The Midnight Man (1974) User Reviews

Not bad murder mystery with Burt in fine form.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 8 June 2019]

Along with Roland Kibbee (writer of such things as "The Crimson Pirate" and "Valdez is Coming"), veteran star Burt Lancaster directed this somewhat forgotten thriller, and adapted it from a novel by David Anthony. Burt stars as Jim Slade, a former police detective who'd done time for shooting his wife's lover. Now out of prison and on parole, he gets a job as midnight to eight AM night watchman at Jordon College. His cop instincts kicking in, he's determined to solve the murder of a very troubled coed, Natalie Clayborne (Catherine "Daisy Duke" Bach, in her film debut).

Slade will find that this is one VERY complex case with no shortage of suspects or morally compromised individuals. Some viewers may well find holes in the story if they examine it closely, but if it's viewed from a pure entertainment perspective, it's quite absorbing. What makes it work so well is the commanding and typically engaging performance by Burt; commendably, he is portrayed as a flawed, not squeaky-clean kind of guy, but still a basically good lawman with a talent for deduction. And although the local sheriff (Harris Yulin, "Night Moves") thinks that the creepy janitor (Charles Tyner, "Harold and Maude") makes the perfect culprit, Slade becomes quickly convinced that this dude is simply too obvious. And our protagonist is faced with danger along the way, especially from a trio of rednecks (among them, Ed Lauter of "The Longest Yard" and Mills Watson of "Cujo"), and manages to keep his cool.

The cast is phenomenal in this thing, and full of familiar faces. In addition to those mentioned, we get Susan Clark ("Porky's") as Slades' parole officer, Cameron Mitchell ("Blood and Black Lace") as his good friend, Morgan Woodward ("Cool Hand Luke") as a senator, Robert "Count Yorga" Quarry as a psychiatrist, Joan Lorring ("Three Strangers"), in her final feature film, Lawrence Dobkin ("The Ten Commandments") as a professor, and Quinn K. Redeker ("Spider Baby"). Burt's son Bill (future screenwriter of "The Bad News Bears" and "The Thing") has a supporting role as a hippie student. And Burt's longtime friend and co-star Nick Cravat ("The Flame and the Arrow") plays a gardener.

Excellent location shooting in South Carolina and a flavourful score by Dave Grusin ("The Goodbye Girl", "The Firm") further assist in making this pretty enjoyable to watch, if not all that memorable in the end.

Seven out of 10.

Lots of suspects lots of questions

[merklekranz · 7/10 · 18 July 2019]

"The Midnight Man" refers to Burt Lancaster's new job as a college security guard, working the midnight to 8:00am shift. The murder of a pretty coed immediately draws Lancaster into the investigation by way of his ex cop instincts. He buts heads with the police chief over an obvious suspect, and then the picture begins to spiral out of control. A multitude of suspects, each with a rather obscure motive begins to cloud the water. Although the cast is very good, character development is sacrificed in favor of rapidly moving from one person of interest to the next. By the conclusion, the viewer is unable to keep up with the story line. In fact, Lancaster in the end gives a long summary of who did what to whom, too little effect, since the names he throws out really don't help. The movie is very watchable, but second, or even third viewings might be required to bring clarity. - MERK

Nothing Original, But Entertaining.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 22 May 2007]

This could easily have been a script leftover in some shoebox from an unmade 1949 noir. It's a complicated story of blackmail and betrayal. Burt Lancaster is an ex-cop just released from prison, given a job by an old friend (Cameron Mitchell) as night watchman at a college, who falls in love with his parole officer (Susan Clark). A murder takes place. Several murders take place. And some of the signs seem to point to the innocent Burt. There's a blackmail plot with lots of money involved. Well, now, Burt may have just gotten out of the slams but he hasn't unlearned the investigative skills he picked up while on the job in Chicago. Fighting against the local cops every inch of the way, he cracks the case, but not to his satisfaction. He's been used and betrayed by everyone he was close to.

