Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival

I was genuinely amazed at how involved and absorbed I became with this story

Marty-esque evocation of May-December romance is worthy viewing

218 West 37th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, and Barbara Rush in Strangers When We Meet (1960)

Stewart Granger, Donna Reed, George Sanders, and Gianna Maria Canale in The Whole Truth (1958)

Fred Astaire, Jack Lemmon, and Kim Novak in The Notorious Landlady (1962)

Arlene Dahl in Wicked as They Come (1956)

June Allyson and Arthur Kennedy in The Girl in White (1952)

Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Agnes Moorehead, and Sam Levene in The Big Street (1942)

Joan Crawford and Wendell Corey in Harriet Craig (1950)

John Boles and Rosalind Russell in Craig's Wife (1936)

Dorothy McGuire and Stephen McNally in Make Haste to Live (1954)

And when they bury me, they can put on the gravestone, 'This was a big waste of time.'

Kim Novak and Fredric March in Middle of the Night (1959)

Kim Novak and Lee Philips in Middle of the Night (1959)

Kim Novak

Fredric March

Glenda Farrell

Paddy Chayefsky

A widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.

Delbert Mann

Middle of the Night

Excellent Kitchen-Sink Drama That Holds Up Well

&quot;The Catered Affair&quot; is better known today, probably because of the studio that released it and who owns it. &quot;Middle of the Night&quot; is similar and probably better. (It is unquestionably better than &quot;Marty,&quot; which seems corny, overstated, and dated today.) Fredric March is magnificent. One can easily see how he was the first stage James Tyrone. He&apos;d already won two Academy Awards but the irascible man in love with a much younger woman here is as good as he ever got. And that&apos;s very, very good.

Kim Novak was considered sort of a joke at the peak of her career but her movie performances seem very realistic in the 21st Century. This is maybe not her best. She was a charming comedienne and this is a solemn role. Still, she&apos;s good.

This is not unlike &quot;Two For The Seesaw,&quot; which was made with a much bigger budget and is atrocious.

It differs in one way in its having a superb and large supporting cast. Everyone is good. Lee Grant, Martin Balsam -- and Glenda Farrell. Torchy Blane grown up and old and with an adult daughter in love with an older man.

The Roundabout Theater Company might look into reviving the stage version of this. It&apos;s timely and could be treated in many ways. The Novak character could be even young. She could be a he. However it might be done, it would be good but March would be a hard act to follow.

"The Catered Affair" is better known today, probably because of the studio that released it and who owns it. "Middle of the Night" is similar and probably better. (It is unquestionably better than "Marty," which seems corny, overstated, and dated today.) Fredric March is magnificent. One can easily see how he was the first stage James Tyrone. He'd already won two Academy Awards but the irascible man in love with a much younger woman here is as good as he ever got. And that's very, very good.

Kim Novak was considered sort of a joke at the peak of her career but her movie performances seem very realistic in the 21st Century. This is maybe not her best. She was a charming comedienne and this is a solemn role. Still, she's good.

This is not unlike "Two For The Seesaw," which was made with a much bigger budget and is atrocious.

It differs in one way in its having a superb and large supporting cast. Everyone is good. Lee Grant, Martin Balsam -- and Glenda Farrell. Torchy Blane grown up and old and with an adult daughter in love with an older man.

The Roundabout Theater Company might look into reviving the stage version of this. It's timely and could be treated in many ways. The Novak character could be even young. She could be a he. However it might be done, it would be good but March would be a hard act to follow.

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