It happened at midnight

In the middle of the night, in one of the dark alleys of the North Beach quarter in San Francisco, they kill with a knife the priest, father Thomasino. This news is a shock to the Italian community, many of whose members knew and loved the priest. More than others, his death is experienced by a young traffic police officer Joe Martini ( Tony Curtis ), who grew up in an orphanage under the caring care of his father Tomasino and treats him like his own father. Joe begs Lieutenant Kilrein’s detective murder detective ( Ted De Corsia ) to allow him to take part in the investigation on the grounds that Tomasino’s father was the closest person to him. However, Kilrane believes that Joe takes this matter too personally and may be biased, and therefore requires that Joe return to his immediate duties. At the funeral of his father, Tomasino Joe draws attention to a certain Silvio Malatesta ( Gilbert Roland ), who was crying and clutching a rosary in his hand. Joe comes back to Kilrane, telling him about the suspicious behavior of Malatesta, who during the funeral experienced “hellish torment”. The lieutenant replies that Joe’s suspicions alone are not enough to detain a person and asks not to interfere with his work. Since the investigation has no real clues in this case, and no one listens to Joe's opinion, he decides to resign from the police in order to conduct an independent investigation. Having handed over the badge and dressed in civilian clothes, Joe comes to the Silvio restaurant located in the port, who seems to be a friend of Tomasino's father, who has just returned to the city. Joe says the priest recommended that he turn to Silvio for work. Lively, kind and cheerful Silvio immediately imbued with warm feelings towards Joe and that same evening invites him to his house for a family dinner. Silvio introduces Joe to members of his family, which includes his calm, loving mother ( Argentina Brunetti ), Pinats younger brother (Richard Monda), as well as the young beautiful cousin Anna ( Marisa Pavan ), who recently moved from Italy and now studying at secretary courses. Joe is touched by the atmosphere of love and happiness in the house of Silvio, he sees that all family members are very worried about the fate of the unsociable Anna and want to marry her to a worthy person. Silvio is very sympathetic to Joe, and, in the end, persuades him to move to his house. Joe sees that the cheerful and open Silvio is liked not only by him, but also by many other residents of the quarter. At the same time, Joe hears Silvio wandering anxiously around his room at night, and this does not allow Joe's suspicions to completely dissipate. Joe carefully finds out the alibi of Silvio, who, according to him, spent playing cards at the Vallejo club on the night of the murder. Anna explains to Joe that during World War II, Silvio lost his girlfriend in Naples , and this is the reason for his suffering. Soon, Joe and Anna go to dances at the Vallejo club, where he learns from regular players that Silvio left the club much earlier than the time of the murder, going to another club to play snooker with a certain Charlie Cuneo (Herb Wigran), where he spent rest of the evening. That same evening, Joe protects Anna from the harassment of the local punks, and this act delights the girl. In the evening they kiss, and soon Joe makes an offer. Police sergeant Jack Gyllen ( Jay S. Flippen ) suddenly appears at the engagement party, inviting Joe to get into the car for a conversation. The sergeant introduces Jack to private investigator Frank Wilkins ( James Hyland ), who, it turns out, was watching Cuneo's married lover named Veda Kunelli ( Peggy Maily ) at the request of her husband, who suspected Veda of treason. According to Wilkins, on the night of the murder of the priest, Silvio and Cuneo did indeed come to the Horizont club to play snooker. However, then the Veda appeared there, and he retired with her for several hours, and when he returned, he found Silvio in the club. However, it was at the time of the murder that Cuneo and the detective were absent and therefore can not confirm the alibi of Silvio. In addition, the club is in close proximity to the place of the murder, and Silvio could very quickly leave the club, kill the priest and return back.

Joe plunges into painful thoughts and wanders around the city for several hours. When he returns home late at night, Anna demands that he be tormented, but Joe is silent, only promising that in two days everything will be resolved. Anna cannot stand such a strain, and goes to an orphanage to find out what secret torments her groom. There she learns that after the shelter, Joe went to serve in the police, and at the police station, Gillen refuses to explain to her the reason why Joe quit. Meanwhile, Killrane in the presence of Joe interrogates Veda, who claims that Silvio was definitely not at the Horizon club at the time that Thomasino's father was killed, since it was at that time that Kunio unsuccessfully tried to reach him several times. After this statement, Kilrein is ready to arrest Silvio, but Joe recalls that they have no motive for the murder, and asks for the opportunity to speak with Silvio before his arrest. Joe comes home in a depressed state, but does not tell the crying Anna what is happening. Then he goes to a meeting with Silvio, who remained in the restaurant after its closure, hoping to play on Silvio's friendly feelings and decency to get his recognition. Joe says that although he did not kill anyone, the police suspect him of killing a priest. In addition, there is a witness who saw him with Father Tomasino shortly before the murder, and now demands $ 1000 for silence. Since Joe believes that the ransomware will not stop there and will demand more and more money, he decided to kill him tonight. Silvio dissuades Joe from the murder, saying that then he will be tormented for the rest of his life, after which he admits that he committed the same crime by killing his lover when she was about to leave him for another. After these words, Joe realizes that Silvio must have told his father Tomasino about his sin, and accuses him of killing the priest. Feeling that Joe had tricked him when he came to his family and seduced Anna just to get a confession out of him, an enraged Silvio pounced on him with a knife. But when Joe replies that, like Silvio, he will do everything possible to protect his family, he throws the knife already lifted over Joe and quickly jumps out onto the road, where he is hit by a truck. Dying in the hospital, Silvio confesses that Tomasino's father advised him to go to the police, but he did not. And then Silvio killed Father Tomasino, whose “humble but knowing eyes” tormented him after confession, but explains that he would have committed this crime for his family, because if the truth had been revealed, it would have destroyed the lives of his loved ones, for whom he bears a responsibility. Silvio asks Joe for forgiveness and gives him responsibility for his family, and everyone who understands Joe forgives a friend. Leaving the ward after Silvio’s death, Joe tells Gillen and Kilrein that he didn’t manage to find out due to an accident, after which he hugs his new family.

