{{short description|1950 film by Gordon Parry}} {{Use British English|date=April 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Midnight Episode | image = Midnight_Episode_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1950-2).jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Gordon Parry (film director)|Gordon Parry]] | producer = Theo Lageard | writer = [[Rita Barisse]] | screenplay = {{Plain list| * [[Paul Vincent Carroll]] * [[David Evans (writer)|David Evans]] * [[William Templeton (screenwriter)|William Templeton]] * Reeve Tyler * Rita Barisse }} | based_on = {{based on|Monsieur La Souris|[[Georges Simenon]]}} | starring = {{Plain list| * [[Stanley Holloway]] * [[Leslie Dwyer]] * [[Reginald Tate]] * [[Meredith Edwards (actor)|Meredith Edwards]] * [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] * [[Sebastian Cabot (actor)|Sebastian Cabot]] * [[Joy Shelton]] * Raymond Young * [[Leslie Perrins]] * [[Campbell Copelin]] * [[Natasha Parry]] }} | music = [[Mischa Spoliansky]] | cinematography = [[Hone Glendinning]] | editing = [[Charles Hasse]] | studio = Triangle Film Corporation | distributor = {{Plain list| * [[Columbia Pictures]] (1951) UK * [[Fine Arts Films]] (1955) USA }} | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1950|12|31|United Kingdom}} | runtime = 78 minutes | country = Britain | language = English<ref name="Dixon1994">{{cite book|author=Wheeler W. Dixon|title=Re-Viewing British Cinema, 1900–1992: Essays and Interviews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cQga1cl5OgC&pg=PA162|date=1994|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1862-8|pages=162–}}</ref> | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Midnight Episode''''' is a 1950 British [[thriller film|thriller]] [[mystery film|mystery]] film directed by [[Gordon Parry (film director)|Gordon Parry]] and starring [[Stanley Holloway]], [[Leslie Dwyer]], [[Reginald Tate]] and [[Meredith Edwards (actor)|Meredith Edwards]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Midnight Episode |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150028897 |access-date=3 January 2025 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref name="Spicer2010">{{cite book|author=Andrew Spicer|title=Historical Dictionary of Film Noir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixVekSdvQCMC&pg=PA445|date=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7378-0|pages=445–}}</ref> The screenplay was by [[Paul Vincent Carroll]], [[David Evans (writer)|David Evans]] and [[William Templeton (screenwriter)|William Templeton]] from an adaptation by [[Rita Barisse]] and Reeve Tyler of the 1938 novel ''Monsieur La Souris'' by [[Georges Simenon]].<ref name="Mayer2012">{{cite book|author=Geoff Mayer|title=Historical Dictionary of Crime Films|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AuRjwS9KDkC&pg=PA352|year=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6769-7|pages=352–}}</ref>
The film was released in United States on 19 May 1955.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}
==Plot== An indigent street performer of Shakesperian verse chances upon a wallet filled with money and private papers. For its loser's desperate acquaintances, the papers have more value than any finder could conceive. A value for them its retrieval makes imperative, and, for the seemingly- fortunate finder, its longed-for riches only involve him in their violent world, and in more trouble than he ever knew, as a poorer man. ==Cast== * [[Stanley Holloway]] as Professor Prince<ref name="Pettigrew1982">{{cite book|author=Terence Pettigrew|title=British Film Character Actors: Great Names and Memorable Moments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3Wl9qRevrEC&pg=PA92|date=1982|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7153-8270-7|pages=92–}}</ref> * [[Leslie Dwyer]] as Albert * [[Reginald Tate]] as Inspector Lucas * [[Meredith Edwards (actor)|Meredith Edwards]] as Detective Sergeant Taylor * [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] as Mr. Knight * [[Joy Shelton]] as Mrs. Arnold * Raymond Young as Miller * [[Leslie Perrins]] as Charles Mason * [[Sebastian Cabot (actor)|Sebastian Cabot]] as Benno * [[Campbell Copelin]] as the General * [[Natasha Parry]] as Jill Harris
==Reviews== ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "This is an English version of the French film, ''[[Monsieur La Souris|Monsieur la Souris]]'', in which Raimu played the lead. As transferred to London, scene and atmosphere seem very artificial, and the story, poorly directed, is confused and not particularly exciting. Stanley Holloway, although occasionally achieving a comic moment, misses the character that Raimu found in the part; the rest of the cast is second-rate."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1951 |title=Midnight Episode |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305815219 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=18 |issue=204 |pages=219 |id={{ProQuest|1305815219}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
''[[Kine Weekly]]'' wrote: "The film, adapted from the French, is admittedly off the beaten track, but it lacks tension and cohesion. After the first 20 minutes interest begins to wane, and not even the experienced and resourceful Stanley Holloway can restore it."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=28 December 1950 |title=Midnight Episode |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2732588123 |journal=[[Kine Weekly]] |volume=405 |issue=2270 |pages=19 |id={{ProQuest|2732588123}} |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0178757}}
{{Gordon Parry}}
[[Category:1950s mystery thriller films]] [[Category:Films based on Belgian novels]] [[Category:Films based on works by Georges Simenon]] [[Category:Films directed by Gordon Parry]] [[Category:British black-and-white films]] [[Category:British mystery thriller films]] [[Category:British remakes of French films]] [[Category:Films set in London]] [[Category:1950 English-language films]] [[Category:1950 British films]] [[Category:English-language mystery thriller films]]