film has some very funny sections, including Ethanael (Benny) in a huge cup of coffee, nearly drowning. Elevators are used to transport the angels (and there's a shortage of them in heaven, by the way), and when the angels land on earth, they're in the lobby of a New York hotel.

Benny and Smith costar with Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont and Guy Kibbee, all extremely talented at comedy. The script, unfortunately, doesn't support them as much as it should, so the overall effect is spotty.

Nevertheless, this is a very entertaining movie for the most part with some good ideas and good direction. If only the script had been a little stronger - it would have been a classic.

THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (Raoul Walsh, 1945) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 3 January 2009]

Angels were an all-too-familiar sight on movie screens during World War II and perhaps audiences had had enough of it by the time this film came along; this is the only valid reason I can think of to explain its resounding box office failure (that resulted in Benny's premature bowing out of the movies) because, otherwise, it's one of his most enjoyable outings. In fact, it's quite an original and delightful comedy-fantasy about Benny (playing a second-grade angel and trumpet player) securing an important assignment (being sent to blow up sinful Planet Earth with his horn at the stroke of midnight) through the machinations of his girlfriend (Alexis Smith) who's secretary to the Chief (Guy Kibbee). Needless to say, he bungles the job when he decides to play Good Samaritan and save a fetching would-be suicide (Dolores Moran) from jumping off the roof of a hotel wherein reside an assortment of colorful characters: smooth-talking crook Reginald Gardiner and his dim-witted bodyguard Mike Mazurki, carousing fallen angels Allyn Joslyn and John Alexander (hilariously suffering an hourly "twinge" for defecting to Earth!) and flustered hotel detective Franklin Pangborn – most of whom, as the appointed hour draws near, end up dangling from the hotel rooftop in the film's wacky climax. Benny spent the rest of his radio and TV career making fun of this movie but, as I said, its maligned reputation is highly undeserved if you ask me!

Jack Benny and cast provide many funny moments in The Horn Blows at Midnight

[tavm · 7/10 · 15 June 2012]

After 30 years of just seeing the ending involving that giant coffee pot that Jack Benny ends up in for whatever reason, I finally watched the whole thing on YouTube. Brother, this was quite hilarious as the picture kept going to various lengths to depict how Benny has to blow his horn (actually, trumpet) by midnight so the world will...oh, watch it if you want to know. Not only does he have to deal with a couple of fallen angels, however, he also has to contend with the hotel manager (Franklin Pangborn at his fussy best), some bodyguards, and his girlfriend Elizabeth (Alexis Smith) especially after he saves a sexy cigarette girl (Delores Moran). There's also a funny small part from Maragaret Dumont, an interesting role for a kid named Bobby Blake (later becoming Robert Blake), and some pieces of Carl Stalling's music with a little bit of Raymond Scott thrown in at the sequence I mentioned at the beginning. Really, The Horn Blows at Midnight may not be one of the greatest comedies ever made, but it sure is still very entertaining to watch for something made so long ago. So yeah, that's a recommendation.

Unique and far underrated film with Jack Benny

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 9 June 2012]

It's very interesting to read the reviews here about this film. Clearly, some of our reviewers "get it" and "get" Jack Benny. A few do not. And then there's the reputation this film has -- that it was a flop at the box office. Well, okay, but when it was released may have been a factor -- during the darkest days of World War II, immediately following the death of FDR. And what was it's main film competition at the time? "Carousel"! And of course, part of it's negative reputation is due to Jack Benny's own joking about it for years on his television show. It was his last film during a time when he soared to new popularity on radio and then television.

When you read more recent reviews by professional critics, you find they are often quite kind to this film. Leonard Maltin, for example, wrote that the film is "broad" and "funny".

I have always enjoyed this film. The first test it passes for me is that it is different. Some comedies you can get mixed up with other comedies. Not "The Horn Blows At Midnight". It's unique.

