Star of Midnight

A lawyer (William Powell) and a socialite (Ginger Rogers) solve the mystery of a dancer’s disappearance.

Star of Midnight is yet another attempt by a rival studio to duplicate the success of MGM’s The Thin Man. For this entry, RKO got the genuine article in William Powell for the lead, cast Ginger Rogers in Myrna Loy’s spot, and found a script with a lot of twists and turns. Unfortunately, the result isn’t equal to the sum of its parts.

For starters, they’ve only got, at best, two-thirds of the formula. While Ginger Rogers is passable (and certainly much better than Jean Arthur in RKO’s later Thin Man clone, The Ex-Mrs. Bradford) director Stephen Roberts is no substitute for W.S. Van Dyke.

Star of Midnight lacks The Thin Man’s kinetic tension. Sure, this story has a lot of twists and turns, but Roberts fails to make us care. We’re not so much watching to find out the mystery’s solution, as much as we’re just waiting to see it end. It’s a fatal flaw that kills the film, turning what should be an involving mystery into a dull, talky affair.

That said, this one’s reserved for Powell and Rogers fans only, as their performances are about the only things worth remembering in this boring mess.