The Midnight Man (1974)

The Midnight Man (1974) (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
French ( Mono )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
114 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1974 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Roland Kibbee
Burt Lancaster

Written By:
David Anthony
Roland Kibbee

Actors:
Burt Lancaster ..... Jim Slade
Susan Clark ..... Linda Thorpe
Cameron Mitchell ..... Quartz
Morgan Woodward ..... Clayborne
Harris Yulin ..... Casey
Robert Quarry ..... Dr. Prichette
Joan Lorring ..... Judy
Lawrence Dobkin ..... Mason
Ed Lauter ..... Leroy
Mills Watson ..... Cash
Charles Tyner ..... Ewing
Catherine Bach ..... Natalie
Bill Lancaster ..... King
Quinn K. Redeker ..... Swanson
Richard Winterstein ..... Virgil

Synopsis:

Burt Lancaster co-wrote and co-directed this suspense story, as well as playing the male lead. After being found guilty of the murder of a man who was having an affair with his wife, one-time police detective Jim Slade (Lancaster) is sentenced to a long stay in prison. Upon his release, his parole officer, Linda (Susan Clark), helps him get a job as a night watchman on a college campus, and Slade finds a place to stay with his friends Quartz and Judy (Cameron Mitchell and Joan Lorring). One night, while making his rounds, Slade discovers the body of Natalie Clayborne (Catherine Bach), an attractive co-ed, and the police's suspicions immediately fall on Ewing (Charles Tyner), a custodian working at the college who possesses an uncomfortable degree of religious fervor. But Slade's instincts as a former detective tell him that Ewing isn't the killer, and he begins doing some digging on his own. Slade's investigation leads him to a particularly damning bit of information -- a tape recording of Natalie in a session with her analyst, in which he confesses that her father, State Senator Clayborne (Morgan Woodward), has been involved in an incestuous relationship with her for some time. Senator Clayborne is a man with no small amount of political power, and Slade discovers that knowing Clayborne's secrets puts him in a position of great danger. The Midnight Man was Lancaster's second (and last) assignment as a director, and his only credit as a screenwriter. Jazz pianist Dave Grusin contributed the musical score.

Lancaster plays an ex-Chicago policeman, Jim Slade, who has just been released on parole from prison for shooting his wife's lover in their bed. He goes to live with friends, played by Cameron Mitchell and Joan Lorring, in a small town where he has been offered a job (part of his parole agreement) as a night watchman at the local Jordan College, the campus of which is portrayed by Clemson University. A coed is murdered (Catherine Bach) and the local sheriff (Harris Yulin) tries to pin the crime on a creepy college janitor who spouts Biblical revelation while hiding pornography, played by Charles Tyner, who would be cast a year later as the pyromaniac murderer in The Longest Yard. Slade has other ideas and pursues an unauthorized investigation of his own.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 30 July, 2019.