Second, the entire cast is rather pleasing. I'm not sure that Jack Benny was ideal for film. In "George Washington Slept Here", he was too sarcastic, for example. But here, he's pleasant enough...and you can almost imagine him as a not too with-it angel bungling his job. As much as Red Skelton and Bob Hope can tickle my funny bone, they would have been all wrong for this film. No, Benny was ideal for the story.

Then there's Alexis Smith in one of my favorite films with her. She's been better...and not. She's very pleasing here.

The supporting actors are terrific. Guy Kibbee is perfect as the "boss" angel, Reginald Gardiner is perfect as the thief (and he's not always one of my favorites), and Franklin Pangborn is great as the house detective (and a master of the slow burn). And, as defrocked angels -- Allyn Joslen and John Alexander (another character actor I'm usually not enthralled with, but who does very nicely here). There are others you'll recognize, as well, and they all do exactly what they need to do.

And the climactic scene -- Benny getting flushed into the coffee ad machine -- is truly a classic, and one that I never forgot after seeing it as a kid. It still makes me laugh out loud. ANd it's that rare time that you'll Jack Benny doing physical comedy. And, I wonder, did Stanley Kramer watch this scene before he filmed "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"? Highly recommended for the fantasy sequences, as well as the period atmosphere that is so clearly outlined here. A heckuva unique comedy!

Enjoyable lightweight fantasy

[aromatic-2 · 9/10 · 4 January 2001]

Jack Benny and a magnificent supporting cast help keep your interest in this lightweight, yet highly imaginative, fanciful comedy about an angel in charge of destroying the Earth. Lots of great sight gags and double entendres keep things going. Additionally, the script if rife with sadistic ironies reminiscent of O'Henry and Mark Twain. If you've never seen it, pull up the ottoman and enjoy.

Neglected Classic

[JasonLeeSmith · 7/10 · 11 July 2007]

Fans of Jack Benny's radio show will probably have, at least, heard of this movie. It took on almost mythic qualities in the program as an incredible flop. Of course, Benny's lack of acting talent and the failures (both real and invented) of all of his movies were regular fodder for the gag-writers on his show. I feel it speaks volumes of Benny's character that he found it so easy to laugh at himself.

While it wasn't a great financial success, "Horn" is an amusing enough movie. Benny plays an angel who is sent to Earth to herald the end of the world. The title of the film is a reference to the final trumpet which will sound before the end of the world. Benny is thwarted in his efforts by two AWOL angels who live on Earth and don't want to be forced to give up the pleasures of the flesh.

While there are many flaws with this movie, it is nevertheless enjoyable and I found myself interested in it from beginning to end.

The plot is rather ahead of its time, and strikes a chord with many modern works. When I first read the plot, I thought of the novel "Good Omens" which was, funnily enough, about an angel and a devil who conspire to stop the end of the world, because they have grown fond of life on Earth.

Now, I am going to say something which I imagine many people are going to take issue with: the biggest hindrance to the movie is Jack Benny. I feel that the man was a gifted comedian and a talented performer, but he was a really lousy film actor, I think he needed a live audience. He was so wooden that it really detracted from my enjoyment of the film. Someone like Jimmy Stewart would have been a much better choice for the role -- but they probably didn't have the budget, and the film was made as a Jack Benny vehicle after all.

The bright spot of the movie are the two renegade angels who play their roles quite well and are very funny. They keep things moving at a brisk pace and manage to remain interesting throughout.

I managed to record this movie when it appeared on the late show on Turner Classic Movies. I think its a shame that this, like most Benny films, has not been released on DVD, for while he was not the ideal actor, his movies are almost always worth watching.

Skip the Movie, Hear the Radio Show

[winter24601 · 5/10 · 21 January 2010]

This movie is very mediocre. Jack Benny isn't used nearly as well as he could be, and the script is very weak. I can't stand any movie that uses the "it was just a dream" cheat to get the hero out of a difficult situation, and this one does it very poorly. We're told at the beginning of the movie it's a dream, and I quickly lost interest from that point onward.

