Middle of the Night

To hear Kim Novak tell it, Harry Cohn didn’t want her anywhere near this low-key story of a May-December romance. Cohn didn’t want Novak’s glamorous, icy sex goddess persona compromised by playing a character so vulnerable, damaged, and needy. But Novak was a shrewd mind, and she knew Middle of the Night was one hell of an opportunity for something tougher, meatier.

She was right, of course, just as she had been that Vertigo was a film for the ages despite the indifferent modern reception. Middle of the Night is in the upper echelon of her film work, and Novak frequently names this film as her personal favorite. No wonder, as she plays a character with a large emotional range, utilizing her natural melancholy into a deeply engaging portrait of a brittle woman desperate for love and affection.

Novak’s receptionist finds it in widowed businessman Jerry’s (Fredric March) arms. He bursts with love to give, and no one to accept it. She needs a father-figure, a lover, and someone to help her break her habit of caving in to her ex-husband’s romantic advances. Their romance is unconventional, and met with judgment and scorn by the friends and family members orbiting their lives, but they find an anchor in each other.

At the time of release, March got the bulk of critical praise for his finely tuned performance. No shock that, as March was one of the more dependable actors of his generation, consistently giving complex and rich life to a large variety of characters over his forty-four years in front of the camera. Yet it’s Novak that was a real surprise for me here, sinking her teeth in Paddy Chayefsky’s script like a starving artist instead of an established star persona. Her voice is pitched higher, frequently sounding pinched and struggling to get the words out in a coherent manner. Her body trembles, and her unease in life is palpable in her nervous energy.

Middle of the Night is a small film, but one packing a big emotional punch. Director Delbert Mann, of Marty fame, is well within his wheelhouse here, creates believably cramped apartments, and rumpled working class faces. It helps that aside from Novak and March, Mann populates the cast with character actors like Lee Grant and Martin Balsam, both of them sensational.

If the film has any fault, it’s that it never completely breaks free from its stage origins. So much of the film takes place in interiors and it occasionally dips into filmed stage play territory. This minor problem is forgiven easily between the towering strengths of the naturalistic performances, wonderful dialog, and deep emotional honesty on display. It doesn’t have the critical or popular appraisal of other Novak films, but Middle of the Night deserves a reevaluation. It’s one of the best films in her career.