In the 1950s, director Joseph Pevny directed a total of 11 noir films, including Extortion (1950), Girl Undercover (1950), Iron Man (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952) with Tony Curtis , “ Woman on the Beach ” (1955) with Joan Crawford and “ Cross the Six Bridges ” (1957) with Curtis. His other most significant paintings were the biographical drama “ A Man with a Thousand Faces ” (1957) with James Cagney , the comedy “ Tammy and the Bachelor ” (1957) and the military drama “ Launching a Torpedo ” (1958) ^[1] .

In 1959, Tony Curtis was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for best starring role in the crime drama “ Without Bowing His Head ” (1958), which marked the beginning of his stellar career. Curtis’s other best films include the film Noir Sweet Smell of Success (1957), the historical action movie The Vikings (1958), the comedies Jazz Only Girls (1959), The Great Imposter (1961) and The Great Races (1965) ) In 1969, Curtis was nominated for the second time on the Golden Globe for the film Boston Strangler (1968). ^[2] .

Actor of Mexican descent Gilbert Roland twice nominated for the Golden Globe for supporting roles in the drama about the movie " Evil and Beautiful " (1952) and the Western " Autumn Cheyenne " (1964). His memorable films include the adventure film “ We Were Alien ” (1949), the religious drama “The Miracle of the Virgin of Fatima ” (1952) and the action movie “ Stormy Bay ” (1953) ^[3] .

The Italian actress Marisa Pavan in 1956 was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for her supporting role in the drama Tattooed Rose (1955). The best films with her participation were also the film noir “ Three Dark Streets Below ” (1954), the Western “ Drum Fight ” (1954), the military melodrama “The Man in the Gray Flannel Costume ” (1956) and the historical biographical drama “ John Paul Jones ” ( 1959) ^[4] .

At the beginning of August 1955, the production company Mark Stevens Productions bought the rights to Edwin Blam’s screenplay “Eyes of Father Thomasino”, announcing that he would show a television movie on this script in the alias “Video Suite”, which will be a kind of preview of the future feature film. The director of the TV version was Buzz Kyulik , and Kif Brassell played the main role, the television movie was shown on NBC on September 22, 1955. However, in March 1957, Mark Stevens sold the rights to create a film to Universal Studios ^[5] .

The working titles of the film were “Eyes of Father Tomasino” and “Date with a Shadow” ^[5] .

According to the American Institute of Motion Picture Arts , “It Happened at Midnight” was also the working title of 1955 Universal’s film “The Price of Fear,” but the two paintings are unrelated ^[5] .

Some scenes of the picture were shot in North Beach , the Italo-American quarter of San Francisco ^[5] .

Overall rating of the film

Although the film did not receive a wide response in the press, critics nevertheless rated it quite high. In particular, after the release of the picture on the screens, film critic A. Kh. Weiler wrote in The New York Times that it was "in principle a traditional detective story that the filmmakers professionally spin into a tense story." The critic emphasizes “that the film has the rare property of keeping viewers in ignorance until the very end,” further pointing out that “this is a strange and simple family story in which false traces seem real, and in which a very pretty main suspect is worthy of a medal, than a gas chamber. ” According to Weiler, “the producers obviously had no illusions about the grandeur of the picture, however, they managed to tell an exciting story” ^[6] .

The modern film historian Michael Keeni called the film “a tough detective with a good script” ^[7] , and the film expert Sandra Brennan - “a tense detective with a murder” ^[8] .

Evaluation of the work of the director and creative team

According to Weiler, “when creating images of the main characters, especially the suspect, the scriptwriters not only intrigue the viewer, but also paint interesting human portraits” ^[6] .

The critic also notes " Joseph Pevny 's lively production work and Russell Metti's field camera work, which convey the atmosphere of life for Italo-Americans living in the picturesque hilly quarter of San Francisco. All this makes the tape a skillful and interesting little film ” ^[6] .

Actor rating

Weiler praised the acting in the film. According to the critic, " Roland is good at playing the role of the suspect - the kind, gentle, family-friendly and firmly upright seafood restaurant owner who takes fraternal care of the young cop who is watching him." In turn, “ Curtis is no less good in the image of a policeman forced to hide his role, who is tormented and, contrary to everything, hopes that his suspicions will turn out to be false” ^[6] . Keeney also believes that “Curtis copes well with the role of a cop obsessed with tracing the murderers of his friend,” but he believes that “Roland’s game draws his main attention” ^[7] .

Weiler also notes that " Pavan is attractive in the role of a young Italian-American girl, whom a young cop falls in love with, and who is alarmed because of a misunderstanding of the problem he is hiding." In addition, the critic believes that " Argentina Brunetti in the role of Roland's mother, as well as Jay S. Flippen and Ted De Corsia in the role of tough, but understanding police officers" provide competent support to the main actors ^[6] .

• Michael F. Keaney. Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959 . - Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003. - ISBN 978-0-7864-1547-2 .

• It happened at midnight on the IMDb website.  
• It happened at midnight on the AllMovie website.  
• It happened at midnight on the website of the American Film Institute
• It happened at midnight on Turner Classic Movies