On the other hand, Jack Benny made a 1-hour radio version of this movie for The Ford Theater in 1949. That version isn't great; it's like most comedy from that era that hasn't worn as well as those from earlier or later time periods. However, it has a better script, and it is NOT a dream! More importantly, whoever did the update was able to come up with a pretty good ending for a story that sets up an impossible situation (destroying the world isn't typically considered a good ending in a comedy). The radio version's ending was very timely for 1949, and a little sad listening to it today.

If you want to hear it, the radio version is relatively easy to locate on the internet. Just search for "The Horn Blows at Midnight" and "Ford Theater", and you should be able to find multiple sites with the mp3.

My favorite Jack Benny film.

[leimeter · 9/10 · 26 January 2000]

A funny and friendly fantasy from the forties; it shows Jack Benny at his comedic best. The writing is witty and the supporting cast is wonderful. The scene which shows the cast dangling precariously, and hilariously, above Times Square is worth the price of a ticket.

Almost Apocalypse

[Mike-764 · 7/10 · 9 February 2001]

Athaniel is an angel sent down to Earth to play the first four notes of the death march at midnight ( or something similar ) which will start the destruction of the world. He doesn't play the notes because he is saving a girl from committing suicide. However the head angel gives him one more chance, but the next day he loses his horn, is abducted by gangsters in the pay of two fallen angels, and has to recover his horn from a bunch of schoolboys. Decent comedy, which Jack Benny really made fun of throughout the rest of his radio and throughout his TV show. Its really just stays as a screwball comedy, which I don't think the cast and script were well suited for. Notice Margaret Dumont as the soprano in the film. Rating 7 out of 10.

Benny blows a bum note

[laurencetuccori · 3/10 · 5 August 2012]

Comedian Jack Benny spent the second half of his long career poking fun at this film, disparaging it at every opportunity and mocking his performance in it.

For the longest time I believed this was just a joke and that the film wasn't nearly as bad as Jack made it out to be.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is possibly the most ill-advised project Benny ever signed up for, and I say that as a die-hard Benny fan and proud owner of every episode of his radio show.

He plays Athaneal, third trumpet player in a radio orchestra, who falls asleep during a broadcast and dreams that he's an angel sent to Earth to blow the last trumpet, signaling the end of the world, at exactly midnight. But a couple of fallen angels, who'd previously failed to do the job, are determined to stop him. Confusion ensues as the inept Athaneal attempts to complete his mission, oblivious to the deceitful wiles of his opponents.

Given the premise, the fine supporting cast (Reginald Gardner, Franklin Pangborn, Alexis Smith, Margaret Dumont,Guy Kibbee, Mike Mazurki) and veteran director Raoul Walsh at the helm, this should have been a surefire hit. So why does the entire project fall flat on its face?

There's several reasons.

The script is terrible,the supporting cast is wasted and the comedy is lame in the extreme. Neither of the credited screenplay writers demonstrate the slightest talent for writing comedy above a fifth grade level, and it's directed with a complete absence of style. An overwhelming sense of desperation pervades every scene involving bits of business that might very - very - loosely be termed comedy, and the story's climax is so crudely constructed as to be downright embarrassing.

On their own these failings cripple the film, but what really sabotages any chance of success for THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is the casting or - more accurately - the miscasting of Jack Benny.

By 1945 Benny's character was firmly established in the American psyche thanks to his long running and immensely popular radio show. As far as the public was concerned Benny was vain, penny pinching, petty, frequently exasperated and eternally 39 years old. He was a consummate comedian who didn't tell jokes but allowed himself more often than not to be the butt of jokes set up by the talented cast of characters he surrounded himself with on his weekly show. He could get a bigger laugh out of his patented pause than any punchline, and he was - despite his many apparent character flaws - universally loved by radio audiences.

THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT takes advantage of exactly none of these traits, choosing instead to have Benny play a thinly sketched character who looks like Jack Benny but doesn't resemble him at all. There's nothing in the part of Athaneal that contemporary audiences could identify with, and nothing in this new Benny character that's funny enough to elicit a laugh either. Why have him be a trumpeter when he was universally known as a (very bad) violin player is a mystery.

