The Mystic Hour

A quota quickie crime melodrama, AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT has a few elements of interest for the modern viewer but is mainly a chore to sit through. It starts off quite deliriously, with quick-fire action and loads of sped-up fight scenes (undercranking is a speciality in this film) before settling down into turgid and rather incomprehensible family shenanigans.

The storyline is about a gang of robbers who get mixed up in the fortunes of an extended family. A kidnapping plot develops in the second half, but it's all rather silly and seems to have been written without much thought or insight. The somewhat chubby Charles Hutchison is an odd choice for heroic lead, while the ladies are reduced to annoying screaming and racy bath-time shots. Still, we do get future Ming the Merciless actor Charles Middleton hamming it up, which is something.

What I did enjoy about AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT are the stunt and action scenes, which have much in common with the serials. There are a couple of near-death experiences which took my breath away. One guy jumps off a low roof in a clever stunt, but the most exciting is the scene where a guy rolls under a moving train. There are also cliff dives plus the usual two fisted fights. More action and less talk would have resulted in a fun film, but as it stands AT TWELVE MIDNIGHT only has the occasional good bit to enjoy.

"The Mystic Hour" (1934) stars Charles Hutchison, a renowned Hollywood stuntman famous for his motorcycle riding, especially in serials such as "Lightning Hutch" (1926). Here he's the lead in a grade "B" cheapie made by Reliable Pictures, with co-stars Lucille Powers, Montagu Love, Charles Middleton, Edith Thornton, Eddie Phillips, and Jimmy Aubrey. You can understand how cheap this is by its television re-title of years later, "At Twelve Midnight", signaling something ominous and imminent. This has crooks galore, and from the beginning we're not sure who all the crooks are, but by the middle everybody but the girls seem to be law-breakers or schemers of the worst sort. Hutch loves Powers, but her guardian doesn't think he's the right guy. Why? People begin being bumped off. Hutch is up to be bumped off. Can he overcome all the obstacles? Will this end the way it should? Is the Pope Catholic? I've seen worse, but, boy-o, it's cheap. Hutch is a pretty good actor, though he's not very charismatic. Powers isn't much. She made 11 features and 1 short in five years. Charles Middleton was in serials to the point you'd think he was in every one ever made. Usually a baddie in some shiny other world suit with a mask or a helmet. Now, Montagu Love...there's talent; and he makes this thing actually very watchable. He and stunts by Hutch - some of them really amazing - make this watchable when it probably shouldn't be. It only lasts for one hour exactly. Directed by Melville De Lay: he only directed 2 movies including this one, but was assistant director on 113 films!

The silent sequence at the beginning, with shadows of safe crackers on the wall, promises a stylish low budget crime melodrama. But as soon as the actors open their mouths, things go downhill. Charles Hutchison, who must be the homeliest romantic lead who ever drew breath, heads a cast of extremely modest ability. The stagiest is Charles Middleton, soon to find his niche chewing up the scenery as Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon". The script, which relies almost totally on coincidence and highly unlikely action, is the sort of thing a child might write. It comes as no surprise that the unknown director was usually to be found working as an assistant. Made pre-Code, the film's main appeal would have been its sexy ladies. One is shown naked in the bath and later a scene is set up only so that she can be shown removing her shoes and stockings. It's not worth wading through this cheap programmer to get to these delights.

THE MYSTIC HOUR opens with a robbery and a dramatic chase. The leader of the gang behind the caper is known as "The Fox" (Montagu Love), who has another identity, as well as a job that makes for quite a conflict of interest!

Unfortunately, much of the film gets bogged down in a soap opera-like story about a rich woman's family issues. This somehow involves "The Fox", who comes back into the story.

A tale of betrayal and subterfuge, broken up by stretches of dullness. Still, it's only an hour long, and could be worth a peek...