The Midnight Story


The Midnight Story is a 1957 American CinemaScope film noir crime film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Tony Curtis, Marisa Pavan and Gilbert Roland. The film was originally slated to be titled The Eyes of Father Tomasino, after the 1955 Lux Video Theatre TV episode it was based on.

Plot

Father Tomasino is stabbed to death. San Francisco traffic cop Joe Martini felt the priest was like an actual father to him. He asks to assist homicide Lieutenant Kilrain in his investigation, but after being rejected, Joe quits the force.
He has a hunch restaurant owner Sylvio Malatesta could be involved. Joe is warmly welcomed by Sylvio's family, however, and falls in love with a cousin, Anna. He hides his past identity as a cop from her.
Something is troubling Sylvio, but the family believes he still misses a sweetheart killed in Italy during the war. Sylvio also has an alibi for the night of the priest's murder, but Sergeant Gillen gets word to Joe that the alibi is a fake.
In a ploy to encourage Sylvio to confide in him, Joe pretends to be a murder suspect himself. Sylvio breaks down and admits to having killed his own sweetheart, then the priest as well after confiding to him about the murder in confession. Sylvio runs into the street and is struck by a moving vehicle. Dying, he begs for Joe's forgiveness.

Cast

The film was shot on location in San Francisco in August 1956. At Tony Curtis's request, the shoot following a "French" shooting schedule, whereby filming would begin at noon and run continuously until 7 p.m.