The sum total of these misjudgments is a film that's a major disappointment.I'm not surprised that Benny mocked it for the rest of his days. What else could he do? He had to have recognised it was an incredible career misstep and one which he was lucky to recover from because he didn't depend on films to sustain his popularity.

Had his radio show writers been similarly dumb enough to tamper with a winning formula we probably wouldn't remember him today as one of the greats of American comedy.

Check out more of my reviews at http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/

Not as bad as trumpeted...

[Doylenf · 28 October 2003]

How can any comedy with Jack Benny and a supporting cast that includes Margaret Dumont, Reginald Gardiner, John Alexander, Allyn Joslyn, Ethel Griffies, Mike Mazurki, Franklin Pangborn and Guy Kibbe be that bad???

Well, it's easy to see why this one just fell short of the mark. The script is a hodgepodge about a trumpeter who must redeem himself by returning to earth on a special mission. His girlfriend is played by the lovely Alexis Smith who shows a flair for light comedy in this caper.

Relying on a succession of sight gags to keep things moving, it's all done in brisk screwball/fantasy style under Raoul Walsh's direction. You can spot the youthful Bobby Blake in the park sequence as the boy who won't give up Benny's trumpet.

The heavenly sequences are done with a certain style that is missing in the earthbound adventures--but the uneven film is not nearly as bad as Benny claimed it to be.

Love movies, but don't know much about the oldies?

[Irie212 · 6/10 · 26 July 2009]

Raoul Walsh has made better movies, starting with "Regeneration" (filmed on location in Lower Manhattan slums in 1915), but this whimsical comedy, set in heaven and New York City, has two worthy qualities: First: The comedy works, especially the wisecracks (Cop: "Are you looking for trouble, Bud?" Angel: "No, I'm looking for Junior Pulplinsky.") Second: Forget Jack Benny and check out at the supporting cast.

This film is one of the best 78 minutes an aspiring film buff could watch to see a collection of great character actors from the 1930s and 1940s: Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Gardner, Guy Kibbee, Margaret Dumont, Dudley Dickerson, Ethel Griffies, Mike Mazurky, James Burke, the under-used blonde dish Dolores Moran, and the endlessly imitable Franklin Pangborn. Oh, yes, and 12-year-old Robert Blake as Junior Pulplinsky.

"Am I really a fallen angel?"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 16 August 2014]

Jack Benny probably could have cut himself some slack over this picture, after all, it was all virtually a dream sequence so none of it had to make any sense. And if his acting was less than exemplary - dream sequence! He looked older than thirty nine - dream sequence! You see, it's easy to blame it all on the dream sequence business.

Usually it's this type of picture that irritates me but this time you know it's a dream right up front so you can go along with the premise. The writers put together some clever gimmicks like the hourly twinges endured by Osidro (Allyn Joslyn) and Doremus (John Alexander), along with Slippy Tompkins' Tomcats and Tarzola the Rocket Man. The hotel elevator business was kind of a neat touch too.

OK, so it's not Oscar material but who expected that? I always liked jack Benny as a performer, even though I prefer his variety show format and TV sketches. As a member of the Third Phalanx, Fifteenth Cohort, he did a reasonable enough job here to garner a few chuckles. All the rest of it - well, dream sequence.

"When the breath leaves the body..."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 14 August 2014]

A trumpeter (Jack Benny) dreams he's an angel sent to Earth to blow his trumpet at midnight to signal the end of the world. Two other angels already living on Earth try to stop him because they like Earth just the way it is. Jack Benny is a treat to watch. While "To Be or Not to Be" is the better film, this is arguably a better showcase for Benny's comedic talents. This is also one of Alexis Smith's best roles. She was a lesser leading lady in the '40s and, for my taste, a bit on the stiff side. She loosens up here, though. Fun support from Guy Kibbee, Allyn Joslyn, Franklin Pangborn, John Alexander, and Reginald Garner. Oh, and lovely Dolores Moran -- have mercy! Well directed by Raoul Walsh with some particularly impressive Heaven scenes.