No one looks out of place. Susan Clark actually looks pretty darned smokin', with her slender figure and queer beauty, a little goofy, like Nancy Travis'. The local cops are villainous. There is a trio of redneck heavies that -- well, they shouldn't look out of place but they do. This was shot in South Carolina, but it's winter, and it doesn't look like the South, whereas these three unkempt miscreants (including Ed Sauter with his working-class New York accent) look like they're straight out of some Southern Gothic slasher movie -- I EAT YOUR HEAD AND SPIT DOWN YOUR NECK CAVITY!!! One is fat, one is scrawny, all are dumb drunks who tote shotguns and pitchforks and allow themselves to be run over by tractors. They even have one of those mean mothers in Bibb overalls and boots who sneers at captive Burt and says, "Wait'll Lem gets back. He'll take care of you proper-like," or something.

There isn't a touch of anything original in the direction, the script, the performances, or anything else. Dave Grusin's score is loud and conventional -- lots of electric guitars and harmonicas and nerve-jangling percussion.

Nobody seems to have put any effort into it, which is a little surprising, given Burt Lancaster's tendency to see to it that some social message informs his story, or at least that there is the occasional arty touch. But not here. Everything is functional. No tag lines worth remembering. Instead of Burt Lancaster it might as well have been Charles Bronson.

Yet I like the thing and I look forward to seeing it on those infrequent occasions when it shows up on TV. I don't know why. I guess the location shooting captures a particular time and place rather well, though for a college in session it looks really underpopulated. I like Burt as a nobody watchman instead of an important muck-a-muck in the justice system. He looks so terribly humble in that shabby uniform. And I kind of like its lack of pretension. Better a crime thriller that knows its limits than a failed attempt at significance.

An Excellent Burt Lancaster vehicle with strong cast support.

[teuthis-2 · 5 May 2001]

I find this film a great pleasure to watch. The cast is superb, and the plot develops in a deliberate and leisurely manner; with emphasis on the characters and suspense. As always, Burt Lancaster is wonderful to watch. But then so is everyone else in this film including Burt's son, and a young Catherine Bach, in cameo roles. Midnight Man is a film to watch when you really want to settle and get involved for an evening of suspense and great acting. Its even better if someone is there to share it. Burt is an ex-homicide investigator, just paroled from prison for shooting his unfaithful wife and her lover. He is tragic in a sense, but also strong-willed. He takes a job as a night guard at a college and becomes obsessed with solving a murder that occurs there. He is pitted against resistance from local law enforcement, and some mysterious forces who throw constant dangers and obstacles in his path. But a skilled determination enables him to piece together a complex puzzle of deceit and collusion that makes for an exciting and revealing climax. I heartily recommend this classic Burt Lancaster drama!

I'd hire Susan Clark's character as my supervisor any day.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 4 August 2022]

As a parole officer assigned to Burt Lancaster's case after he's released from prison (for shooting the man he found in his ex-wife's bed), she immediately shows support to her clients when one of the parolees is beaten up by security guards on the job he is working at. They are very misogynistic to her (although one has a hysterical comeback to the other about how much stronger she is than him), yet she deserves respect because of her compassion and strength and intelligence, something you rarely see in a parole officer. I don't necessarily agree with the decision of the writer for Lancaster and Clark's characters to become involved (a definite conflict of interest), but it certainly believable that he'd be attracted to her. She's a woman that has everything!

The main plotline concerns the murder of a senator's daughter on campus, and his hiring of former cop Lancaster to get to the truth of what happened to her. Morgan Woodard ("Dallas") gives a strong performance as the senator, with veteran writer and soap actor Quinn Redeker as his assistant. The investigation also includes a strange gang of panty hose covered bandits and the angry looking woman who gives Clark the stank eye as she shoplifts a candy bar, wearing a bracelet earlier stolen from Clark. These people are definitely creepy criminals so even if they are not involved in the murder, you want to see them off the streets.

While not a perfect film, it is definitely an intriguing one with Lancaster and Clark outstanding. Even when the film goes off on different tangents not involving the main plot, it still remains enjoyable simply because of the use of minor characters, even those who are disgusting to watch. That's thanks to a great script that had me forgiving it for the Clark/Lancaster pairing. A disturbing confession from Woodard may seem out of left field and turn viewer's stomachs, but it's presented in a way that is gentle and even atoning, even if it involves one of the most repulsive sins out there. Had the script not dealt with this in the way it did, I wouldn't hesitate to call this a piece of exploitive trash, but somehow the film miraculously avoids that.

