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I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Whether playing Philo Vance or Nick Charles, William Powell always served it up with sophistication, a beautiful woman, a little wisecrack and a lot of martinis. On loan to RKO, Powell did two of these. Here, with Ginger Rogers by his side, he gets involved with murder among the theatrical crowd. It is all very nice to look at with smashing art deco sets and a great supporting cast, including Ralph Morgan, Gene Lockhart and Paul Kelly. "Bitch extraordinaire" Vivian Oakland is extremely amusing as the femme fatal. While Ginger is fine, she's not Myrna Loy, and Powell isn't Fred Astaire. Unlike Astaire, William Powell already had "sex" and Rogers doesn't bring anything to the role in the case of class that out-shined the marvelous Loy (paraphrasing a quote by Katharine Hepburn about Astaire and Rogers). The denouncement is clever but for some reason, it is all rather familiar in a way that had been done better.

My first favorite is Clifton Webb's bathroom in "Laura". When I win the lottery, I plan to hand the DVD of "Laura" to the finest interior decorator money can hire and say, "Create Waldo Lydecker's bathroom for me." Now that I've seen "Star of Midnight", I will have to add, "And incorporate William Powell's shower." Besides the fantastic Art Deco sets, Star of Midnight is enjoyable for the excellent comic yet suave performance by William Powell. Perhaps inspired by Powell, Ginger Rogers is less wooden than usual, and I (no Ginger fan) found myself rooting for her in her pursuit of marital bliss. Paul Kelly, Gene Lockhart and J. Farrell MacDonald turn in respectable if not particularly memorable performances. The only two clucks in the bunch are Leslie Fenton as the young man in search of a lost love (even if they scraped off the pancake makeup and the extra eyeliner he still would only have one expression in his repertoire), and a clod-footed "comic" turn by Robert Emmett O'Connor as a dumb police detective. Fortunately, they have very few scenes. I enjoyed "Star of Midnight", especially for William Powell's performance, and will watch it again and again.

I love this movie!!! Although it is a rip-off of the repartee between the main characters of "The Thin Man" (and even has William Powell in the lead), it is absolutely a delight. The title song,"Midnight in Manhattan" which is heard in bits and pieces throughout and in full toward the end of the film,seems to grow on you after a while (I found myself humming it and trying to remember the words). Some of the supporting actors are a little weak.....Leslie Fenton, who is not a particularly appealing actor to begin with (although he was effective as Nails Nathan in "Public Enemy")....nor did I appreciate the bumbling policeman of Robert Emmett O'Conner. J. Farrell MacDonald is a joy as the Inspector and Paul Kelly, surprisingly handsome in his early career, is good as the local crook. Ralph Morgan is what you would expect and good at it. The leads are great, of course. Nobody beats Powell as the suave lawyer and Ginger Rogers is a wonderful light comedienne. They play very well together. All in all, this is one super little film. Plus, Powell's apartment is an art deco dream and what about that bathroom!!!

The plot was a bit loose and incredulous, but no movie with William Powell and Ginger Rogers can be bad. It slightly resembles the much better film, The Thin Man (1934), but it was fun nevertheless. Powell and Rogers have good chemistry together and provide some of the comedy with their antics, with other comedy supplied by inept police officer, Robert Emmett O'Connor. I guessed who the murderer was early, but couldn't provide the motive until it was explained.