Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark
Best Quote: The Second Worst Film of 1974 - Vincent Canby
Burt Lancaster co-directed, and co-produced the movie with long-time friend Roland Kibbee - who'd been a Hollywood screenwriter (Vera Cruz & The Crimson Pirate) - but by the early 1970s, was the executive producer of Columbo.
So, its no surprise, that Midnight Man comes off - in production values, direction, story, and supporting cast - as a two hour Columbo episode. Its completely mediocre and Lancaster acts almost comatose. Lancaster ascribed the poor performance to having to both direct and act. The murder mystery itself is confusing and dull. Set in South Carolina, we get the usual Yankee actors with fake southern accents, and threatening "rednecks" that seem to have wandered in from The Andy Griffith Show.
The idiotic "barn fight"
At the end, an unarmed Lancaster runs into a barn, pursued by a vicious dog, and two "redneck" killers with shotguns. So, how does Lancaster escape? Easy. The dog runs UP into a hayloft and then drops down on Lancaster- y'know like a jaguar - and gets impaled on a pitchfork. After that, one yokel climbs into the barn using a ladder - and Burt stabs him. Then, his partner, who's stood around while his buddy got killed, suddenly realizes he has a shotgun and blasts his way in - but Lancaster is ready for him. Burt drops a bale of hay on him, and then runs him over with a tractor! Incredibly, this is not comedy.
Summary: Done as a favor for his life-long friend, The Midnight Man is an average TV Movie of the Week. Don't bother - unless you're a Lancaster fan. Side note: based on this and The Kentuckian - Lancaster was no great shakes as a director.
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