A good film, though I had some trouble accepting the premise.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 10 September 2023]

"The Midnight Man" is a Burt Lancaster film in which Burt plays, at times, a real tough guy. After all, although he was no spring chicken, he took on and beat up three thugs in this tough-as-nails film! Later, he encounters them again...and they DEFINITELY get the worst of it!

Lancaster plays Jim Slade, an ex-cop who was sent to prison and is now on parole. His parole officer has VERY blurred and inappropriate personal boundaries and it's weird that she allowed him to get a job as a security guard at a nearby college. Regardless, during his first few days there, he is brought in to investigate a breaking and entering where a psychologist's records for three patients were stolen. One of them is a young lady who is a real mess (Catherine Bach) and he's shocked when only a day later, she's found murdered.

The local sheriff is in a real rush to judgement and he arrests some weirdo janitor for the killing. Slade isn't convinced and continues to investigate on his own...and soon folks start trying to kill him! What's really going on here?! Well, you won't know until the very end, as there are a bazillion twists and turns...too many, if you ask me.

I generally liked the film...especially Lancaster's nice acting. My only complaints were about how screwed up everyone seemed to be and the incredible number of twists! The male faculty seemed like a gaggle of perverts and Slade's parole officer was a real screwball! Overall, a good film but one which really offered too many difficult to believe moments.

twisty

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 20 March 2024]

Former Chicago cop Jim Slade (Burt Lancaster) is recently released from prison. Linda Thorpe (Susan Clark) is his socially-conscious parole officer. He joins his friend Quartz Willinger to be a security guard at a college. Quartz had been injured while trying to stop a restaurant hold-up. There is a break-in at a psych professor's office and some session tapes with student-patients are stolen. One of the students is the daughter of Senator Clayborne and she is later killed. Sheriff Jack Casey quickly arrests the religious nut janitor, but Slade is unconvinced.

This is a neo-noir hard-boiled detective movie. It is very twisty and turny. I'm sure that it all works on paper although I'm less certain if these are real breathing people. Initially, I didn't buy either Slade or Thorpe. I don't know how ex-police could survive prison. For Linda, I don't buy a P. O. who backs up all of her charges. Most of them must be guilty. Unless the cops are exceedingly bad, she wouldn't push so hard. It's all a little off.

I do like the setup of the murder mystery. Catherine Bach from Dukes of Hazzard gets her first acting credit. This has a good many suspects. Maybe there are too many. The twists get a bit too twisty. Looking back, Linda makes a little more sense although Quartz makes less sense. It's great to see Burt Lancaster's name as co-writer and co-director. The writing needs some simplifying. The directing is functional 70's directing. This is mostly Burt's star power guiding this movie through it all. It is telling that his character needs to do a lot of exposition in the last act.

I EXPECTED MORE BUT STILL OK

[larryanderson · 6/10 · 23 February 2022]

I watched this on a gloomy day and enjoyed the story. By the end it became far too complicated for me to figure out. It seemed like "everyone" that wasn't killed, was involved in the intricate plot. Enjoyable but brooding. NICK CRAVAT plays the gardener. Nick was friends with Burt Lancaster since their teens and appeared in most of his movies. Burt said they were "like" brothers. Nice to see such a long lasting friendship.

His Own Sense Of Integrity

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 26 July 2009]

Burt Lancaster's last attempt at directing was in this sadly neglected film, The Midnight Man. I was lucky enough to catch it theaters back in the day and a few times on television. Why it was panned by so many critics is as big a mystery as the one Burt Lancaster has to solve.

In The Midnight Man Lancaster plays a former police detective who did a stretch for homicide himself, he killed his wife's lover. Now released from prison and on parole, he gets a job courtesy of an old police buddy Cameron Mitchell as a campus security guard at a small southern college. No sooner does he arrive there than the murder of a pretty and popular coed occur and an incriminating diary she kept goes missing.

Of course this is the job of the local sheriff Harris Yulin, but Lancaster's instincts just take over and before long three other murders occur. Of course they all arise out of the initial incident.

