CrimeYear1974Duration1h 57mIMDb6.4

The Midnight Man

CrimeDramaMystery

Ex-convict Jim Slade, once a cop in Chicago and now working as security in a college, decides to investigate the murder of student Natalie Clayborne, the daughter of a United States Senator.

Trailer

Cast

RK

Roland Kibbee

Director

Burt Lancaster

Director

Burt Lancaster

Jim Slade

Susan Clark

Linda Thorpe

Cameron Mitchell

Quartz Willinger

Morgan Woodward

Senator Clayborne

Harris Yulin

Sheriff Jack Casey

Robert Quarry

Dr. Prichette

Joan Lorring

Judy Willinger

Lawrence Dobkin

Waldo Mason

Ed Lauter

Leroy

Mills Watson

Cash

Charles Tyner

Ewing

Catherine Bach

Natalie Claybourne

BL

Bill Lancaster

Arthur King

Quinn K. Redeker

Swanson

RW

Richard Winterstein

Virgil

WH

William Hicks

Charlie

PD

Peter Dane

Karl Metterman

Linda Kelsey

Betty Childress

DA

David Anthony

Writer

RK

Roland Kibbee

Writer

Burt Lancaster

Writer

Comments

10 Comments

joinsttaMay 23, 2023

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.

Assala.Nasri.TiktokMay 23, 2023

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....

le_stephanois_officielleMay 23, 2023

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

bean77552May 23, 2023

"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

user7012677194272May 23, 2023

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.

Harrdy SandhuMay 23, 2023

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!!

AneelValaMay 23, 2023

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.

theongoyaMay 23, 2023

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.

Kimberly 🍯May 23, 2023

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.

AseelMay 23, 2023

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!

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