A notorious flop at the box office, Jack Benny frequently made fun of the failure of this movie on his radio show. Back when my job required me to travel a lot, I listened to old episodes of Benny's show on satellite radio. It was a great show and his mentions of this movie made me anxious to see if it's really as bad as claimed. Surprisingly, it isn't bad at all. It's actually very funny and creative. The screwball climax is perfect.

mind-numbingly dopey---but fun

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 18 March 2006]

Years ago, when Jack Benny wanted to make fun of his movie career, this was usually the film he mentioned. While it really isn't a bad little film, it was probably among Benny's worst starring films (a few early films he made shouldn't count as he was more of a supporting player). That's because the plot is REALLY silly,...such that some of the more sophisticated and high-brow viewers will no doubt become bored to tears.

Here's the dopey lot in a nutshell: Jack is a clumsy but well-meaning angel. He is sent to earth to blow the horn that will signal the end of the world. However, he is met by a couple of fallen angels who do everything they can to prevent this--they LOVE Earth just the way it is thank you and eternal damnation, somehow, doesn't interest them. Well, they succeed in distracting him, so his girl, Alexis Smith, is sent to give him a hand. Ho hum.

Well, despite an odd and silly plot, the film is fun, has a lot of energy and has a few laughs. Not exactly the greatest endorsement, but that's just the way I see it.

a lesser-known film of the forties, but definitely worth your time

[ajdagreat · 10/10 · 12 January 2002]

Having just seen this film, I wondered why it's so unknown. I also wondered by why it was a flop at the box office. After all, much of the movie is brilliant: I love how Heaven is set up much like an office building, and all the times Athanael shows how unfamiliar he is with earthly customs (the scene in the restaurant is the best). There's a little romance, but not too much - it would get in the way of the jokes! This classic is definitely worth a watch.

Let's hear it for the doughy guy

[tkanestanton · 7/10 · 23 June 2019]

If you want to watch Jack Benny and a bunch of dough character actors dink around Brooklyn then SEE THIS MOVIE.

the horn ain't all that blows

[crispy_comments · 3/10 · 20 April 2006]

Not really as terrible as my rating might seem to indicate. This movie is mildly amusing, has imaginative set design, and there are some visually stunning shots. I'd give it an average rating of 5 or so, except it loses points for a couple important reasons.

First...the stars.

This was my introduction to Jack Benny and I was not impressed. I didn't find him funny at all - which could be the script's weakness as well, but Benny's physical presence & personality should've made up for poor writing...and didn't. He is one of the least charming, least attractive "leading men" I've ever seen. I understand he had a very popular radio show... well, maybe film just wasn't his medium.

Alexis Smith plays Benny's unlikely love interest, and her character isn't really developed - she might as well be made of cardboard. Guy Kibbee is fun, but woefully underused.

Second...the story.

The script makes a slight attempt to Say Something Serious about the state of the planet. The angels plan to destroy Earth because... we suck. So we'd better start behaving better! I guess. The message is vague and there's no real follow-through. This sort of storyline - the end of the world due to humanity's failure - feels like it *should* be taken seriously. It doesn't fit in such a fluffy film.

I absolutely LOATHE the "it was only a dream" plot device. Especially when it's revealed to be a dream at the beginning of the movie! What the heck is the point of *that*? Knowing from the start that everything you're about to see, isn't really happening, kind of sucks the fun out of it. The story becomes pointless and meaningless. It feels like they just couldn't figure out how to resolve the whole Earth-is-doomed thing. There was no way out of it (unless the writers went with a more serious treatment - maybe a twist on "It's A Wonderful Life", yeah, this time it's up to a human to convince an angel that humanity is worth saving...call it "It's A Wonderful World After All"). Anyway, after Benny wakes up, nothing really changes in his life, and nothing has been learned. Utterly pointless.

I can see how people might enjoy "The Horn Blows At Midnight" if they're in the mood for something surreal and silly (although it never hits the heights of truly inspired silliness such as you'll find in a Marx Brothers movie, for instance). So, not as stinky as it's reputed to be, but FAR from the lost comedy classic some would like to believe.