The Midnight Man is a good and complex tale of murder and blackmail and was shot on Clemson College campus on location for a good ring of authenticity. Lancaster and co-director/writer Roland Kibbee put together a very good cast. Note the following roles besides those I've already mentioned: Morgan Woodward as a southern senator and father of the first victim, Susan Clark as a faculty member who takes a romantic interest in Lancaster, and Ed Lauter and Mills Watson as a pair of Deliverance type inbreds who are working for someone who really wants Burt out of the way. Burt's son Bill Lancaster is in the cast as another college student who also winds up a murder victim.

Some of the results will surprise you and what I like about the film is that Lancaster probably could have covered for a couple of the perpetrators, but his own sense of integrity wouldn't let him do that. Best scene in the film for action fans is his escape from those Deliverance types who capture him and are awaiting instructions. At least we know they're no good. Who else winds up on the wrong side of the law will surprise you and you will keep guessing until the end.

Once a Cop Always a Cop

[sol-kay · 8/10 · 9 August 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Burt Lancaster,Jim Slade, both stared and directed this crime drama set in a southern college about an ex-cop who did time for killing his wife's lover who he found in bed with her.

Having his friend and fellow retired cop, Quartz, Cameron Mitchell, get him a job at the college as a night watchman as part of Jim's parole obligation Jim uses his skills as a big city homicide investigator to crack a murder case that the local police thought they already solved.

Besides Burt Lancaster the movie "The Midnight Man" has a fine cast from old pros like Cameron Mitchall to up and coming stars like the stunningly beautiful Catherine Bach, Natalie Clayborne, and even has Burt's handsome 27 year-old son William in a major role in the movie as Natalie's boyfriend and fellow student Arthur King.

On his first night on the job as night watchman Jim finds that there was a break in at Dr. Prichette, Robert Quarry, office were a number of audio tapes were stolen of students who recorded them for him to help them in their personal problems. One of the tape that were stolen was that of Natalie Clayborne. The next day when Jim asks Natalie about the stolen tape she at first doesn't seem too worried about it. Later that night he sees her outside in the street very despondent as well as both drunk and high on pot where Jim drives Natalie back to her dorm-room at the college.

The next day Natalie is found murdered and the college janitor Ewin, Charles Tyner, who turned out to be a combination religious fanatic and sexual pervert, is arrested and charged with her murder. Police Chief Casey, Harris Yulin, feels that the case has been solved but Jim thinks otherwise. All at once Jim becomes a marked man by those really responsible for Natalie's murder.

It turns out that the stolen tape is being used to blackmail State Senator Clayborne,Morgan Woodworth, who's Natalie's father and who's also in line to be the next state governor. Clayborne molested Natalie when she was a teenager and that's what was recorded on the stolen tape by Natalie but there was more to her death then that. Natalie wrote an unfinished poem to who she was having an affair with who's clues were the Greek mythological personalities Janus & Mylilene that if closely examined identified who was behind her murder.

"The Midnight Man" is a suspense filled murder drama with Burt Lancaster giving one of the best and most underrated performances of his long film career. Complicated but never confusing the movie really comes together in the very last fifteen minutes with all the pieces of the puzzle coming into place. It was then when Jim realized that he was being used by people very close to him that he trusted to get the very incriminating audio tape and then, when he served their aims, make him disappear for good. There are at least three attempts on Jim's life in the movie culminating with an exciting kidnapping breakout and escape from his captors that ended in a slam-bang barn smashing finish.

The ending of "The Midnight Man" is very unconventional for a crime movie but thats what makes the film both unique and at the same time very real and believable where nothing in real life, just like in the movie, is absolute.

