Wish fulfillment & Midnight Like love, movies allow us to escape an old life and enter a new one. Love in films [expresses] a beautiful lie, the possibility that improbable love may--just be--not so improbable.. In Midnight (1939), as in Roman Holiday (1953), a female protagonist wants to escape and live on the wild side. Although each of their experiences is short lived, these females manage to accomplish their dreams... Like Cinderella, each encounters, before a deadline, not only a "fairy godmother" but also a Prince Charming who takes many forms. In these two films, improbable love may--just be--not so improbable: every Cinderella has her midnight. [after Corey Dinopoulos]

Midnight derives from commedia dell’arte farce. Jacques pursues Baroness Czerny, the alter ego of Eve, with the passion and ferocity that is, in my opinion, how Tibor actually feels, except that Jacques is only acting this way so it will look like he is offering Eve more then just money, love. I believe that Jacques's character is a representation of the ignorance and foolishness of aristocratic love. Now that is not to say that people of money and power do not know or feel love; I just feel his character is Billy Wilder’s attempt to represent the negative side of rich love. The interesting thing is that Eve buys it hook line a sinker. At first we think that this is just because she is being paid to lure away the playboy, but later when Tibor is attempting to win back Eve's heart we find that she is tempted to forget about love all together just for the opportunity to be included and permanently involved in the aristocratic world. More than a romantic comedy, Midnight is a window into the world of the rich and their tawdry opinion of love, what they want from it, and what, on the contrary, love truly is. It expresses a naive yet beautiful view of what the world could be if we just believed in love. [After Chris Rohrig]