They Met at Midnight (1946) User Reviews

Another Wilding/Neagle Partnership

[howardmorley · 7/10 · 12 October 2008]

Anna Neagle plays a WREN (equivalent of the American WAVE) who bumps into a recovering (he was at Dunkirk) Michael Wilding in Piccadilly, London during an air raid.Fortunately Michael has a flat nearby and Anna is convinced for safety it is better to spend the night there.After a whirlwind romance they marry but Anna has been on a secret radio course (cannot tell Michael - wartime discipline) and is bound for the Far East (Singapore).Before this Anna has a chance to show off her dancing pedigree and dances to a strange blend of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and 1940s swing music.At her naval college she makes friends with a Canadian sailor who fancies her.Unfortunately her ship is torpedoed and Anna, along with her Canadian boyfriend, best girl friend (Brenda Bruce) and a few survivors, are shipwrecked on an uninhabited island.They decide to make a bid for survival and are rescued in the nick of time by an American ship before the sun, exhaustion and thirst can overtake them all.

Back in New York and after a decent hairdo, proper clothes, food etc. the survivors make their own way back home courtesy of our American allies.As they have all been missing for so long they have all been legally presumed lost and meanwhile Michael has made friends with then married an attractive American WAVE who has been picnicking along with some other U.S. personnel, outside Michael's grand country house.The WAVE loves England.She and Michael now have a son half English and half American.A bombshell is about to land on this idyll.Under English law at the time a child born out of wedlock cannot assume legal rights of inheritance and Anna is on the way back to reunite with Michael.She meets her American counterpart and the baby she had and when she realises they are married she flees in search of Michael.

Michael is giving a recital on piano of "Piccadilly" to the troops and when he has finished Anna makes herself known.I will not divulge more and invite readers to seek out how the film ends as it is surprising.This is another wonderful film from the Neagle/Wilding partnership which they produced under Herbert Wilcox.If you have seen some of their other films, this is well up to standard.I rated it 7/10

It's emotional

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 16 May 2010]

Diana (Anna Neagle) and Alan (Michael Wilding) are thrown together into a whirlwind romance after a chance encounter in Piccadilly. They marry before Diana is posted overseas where her ship is torpedoed and all are presumed dead. Alan comes to term with his loss before marrying again and producing a son. However, Diana is one of a few survivors and is living on an uninhabited island. What will happen when she returns home?

This is a wartime romance which is quite good. One criticism, though - why on earth have two of the main female leads - Anna Neagle and Brenda Bruce (who plays Sally Benton) - look exactly the same as each other? Neagle performs a curious dance at the beginning of the film, a mish-mash of God knows what. I think it's better suited to a horror-film dream sequence. Anyhow, the film involves you on an emotional level and brings up difficult issues. You may have a cry or two. Roger Moore has an uncredited role according to the credits, but I guarantee that you wont see him. If you want a tragic, wartime romance story, then this film fits the bill.

A likable wartime romance, which loses its initial lightness and turns to melodrama

[BOUF · 6/10 · 28 May 2012]

SOME PLOT SPOILER HEREIN, BUT NO GIVEAWAY OF THE ENDING. A chance meeting in war-torn Piccadilly, connects a well born Marine and an ex-hoofer Wren. They marry in haste, clearly meant for each other. War separates them, and she is missing, believed drowned, when her ship is torpedoed by the Jerries. She ends up on a desert island with some chirpy lower-classes and a creepy Canadian, who tries to move in on her. Meanwhile, back in Blighty, the marine plunges into grief (in an understated British way), but perks up, when he meets a jolly Yank gel, whom he marries. Meanwhile the Wren and her pals are rescued and she dashes back to the Marine's country seat, and...I shan't spoil the rest for you. Despite its descent from light drama into glum (and rather drawn-out) melodrama, this is a likable film, very prettily shot by Max Greene, and well directed by Ms Neagle's hubby, Herbert Wilcox. Michael Wilding is particularly good as the chap. (Apparently neither Rex Harrison nor John Mills were available for the part, so Wilding got it, and a good job too.) He has a delightful lightness of touch, with strong emotions burning quietly beneath. His lover, the slightly stodgier, scrupulously gracious Wren, Anna Neagle always reminds me of the nice girl at school, with whom one can't really find fault, but wishes had more oomph. Wilding brings out the best in her, and their scenes together really sparkle. It's a shame they spend so much of the film apart. There's an occasionally witty script from N. Phipps, a peculiar dance number, and very good work from the supporting cast, but a curious bit of casting in Michael Laurence as a distinctly creepy Canadian, who keeps up a constant, tense assault on our Anna. I wonder if the drama might have worked a bit better if he were genuinely likable, but not quite as likable as Mr Wilding. As it is, he's simply creepy, and we (the audience) don't want him to get a look-in. I originally saw this old hit, on the TV in Spain, in 1966, dubbed into Spanish. It works better in English, mainly for Michael Wilding's subtle style with a line, funny romantic or sad; and Brenda Bruce's very likable and emotionally truthful second-fiddle to Ms Neagle.