" You're not gonna like this, but you would have made a great cop "

[thinker1691 · 8/10 · 17 November 2008]

Towards the end of his life and film career, Burt Lancaster, created some of the best and most enduring characters in the movies. His 'Twilight Last Gleeming and 'Lawman' are a couple of the more notable ones. This film, "The Mid-Night Man" has got to join that long list as one of the very best. The film is straight forward, the murder of a beautiful and seductive college coed, the long suspicious list of suspects and the unsavory secrets which accompany them. Also the county sheriff, needs to known the reason, why a campus security guard, a man on parole, and former homicide detective doesn't think, the pervert janitor didn't do it. Were it not for the serious cast which include some of the best character actors in the business, this movie would have been just so so. Fortunately, the cast includes Susan Clark as Linda Thorpe, Cameron Mitchell as Quartz, Morgan Woodward as Senator Clayborne and Harris Yulin as Sheriff Casey. Nick Cravat and Lancaster' own son completes the memorable list. With Ed Lauter rounding out the cast, this film cannot go anywhere except to the top of Lancaster Classics. Highly recommended. ****

A pleasing seventies thriller featuring ageing legend Lancaster

[pitz42 · 21 February 2002]

This is rarely on TV in the UK so I was pleased to catch it one late night as I've been wanting to see it for some time. Burt Lancaster plays an ex cop and an ex con, paroled after a jail sentence for shooting his wife's lover. Taking up a job as Nightwatchman at a University he's soon putting his homicide detective skills back in action after the murder of student, Catherine (Daisy Duke) Bach. Although there's some good outbursts of action and some romance, this is quite a slowly paced thriller that turns out to be an old fashioned whodunnit with a selections of characters to keep you guessing. The outcome without giving too much away involves a blackmail conspiracy where it seems the whole town is involved. Lancaster looks weary but he's likeable as a modern day Sherlock Holmes character with the usual determination of American screen detectives, "once a cop, always a cop" he's told by best pal and fellow ex cop Cameron Mitchell who despite being initially out of touch outsmarts everyone. I love seventies films and I think despite not necessarily being a classic this movie should have more recognition.

Much Better Than You Would Think

[dspearma · 8/10 · 18 December 2009]

I saw the Midnight Man one very late night when I couldn't sleep. Burt is very compelling and this is a terrific murder mystery type story. To this day, I cannot understand why it hasn't gotten more play. The cast was brilliant, in particular Susan Clark. Lancaster plays a sort of down on his luck security guard who finds himself wrapped up in a murder. At one time he was a prominent officer who fell on hard times and is relegated to a security guard at a local college. Of course, this means they don't pay as much attention to him as they should and he is forced to go solo on his hunches as he goes thru this story. It is a good human story as well. I would love to see it again but it just doesn't come on TV anymore for some reason. If you ever see it listed on your local channel wherever you live, Circle this one and watch it!!

nothing is what it seems

[greene515 · 3 September 2011]

Burt Lancaster plays a down on his luck security guard recently released for the murder of his wife, he becomes employed in a local South Carolina College,he becomes embroiled in a strange murder mystery, where nothing is what it seems until all is typically revealed at the climax. 'The Midnight Man' Co-stars Susan Clark and the future Daisy Duke, Catherine Bach, in her first screen appearance, and character actor Ed Lauter. 'The Midnight Man' is unfortunately obscure to most classic film buffs, it is available on imported DVD which it's transfer is an oddity but watchable. In this age of HD/Widescreen, it's hard to believe that Universal have let this one go! the transfer is 'open matte' which reveals microphones, lights and camera tracks!

Nice 70s thriller from Lancaster

[udar55 · 8/10 · 16 September 2008]

Jim Slade (Burt Lancaster) is an ex-cop and ex-con who takes a job as a night watchman at a college thanks to his friend and fellow retired copper, Quartz (Cameron Mitchell). Within a few days, Slade gets the detective bug again when a series of tapes are stolen from a Psych professor's room and Natalie (Catherine Bach), a Sentor's daughter and a subject on one of the tapes, ends up dead. Teaming with his love interest/parole officer Linda (Susan Clark), Slade attempts to unravel the mystery behind this co-ed's death, even though the local Sheriff (Harris Yulin) believes he already has the killer.

The 70s were an interesting time for leading man Lancaster and this complex mystery proves to be one of his more unique vehicles. In addition to starring, Lancaster co-wrote and co-directed the film with Roland Kibbee. The film itself has a very flat, made-for-TV feel so it takes a while to adjust to that. If it weren't for the cursing and explosions of violence, I would have sworn it was a TV movie. Once over that hurdle, it is a pretty involving mystery (make sure to have you notepad handy). It is admirable to see Lancaster playing a down on his luck anti-hero (a tough cop who had murdered his wife's lover). There is also a great supporting cast including Robert Quarry, Lawrence Dobkin, Mills Watson and Ed Lauter. Lancaster's son Bill (future writer of THE BAD NEWS BEARS and THE THING) has a small role as well.

