The Other Side of Midnight (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Other Side of Midnight is a 1977 American film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Marie-France Pisier, John Beck and Susan Sarandon. Herman Raucher wrote the screenplay for the film based on Sidney Sheldon's 1973 novel of the same name.
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Plot
In World War II France, Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier), a young and attractive French woman, falls in love with Larry Douglas (John Beck), an American pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force stationed in France. The couple has a torrid love affair that ends abruptly when Larry receives orders to return to the United States. Larry promises Noelle that he will come back for her and marry her. She later finds out that she's pregnant with his child. However, he never comes back and Noelle becomes very bitter.
Vowing revenge, Noelle begins using men for their money and power. She becomes a famous European actress and ultimately the mistress of one of the world's wealthiest men, Greek tycoon Constantin Demeris (Raf Vallone), whom she does not love.
In the meantime, Larry is married to Catherine Alexander Douglas (Susan Sarandon), a beautiful and trusting young woman from Chicago. Larry meets her while serving in the Pacific theatre as a United States Army Air Force fighter pilot. He seduces Catherine with some of the same lines he had used with Noelle.
After the war, Larry works for various civilian airlines. Noelle hires a detective to keep tabs on him, then sabotages any job Larry is able to find. She then schemes to hire Larry to come to Greece and become a pilot for her private jet.
Larry fails to recognize her. Noelle treats him rudely until Larry is not sure how much more he can take. He bursts into Noelle's hotel suite and they rekindle their romance. Larry claims he will keep his long-ago promise and stay with her, leaving Catherine. But when his wife refuses a request for a divorce, Larry and Noelle begin to plan Catherine’s murder.
They carry out their plan, but things go wrong. Larry and Noelle ultimately are convicted of murder by a Greek court, which is under the influence of Demeris. They are executed by a firing squad. Catherine has miraculously survived. Suffering from shock, she ends up living in a convent, under the patronage of Constantin Demeris.
Cast
- Marie-France Pisier as Noelle Page
- John Beck as Larry Douglas
- Susan Sarandon as Catherine Alexander Douglas
- Raf Vallone as Constantin Demeris
- Clu Gulager as Bill Fraser
- Christian Marquand as Armand Gautier
- Michael Lerner as Barbet
- Sorrell Booke as Lanchon
- Antony Ponzini as Paul Metaxas
- Louis Zorich as Demonides
- Charles Cioffi as Chotas
- Dimitra Arliss as Sister Theresa
The Star Wars connection
According to the documentary Empire of Dreams, since the book was very successful, anticipation was that the film would translate to success at the box office and it resulted in 20th Century Fox heavily promoting the film. The studio was promoting Star Wars at the same time, even as it was controversial for its growing expense.
Fearing that Star Wars would be a flop, the studio made a peremptory decision to grant prints of The Other Side of Midnight — a 2-hour, 45-minute long feature with sex and nudity — only to those theaters that agreed to book Star Wars as well.
Ultimately, in spite of the former's massive critical acclaim, The Other Side of Midnight proved to be the box office failure. Despite the controversy surrounding the huge expense involved in the making of Star Wars, the latter ultimately grossed a then-record $237m in North America in its first run and would eventually spawn a multi-media franchise that continues to this day.
Home media
On March 6, 2007, approximately 30 years after the film was released in theaters, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Other Side of Midnight on DVD for the first time as part of Fox's Cinema Classics Collection. The DVD includes a commentary discussion with producer Frank Yablans, director Charles Jarrott and author Sidney Sheldon, led by film historian Laurent Bouzereau, a stills gallery, and the film's theatrical trailer.