The Astonishing Anna Neagle

[drednm · 20 March 2011]

A wartime romance between two people (Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding) starts when they literally bump into each other on a London sidewalk during WW II. As they run for cover during a bombing they become instantly attracted to each other.

There is a whirlwind romance during which we see a little of their lives. She dances; he has a sister (Coral Browne). But she's on a 72-hour pass and must see off a Canadian friend (Michael Laurence). When she returns to the flat he shares with his sister they decide to marry.

Here's where this film takes a remarkable turn. In a role reversal she's the one being shipped out (to Singapore) while he stays home in an office job. When Singapore falls to the Japanese she's on a ship that is sunk. The war report back in London says she has been killed but she's shipwrecked on an island with a few other for 3 years.

Meanwhile, Wilding meets another woman (Frances Mercer) and marries her and has a son. But after Neagle is rescued from the island and returns to London, we see the mess that has been created. Legally she is still the wife. Legally the son is illegitimate. This little wartime romance film takes a decidedly dramatic turn and presents us with quite a quandary.

Neagle is excellent and has a terrific scene when she's in the little boat and watches the rescue plane go overhead, unsure of her own sanity. Wilding is also excellent as the innocent who tries to get on with his life. Neagle and Wilding are a terrific team.

Co-stars include Edward Rigby as the butler, A.E. Matthews as Sir Charles, Reginald Owen as the judge, Brenda Bruce as Sally, and Michael Medwin as the radio operator.

Nicely directed by the underrated Herbert Wilcox (Neagle's husband) and scripted by frequent collaborator Nicholas Phipps.

Finely acted romantic drama that falls to sentimentality

[shakercoola · 6/10 · 23 March 2019]

A British romantic drama; A story set in London and the Far East about a Wren and a Captain who meet by chance during an air-raid in London, 1941. They eventually fall deeply in love and marry. The spends her short embarkation leave together, but their hopes are tragically destroyed after the fall of Singapore. The film has a promising beginning, building the story well, but the second act dips from plausible, realistic drama to melodrama. The third act becomes ultimately absorbing, however. Finally it falls to sentimentality and a sharp conclusion which is implausible. The prologue and epilogue bookends deliver, weightily, a legal flaw which bring stark realities and a provocative theme, but for a film audience a problem unresolved. Anne Neagle gave a brilliant performance of first rate acting. With Wilding they had a great chemistry despite the rather conventional dialogue. It has an admirable all round cast nonetheless.

Cop out

[aylwardpaul · 6/10 · 24 October 2020]

Story about a wartime widower who remarries and has a son, only to find that his first wife is still alive.

It's OK but the cop out ending ruins what is an interesting premise.

Picadilly Incident review

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 16 May 2020]

Very genteel British wartime romance in which Michael Wilding eventually remarries after believing his wife of only three days (Anna Neagle, looking incredibly good for 42) has died at sea, only for her to turn up alive and well. It's all very British - exaggerated politeness, stiff upper lips, chirpy working classes, etc - which makes the outlandish plot seem even more far-fetched than it probably is. Director Herbert Wilcox seemed to struggle to fit all that plot into the 103 minute running time, as some key events are glossed over.

Casanova or Casablanca?