Sting in tail thriller involving disgraced cop; wonderful Lancaster, Clark performances

[adrianovasconcelos · 8/10 · 31 December 2020]

Former cop Lancaster is just out of jail on parole after catching his wife in bed with her lover, and killing him. He is now a college nightwatchman and no sooner he arrives on the scene than the daughter of a senator is murdered. That is not all, either: he actually gave the girl a lift home so he was one of the last persons to see her alive.

Thankfully, he has a good friend in Cameron Mitchell, who receives him in his house despite having broken a leg; and an even more wonderful parole officer in the stunningly beautiful Susan Clark. And so begins a rollercoaster of events and all is definitely not what it seems in this flick.

Joint direction by Kibbee and Lancaster is effective; script is credible, peeling away each layer of the mystery at a leisurely pace; photography is competent, standard 1970s fare; and acting by Lancaster and Clark is exceptionally good. Mitchell, Yulin, Splawn and Lauter prove more than adequate in the supporting roles.

I ended up enjoying MIDNIGHT MAN a darned sight more than I had expected. 8/10

Under-rated thriller

[Ian Payn · 19 October 2000]

When The Midnight Man was first released it received a very patchy distribution. Catching up with it on TV I was surprised how effective it is, although it is definitely over-long. It's not the greatest mystery ever, but it is long on atmosphere, and has an interesting cast (Cameron Mitchell, Robert Quarry etc). If this comes your way, give it a shot. It may not be to everyone's tastes, but then nor's peanut butter.

Lancaster makes his mark!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 31 March 2018]

VIEWER'S GUIDE: Strictly adults only.

COMMENT: Lancaster has always stated that he wanted to direct but The Kentuckian (1955) and The Midnight Man are in fact his only ventures behind the cameras. Although he did an excellent job with Midnight, the film failed dismally at the boxoffice, despite my opinion that it had all the elements I would have thought necessary for success in 1974. Sex, violence, corruption and a strong antipathy towards authority and the establishment whose officials are depicted as either hopelessly incompetent or ruthlessly on the take.

Amidst all this prejudice, brutality and malfeasance, the Right has only one tainted champion. And although the odds are impossibly stacked against him, he does - through sheer grit and physical stamina on the one hand, tireless self-honesty and mental acuity on the other - eventually win through. It's a noble theme and Lancaster does it proud.

In addition to Lancaster's persuasive performance, his incisive direction and his intriguing script, what I like about The Midnight Man is its atmosphere. Not only its realistically observed small university town, all sunny community on the outside, but the more personal atmosphere of loss and disillusionment, of bitter but ruthlessly pursued truth-seeking that Lancaster brings to every scene.

Director Lancaster has made vibrant use of his support players and utilized his many brilliantly-chosen natural locations to bring his story to throbbing life. Other technical credits are likewise highly commendable, especially Jack Priestley's mood-evocative cinematography and Dave Grusin's cleverly atmospheric score which often lightens and transforms the violence into softer, autumnal shades of nostalgia and regret.

OTHER VIEWS: I'm not surprised JHR likes this one as it has many of the qualities of a JHR novel, including a dominant yet disillusioned central character, seemingly servile but actually strong and self-willed, prepared to sacrifice anything and everything for unfashionable ideals of truth and honesty. Although basically a loner, the hero is presented in a sympathetic and involving manner. It's all summed up by the sad, wistful air of regret in Lancaster's face as the camera pans in for its final end-of-the-Mitchell-story close-up.

Unassuming Lawman... soft-spoken, too !

[chakotay-70770 · 10/10 · 3 June 2020]

How refreshing to discover an unassuming, soft-spoken lawman acting as a security-guard on a quiet college campus!

He's not in the police force, yet finds himself irresistibly investigating the demise of a female student. Why would a security guard endanger his parole, his new job and even his life to poke his nose where he should not?

