Review of Midnight Mary (1933) by Russell G — 12 Apr 2009

Midnight Mary (1933).

William Wellman directed this pre-Hayes code movie starring 20 year old Loretta Young as Mary Martin who is on trial for murder. Mary's impoverished life story is told in flashback. Her bad luck seems to go down even more when she gets involved with a gangster, Leo Darcy (Ricardo Cortez). Loretta Young as a gangster's mall has got to be seen to be believe. She's not necessarily a bad girl, but has had some bad luck and made some wrong choices in life.

While she's helping Leo's gang rob a casino, she is met by Tom Mannering Jr. (Franchot Tone), who always plays the handsome rich playboy. This time he falls madly in love with Mary. Tom tries to turn Mary's life around, getting her some secretarial training and gives her a job in his Father's business. But her past comes back to haunt her.

Yes, it's overly melodramatic, and it really is pretty tame for now days, but it's still a good movie to watch and it shows Loretta Young when she wasn't playing her typecast goody-goody parts that she has become so famous for. There's a long, tantalizing scene where Mary whispers into Leo's ear trying to persuade him to stay home with her instead of him going out to kill Tom.

This movie has been released on DVD and the film and sound quality is fantastic.