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 5 November 2020]

Boogie woogie during a bomb raid is certainly one way to face the danger with a stiff upper lip. Meeting exactly like the "You've got chocolate in my peanut butter!" commercial for the Reese's peanut butter cup oh, Michael wilding and Anna neagle rush into a bomb shelter as danger approaches, and that leads to them quickly falling in love and marrying within the first half-hour of the film. but, being on active duty as an entertainer, she ends up on a ship that is lost and ends up on a South Sea island, believed to have been killed. Wilding remarries but in true Enoch Arden fashion (or is it Eve Arden?), She turns up to be very much alive. Torn between Neagle and the equally nice Frances Mercer, Wilding has a real ordeal on his hands, especially since his second marriage has resulted in a child.

Of course while Neagle is stranded, she faces temptation too, but she's a genuinely nice girl. In fact, it's a great opportunity to see do usually glamorous and always well put together Anna Neagle in a less dressy part. Her scenes on the island actually show her being quite messy on occasion, and that is a nice little change for her usually prim and proper characters.

Fans of "Auntie Mame" will be delighted to see Coral Browne as Wilding's sister, not instantly recognizable other than that fabulous voice. A.E. Mathews is commanding as Wilding's patrician father, and Reginald Owen, who seemed to be in practically every major film about World War II, makes an appearance as a judge. early in the film, mego refers to Wilding as a Casanova which brings up the "Casablanca" reference, and ironically later in the film, "As Time Goes By" ends up being unimportant part of the story. This truly is a moving film, filled with romance and adventure, tension and comedy, and one where indeed, the fundamental things do apply.

Margaret Reines: They don't make them like this anymore

[margielove · 10/10 · 26 October 2013]

I first saw this wonderful little film at 16 years of age and have never forgotten it.

Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle ( in particular) carry the film with an English understated romance atypically bubbling under the surface - although Neagle's warmth is palpable. It is a curious but clever mix of war, romance, adventure and ethics.

I think the stand-out and almost jolting point for me was the judiciary's comment - at the end - alluding to the fact that the child (of the second wife) would always be illegitimate.

They don't make them like this anymore.

The most unbelievable success of all time!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 11 October 2017]

Producer: Herbert Wilcox. An Associated British Film. Released but not copyrighted in the U.S.A. by M-G-M, January 1949. New York opening at the Elysee: 4 August 1948. (The New York critics were savage). U.K. release through Associated British-Pathé: September 1946. Australian release through British Empire Films: 12 June 1947. 9,528 feet. 106 minutes. The full-length version was released only in Australia. Cut to 102 minutes in the U.K., 88 minutes in the U.S.A. (Voted Best Film of 1946 in the Daily Mail annual poll). Alternative U.S. title: THEY MET AT MIDNIGHT.

SYNOPSIS: Separated, believed dead, from her husband, the faithful wife returns home after a few years to find her beloved not only remarried but also a father.

NOTES: The film easily overcame extremely negative reviews ("Slow, heavy-footed and overlong," even from kind-hearted F. Maurice Speed, noted for his tendency to bend over backwards to say something nice about even the most boring and inconsequential releases of the year), to bounce in at number three at the British box-office for 1946. Number three, mind you! Unbelievable!

COMMENT: I am reviewing the full-length version! A British remake of Garson Kanin's "My Favorite Wife" (1940) only this time treated as a drama rather than a comedy and with much more footage on the preliminaries (so much so that the film ends thirty minutes after "My Favorite Wife" begins) and the desert island episode. As a result, the film seems more akin to a dramatic re-make of J.M. Barrie's "Admirable Crichton" or an equally somber dramatic precursor to Noel Langley's "Our Girl Friday".

True, Herbert Wilcox's plodding direction is more suited to drama than comedy, but the pace is so slow here that it will bore all but Miss Neagle's most fervent fans to tears. In Wilcox's hands, the plot (when finally we come to it) seems impossibly contrived and silly. Though Miss Neagle battles on gamely, it is as difficult to believe in her characterization as in the impossible Michael Wilding or the even more incredible Michael Laurence (he gives it a good try but a part like that would nip even an Olivier's career in the bud).

The support characters have nothing to recommend them either, though with true British pluck, people like A.E. Matthews give them a whirl.

The lighting photography is also not all that might be desired — sometimes it is flattering to the players, sometimes it is not. Sometimes it lights the sets effectively, at other times the light falls in such a way as to pinpoint phony backdrops.

To make matters worse the film ends with a "message", though due to its funereal pace it is unlikely many viewers will last the distance.