Well, that's for You to find out...if you follow the movie yourself! I found myself being sucked ever deeper into the story, as the minutes passed. Maybe You will, too....

Detective film with a unique tone

[norbert-plan-618-715813 · 8/10 · 8 May 2022]

Burt Lancaster plays a retired policeman who comes out of prison, who to earn a living takes the job of night watchman in the night shift of a college, introduced by a cop friend who also converted. He takes his job very seriously, as well as his visits to his probation officer, Susan Clark, who is not indifferent to him, and vice versa. But a murder occurs on campus and he finds himself leading his own investigation. The story brings together local politicians, the local police who are also investigating and who don't want this retired cop, his colleagues, and the young students, hippies or not, and his probation officer who will get involved in all this.

The film contains few action sequences and builds its narrative on multiple characters. The detective film with a very seventies tone works perfectly well: good script that mixes all its characters who turn out not to be the ones we imagine, literally, where only Burt Lancaster turns out to be a positive and reliable character. All the others turn out to have a double game, calculating and having another agenda than what we are shown.

The film remains interesting and has its own tone despite its forty-five years.

Good movie, but,

[Delrvich · 8/10 · 21 March 2020]

It's one of those movies where you should write down names and take down notes because, it has a few suspects, red herrings, and sub-plots. Or, just watch it twice. Almost like Murder On The Orient Express.

An Efficient But Lackluster Murder Mystery

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 26 May 2017]

Character actor Cameron Mitchell gave the performance of his career for co-directors Roland Kibbee and Burt Lancaster in their complicated but intriguing murder mystery "The Midnight Man," co-starring Susan Clark, Morgan Woodward, Harris Yulin, Lawrence Dobkin, Robert Quarry, Ed Lauter, and Catherine Bach. For the record, Kibbee and Lancaster had collaborated before, principally with Kibbee penning screenplays for Lancaster epics, such as "Ten Tall Men" (1951), "The Crimson Pirate" (1952), "Vera Cruz" (1954), "The Devil's Disciple" (1959), and "Valdez Is Coming" (1971). Together, Kibbee and Lancaster adapted David Anthony's novel "The Midnight Lady and the Mourning Man." Considering the abundance of talent involved in this melodrama, "The Midnight Man" should have been a superior whodunit. Indeed, everything about this solidly scripted but formulaic murder mystery is done with efficiency. Kibbee received an Emmy not only for a "Columbo" episode, but he also won one for a "Barney Miller" episode. Kibbee's output ranks as above-average. The chief problem with "The Midnight Man" is the lackluster quality of their action. The events take place at a remote college in South Carolina so nothing that happens can affect the fate of West Civilization. Although the characters are as sturdy as the gifted cast that incarnates them, Kibbee and Lancaster's movie seems mundane despite its narrative strengths.

The characters in "The Midnight Man" comprise an interesting group. Burt Lancaster plays Jim Slade; he is a former Chicago cop who served three years in prison because he shot the man that he caught in bed with his wife. This makes him a flawed character searching for redemption. Slade's old friend Quartz (Cameron Mitchell of "Garden of Evil") is a former policeman who heads up the security of a small college, and he gives Slade a job as a night watchman. Susan Clark is cast as Slade's parole officer Linda Thorpe. Ms. Thorpe constantly clashes with County Sheriff Casey (Harris Yulin of "Scarface") over his treatment of her parolees. Casey wears a white cowboy hat, and at times "The Midnight Man" resembles an episode of "In the Heat of the Night." The action unfolds when Slade learns that somebody broke into his office of Psychology Professor Swanson (Quinn K. Redeker of "Ordinary People") and stole three audio cassettes. These cassettes contain monologues from troubled students who recorded them for Swanson so he could listen to them at a later date and counsel them. Slade interviews the three students. One of the three students, Natalie (Catherine Bach of "Thunderbolt & Lightfoot"), dies under mysterious circumstances, and Slade sets out to expose the murderer. Sheriff Casey arrests the most obvious candidate, Ewing (Charles Tyner of "The Longest Yard"), a fire-and-brimstone religious fanatic who has evidence that implicates him in the slaying. Naturally, our hero doesn't believe that the unsavory Ewing could have committed the crime. While Casey is constantly at his throat, Quartz and Slade's parole officer do their best to shield him from the county sheriff.