Those Happy Days of Victory

[thurberdrawing · 9/10 · 22 October 2006]

I saw this one New Year's night on TV when I was about eleven. The second time I saw it was last night when it was on cable. It was true to my memory. Jack Benny WAS stuck in a giant coffee cup and it WAS an extremely funny movie. The coffee cup gag is one of the most surreal things I've ever seen in a movie from Hollywood's golden age. Imagine a Tex Avery cartoon done in live action and you'll get an idea of the visual. Jack Benny really does look as if he's being filmed in a mechanized coffee cup/coffee pot/coffee spoon structure. It's incredible. Harold Lloyd would have been hard-pressed to match this scene. This scene itself makes this movie well worth watching. The mood of the movie is happy and bouncy as only movies made between 1945 and 1949 are. There must have been some optimism informing Hollywood's imagination as the Second World War wound down. Movies between then and the beginning of the Korean War practically burst with a sense of victory. THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT works as a testimony to a time when America felt itself riding on top of the world. There are other sight gags taking advantage of vertiginous views. People dangle from the ledge of buildings throughout. This is directed by the man who directed HIGH SIERRA, THE ROARING TWENTIES and a few other classics. The dialogue is very much like radio comedy. Jack Benny was, of course, a radio comic. The scene in the diner would have played quite well, if not even a bit better, on radio. I find it significant that a few years after this movie came out, Benny performed in a radio version of it. Others have commented on the fact that he turned this movie's relative box-office failure into a running joke which lasted the rest of his career. Benny's shtick demanded that he exaggerate negative qualities: He deliberately played violin off-key to highlight his radio persona's vanity; He pretended to feud with Fred Allen, when in reality there was no hostility between them. Both comedians boosted their ratings with their supposed feud. He was only playing his part by making people think THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT was the cinematic equivalent of his violin-playing. Not only was it up to Hollywood's standard comedic levels of that time, it surpassed them. Perhaps my familiarity with old-time radio makes me more partial to this movie than the average viewer. I am surprised, nevertheless, that many people find THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT a little pointless. The visuals are amazing, the dialogue is snappy and the music is great. You'll hear a tune which sounds a bit like the Looney Tunes theme. There's a reason for this. Carl Stalling was one of the people who worked on the music, and he worked on many Warner Brothers cartoons. If you like comedy you'll enjoy this movie.

mildly humorous

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 16 October 2022]

Athanael (Jack Benny) falls asleep while playing in a band for a radio show. He dreams that he's an angel in heaven. He's ordered to blow the Last Trumpet for Earth at midnight. The planet has gotten out of hand, and it is to be destroyed. Osidro and Doremus are fallen angels on Earth after being seduced by the place. Athanael causes thief Archie Dexter to break up with girlfriend Fran Blackstone. Fran tries to jump off the building. Athanael saves her but fails to blow the horn in time.

This is a fun premise. I would just rather not have it as a dream. There's no need for the dream construction. This is mildly humorous. Jack Benny is mildly humorous as a fish out of water. Even the scary suicide sequence is mildly humorous. It's all very mildly humorous. That's fine.

Horn Blows At Midnight-Failed Blast from the Past **

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 16 May 2013]

Absolutely inane film starring Jack Benny as a trumpet player who dreams that he has been sent down to earth to end it by blowing on his trumpet.

The writing here is absolutely ridiculous as the film turns mostly into a slap-stick farce, with all sorts of silly situations created by Benny and his cohorts.

Watch for Ethel Griffies, of all people, to briefly kick up her heels. Franklin Pangborn, with his usual sneers, provides some comedy relief, and Reginald Gardiner is just too Reginald Gardiner to play a villain here.

Alexis Smith is wasted as Benny's fellow angel,and Mike Mazursky is his usual heavy-handed henchman.

Margaret Dumont's comic gifts are also wasted here, as she appears briefly in two scenes.