Production values are not over-extensive and though some well-known songs are used in the score, they are presented in a most perfunctory and undistinguished manner, with the exception of a long-drawn-out boogie version of Beethoven which, despite the initial promise of its choreography, soon out-stays its welcome.

WREN

[david-walker23 · 9/10 · 2 April 2018]

The title of the review is describing what the W.R.E.N. Service is. However it is incorrectly spelt. WRNS is the correct abbreviation as it stands for Woman's Royal Navel Service and phonetically pronounced as Wrens.

implausible wartime romance

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 27 October 2017]

First can I say that I consider Mr Reids review to be spot on.I would add that the key to the mediocre production values is that it was made at Welwyn studios,a small studio run by ABPC,used when they had no space at ElstreeI believe that the legalities are fundamentally flawed.In any event this aspect cannot save what is a dull stilted melodrama,which is deservedly forgotten.

How war can affect people's lives

[Andu007 · 8/10 · 30 April 2023]

I do like an old British film to watch & I'd never seen this one, Anna Neagle & Micheal Wilding star & apparently a short glimpse of Roger Moore though I missed it.

Such a great topic, this has been used before & since (Move Over Darling) & it must have really happened during a war somewhere at sometime.

A partner is believed lost & then turns up sometime later after the other has moved on with their life.

Two people meet during an air raid in London & like so many, they married almost immediately, as life could be so short in those dark days.

War then separated them for a couple of years, as one was believed to have been lost & the one still living a 'normal' life, moves on with theirs.

I really enjoyed it though some bits were needlessly prolonged, the beginning especially with their courtship before marrying & then it was rushed at the end.

Without giving too much away, it would have been good to see more depth to their reaction on their reunion.

And can someone tell me, did some peolpe actually live like that? Out for lavish dinners, drinking champagne & generally not being affected by the deprivation & terror of nightly bombings & rationing?

The American Cousins Were Right!

[spookyrat1 · 3/10 · 8 November 2019]

Piccadilly Incident is a cheap English WW2 drama that was apparently and perhaps understandably a big critical and commercial hit in immediate post - war Britain, with the conflict and its after effects so fresh in the public's minds. What I find interesting about this patently dull film, is that upon its delayed release in North America, even an abbreviated version was generally savaged by American critics, who summarily dismissed it as tedious and uninteresting. I have to agree with them.

I've seen the full 103 minute version and believe me, it's a trial. What's a potentially interesting premise - participants in a wartime quickie marriage, get separated, with the wife incorrectly presumed dead and the husband later remarrying - turns into a padded out, wearisome episode, complete with an extremely dated, preachy coda about British inheritance laws in existence at that time.

The whole "quickie marriage" affair crazily drags on for at least half of the movie before Diana and Alan actually tie the knot, surely defeating the purpose of the supposedly rushed nature of the romance. During this time we are subjected bizarrely to a couple of full length vaudeville musical/dance numbers which have absolutely nothing to do with the main storyline. I'd venture a guess to suggest it was because of Anna Neagle's (playing Diana) reputation in those areas and who also, was director Herbert Willcox's wife and for no other earthly reason.

Then every opportunity to actually inject some sort of action into the storyline is stymied, probably due to budgetary limitations. A good storyline will still frequently be able to circumvent such constraints. But that's not what we get here. Thus we never see Diana's ship sunk and virtually nothing of consequence happens on the tropical island she is stranded on for some 3 years with a handful of other survivors. That is apart from her spurning the advances of another male survivor, who urges her to forget her husband, as he is likely to have forgotten her. (He was sort of right.)

Meanwhile Alan is crippled, again an opportunity for some action we never see. But we do see him lie around on a couch for awhile, pining for his supposedly drowned Diana, until he gets married again to an American woman (who doesn't sound the slightest bit American) and they have a baby, Diana returns, whereupon the movie turns extremely melodramatic until its very predictable conclusion. (This was the 1940's after all and you can't have a spouse end up a bigamist.)

I'd suggest lucky America perhaps received a version sans padding such as the musical numbers, as well as a pared down Piccadilly romance, but that wasn't to be enough for a film that has so little dramatic substance. It's best avoided.

As a footnote I watched in vain for the Roger Moore cameo that supposedly happens during the film. Like the movie itself, another missed opportunity.