The Midnight Man (1974)

Directors:

Roland Kibbee
Burt Lancaster

Writers:

David Anthony (novel)
Roland Kibbee (writer)

Release Date:

14 June 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

The Ex-con. The Hippie. The Senator. The Pervert. The Lesbian. The Professor. The Sheriff. The Sadist. One of them is a murderer. All of them make the most fascinating murder mystery in years.

Plot Keywords:

Time For Title | Beautiful Woman | Lesbian | Based On Novel

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Jim Slade
Susan Clark	...	Linda Thorpe
Cameron Mitchell	...	Quartz
Morgan Woodward	...	Clayborne
Harris Yulin	...	Casey
Robert Quarry	...	Dr. Prichette
Joan Lorring	...	Judy
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Mason
Ed Lauter	...	Leroy
Mills Watson	...	Cash
Charles Tyner	...	Ewing
Catherine Bach	...	Natalie
Bill Lancaster	...	King (as William Lancaster)
Quinn K. Redeker	...	Swanson
Richard Winterstein	...	Virgil

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:18 (f) | Finland:K-18 | Norway:16 (1974) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Anderson, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Norlan Productions

"Even a Smart Cop Is a Dumb Cop."

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.