Unraveling the narrative threads of "The Midnight Man" to disclose the identities of the villains would constitute a crime. Slade encounters a number of likely suspects as he searches for the villain that killed Natalie. Meantime, he collides with three grimy, redneck dastards that do their best to kill him. The scene in the barn is terrific, especially when Slade commandeers a tractor to smash through walls and run over his adversaries. The revelations that our hero uncovers distinguishes this movie and virtually everybody is implicated in one way or another. Slade's chief opponent Sheriff Casey winds up being his strongest ally, and Harris Yulin gives a good account of himself. Lancaster was on his last legs as a leading man when he made "The Midnight Man," but he gives another of his ultra-efficient performances, and this movie is a polished affair despite its largely ordinary setting and revelations.

"Even a Smart Cop Is a Dumb Cop."

[inspectors71 · 15 November 2007]

If you can look past the slickery and pretentiousness of Roland Kibbee's The Midnight Man, you'll probably find yourself enjoying 2+ hours of NBC Mystery Movie-level murder and mayhem. The cast, headed by Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, Harris Yulin, and Cameron Mitchell provides the viewer with enough comfort and enjoyment that he or she isn't going to get too frustrated with the cheese doodle topicality, high school-level psychology, and warbling, pop-glop soundtrack.

Lancaster plays a recently paroled ex-convict who hires on as a night watchman at a small, southern university. The investigator in him goes to work when a co-ed is murdered.

As the bodies stack up and the romance blossoms between ex-con Burt and Parole Officer Susan Clark (who chews scenery while parading around in her bra), you may begin to notice you've lost track of who everyone is, or care for that matter.

Whether you see one of the edited versions (all the crudities snipped by NBC in the mid-seventies and a raunchier version on modern cable) or the uncut issue, you'll find that the plot is incomprehensible and the writing tries way too hard to be relevant, but the whole thing is strangely, ultimately satisfying because you--and not the movie--will choose not to take The Midnight Man too seriously.

An impossible inextricable case of murder multiplying into a most irregular mess of murders.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 8 October 2023]

This is a tricky and complex thriller that just turns itself into more complicated knots as the intrigues, the mysteries and the murders just go on, and finally everything is neatly sorted out but with most astonishing results. The one who makes the greatest impression here is actually Cameron Mitchell with his crutches, which he handles more than professionally and which repeatedly come in handy. Susan Clark also makes a great impression for her beauty and intelligence, while she also turns out something else than you had expected in the end. Burt Lancaster, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Roland Kibbee, plays the dishonoured cop who gets out on parole after some time in prison after having killed his wife's lover. He gets back on track as a nightwatchman and almost instantly runs into complex troubles that demand his abilities as an experienced policeman. There are many traps on his way, he passes all the tests and remains an honest policeman as he always was, to the end. Harris Yulin makes a wonderful character as the inspector in charge who is immersed into bogs of trouble because of Burt's penchant for attracting cases. The thriller is very psychological, there is even a psychology professor to make matters worse, and who could possibly sort out all those mixed up relationships? Well, Burt does the job.

a pan on the Midnight Man

[humpty · 22 February 1999]

After seeing Burt Lancaster in films like THE SWIMMER and SORRY WRONG NUMBER, he is certainly a let down in THE MIDNIGHT MAN. So is the movie. It's two and a half hours long and is a who-dun-it that leaves this viewer thinking, "I don't care who- dun-it. Burt looks tired, as though he'd rather be doing anything but working on this picture. At no point does he manage even a spark of that old vibrant Lancaster attitude. The plot is confusing at best. Burt is a security guard on a college campus where a series of murders take place. He also manages to get a woman 30 years his junior to fall for him. The kissing scenes would make Woody Allen cringe. And the fight scene where Burt beats up two young guys is laughable. Later in his career Burt is cast in some parts that fit the dignity of an older man. He makes a poor imitation of Harry Callahan in this one.

This film's only value is as a time capsule for 1974. It has the flavor and atmosphere of a 2 1/2 hour episode of Hawaii Five-O, except not as exiting. Avoid this one my friends. Humpty