Customer Reviews

The Horn Blows at Midnight [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...Despite a few dull patches here and there(some of the Heaven scenes in and around Guy Kibee's office are pretty slow), this wildly imaginative novelty is more than just amusing---it's a real showcase for special effects in the year 1945. The amount of effects shots and set-ups is amazing, yielding a truly enchanting, off-beat film.

The incredible "Heaven's Orchestra" shot, with the camera soaring and swooping across the eternal rows of angelic instrumentalists (accompanied by Franz Waxman's very sophisticated "Moderne" theme), the miniature spinning earth that descends at a diagonal in Guy Kibee's office, the bizarre, almost surrealistic carnival scene (which probably added significantly to the film's over-all budget), the celestial elevator, the cool miniature street with moving cars(complete with headlights) over which the characters often dangle from the rooftop penthouse.....all are major elements which contribute to the film's overall cartoon-like lunacy.

And the stunt work----that's REALLY Allyn Josyln and John Alexander hanging on one another in the climatic scene, and Guy Kibee himself going over the roof backwards!

Add to this the incredible giant coffee pot, cup, spoon, etc, so cleverly introduced in the opening recording studio scene....and you have one heck of an entertaining film. Yeah, some of the script is a bit forced and lackluster, but, overall...in light of the crud which today is dubbed "classic"----come on!--"The Horn Blows at Midnight" is a GEM!

I love the tried-and-true device of seeing the real-life characters in the opening all appear in the dream in various roles. And the cast is magnificent, featuring (and wasting, in the case of Margaret Dumont) some of the best of the day. That Allyn Joslyn is a hoot--a fine, underrated actor who excelled in comic and straight roles. And to think that he and fellow "fallen angel" John Alexander had created the roles of two of the three Brewster brothers in "Arsenic and Old Lace" on Broadway just four years earlier (I know it's sacrilegious---but Joslynn should have been cast in the film version of "Arsenic"--he, with his wry, slightly fey mannerisms was obviously the way the playwright envisioned the character---not the hysterical mugging of Cary Grant--so out of his element in the "Arsenic" film).

One more cool thing about "Horn"---it is an amazing visual document of the mid 1940's. The recording studio, the hotel lobby, the restaurant, the nightclub where Jack Benny unsucessfully "sits in" with the band --- all beautifully detailed and strikingly photographed.

A truly unique and entertaining film.

I still remember seeing this film as a child and it really stuck with me even though it has been many years since I last viewed it. I have recently been rediscovering Jack Benny through his television show and I find him to be a master of the more subtle, character based humor that is so lacking in today's comics. I had to marvel at the one reviewer in this grouping that called Benny one of those old-fashioned comics who is unfunny. I fear that reviewer simply does not understand subtlety and therefore labels it as archaic or outdated, rather like people who are "bored" with shows and films that are not in color. It is sad to see a younger generation completely write off the studied, carefully crafted, measured comedy of these masters of Benny's era for the likes of Adam Sandler or Jim Carrey. And, though I also enjoy the performances of the latter, their styles are clearly broader and less subtle than Benny or many of his contemporaries and are not necessarily better because they are newer and in color. Sigh. Well, to each his own, I guess. Personally, I think this film is a treasure and I can only say that I wonder where the DVD version of this title is. Wake up you guys at Warners! This title is selling for big bucks, used and on VHS! I think there is a market out there that you might want to look at.

In his long running radio and television show, Jack Benny often built jokes around THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT--a movie described as so awful that it put an end to his movie career. These jokes always got a laugh, but rumors of the film's failure were really only comic exaggeration; true, it had not been a major hit, but neither was it a major failure. And if Benny's film appearances were few and far between after 1945, this was more a matter of his incredibly popular radio and television series than with a lack of offers.

THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is not a great film, but it is a very interesting one and quite often a very entertaining one. The story concerns a trumpet player (Benny) in love with a harpist (Alexis Smith)--who gets him a radio job on the "Paradise Coffee Program," which advertises a coffee that promises a gentle sleep and sweet dreams. And dream he does, but one would not call it sweet: he dreams he is an angel sent to earth to blow the trumpet that will destroy the world.

Although the script is a bit weak, it has some really great concepts. Heaven is a bureaucracy beset by an endless orchestra and a shortage of angel-power. Elevators take angels to earth, right to the lobby of a New York hotel--and tie up elevator traffic, much to the annoyance of guests. And fallen angels lie in wait to trip Ethanael up! The art direction is extremely fine, dribbling comic surrealism with tremendous flair. In perhaps the film's most memorable scene, Ethanael finds himself drowning in a gigantic cup of coffee. Paradise Coffee, no doubt!

Benny, co-star Alexis Smith, and such memorable characters as Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, and Guy Kibbe perform the show with as much energy as they can muster, and at it's best the movie is hilariously over-the-top. The script lets them down once too often for comfort, but even so the whole thing makes for an entertaining show. Recommended as imaginative, often extremely clever fluff.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A surreal comedy from Warner Bros., apparently made while studio heads were on vacation. How else do we explain such inspired lunacies as a hotel elevator to heaven, angels with periodic bouts of delirium tremens (likely what the writers were suffering), or a giant coffee service hanging from the side of a skyscraper! Somehow this exotica got from storyboard to screen without the usual deadening hand of studio convention. It's pretty funny too, although the big screen is not the best venue for Jack Benny, whose personal brand of humor shows best on radio or tv. Still, the laughs are there among the general weirdness, and anyone who turns down the sound of the final scene should experience a nightmare of urban existence as frightening as any from vintage film noir, with Benny literally drowning in a sea of caffeine. This is also a chance for men to scope out that heavenly body known as Alexis Smith. Her statuesque bearing was probably a little too stiff for major stardom, but no one ever looked better in a toga or the high fashions of the day. All in all, this inventive little comedy was far ahead of its time, and despite Benny's running radio gag, possesses all the underpinnings of a minor cult classic.

I enjoyed this old movie! I used to watch it on New Year's Eve as a kid, it was on TV several years in a row. The story is of an angel (Athaniel) who comes to earth to blow the Horn at Midnight. He meets with troubles, set backs, and deceptive people, while trying to meet his goal. (Hey, just like life!)
It has some funny parts, like 'wrestling' for the trumpet with the beautiful girl who was sent to steal it from him. Also, Athaniel's naivete at ordering and paying for dinner was a hoot. And the classic coffee cup scene stays with you long after the movie is over.
If you are looking for a fun movie to 'escape' into, this is it!

This film was an ongoing joke with Jack Benny as at the time of its release it took a flop at the box office. However, time has treated this comedy/fantasy well and if you give it a try you will find a truly original comic masterpiece. Here is a film with many 1990's themes...angels, the end of the world, great visual effects, sex, and slapstick comedy. Maybe it was a little ahead of its time. Great performances from Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, and Guy Kibbee as well as a memorable "Looney Tune" style score from the great Franz Waxman. Give this zany 1945 film a chance as you will be surprised how wild they could get back then and how funny and strange an "old" film can be.

When I was growning up in New Jersey in the 1960s, the local TV stations would air this movie on New Year's Eve. It has become one of my favorites, and a quiet New Year's Eve at home just doesn't seem the same without it! It is very entertaining.

I've loved this gem of a comedy since I was a kid, and nothing else makes me feel better than dusting it off and watching it again with fresh eyes. Sharing the experience with friends seeing it for the first time is a particular joy, since many have never seen this wonderful comedy -- although they have heard the title. The talent of the actors and the sparkling script put this film head-and-shoulders above fantasy films of today.

Well, just about since I like the heaven scenes in Guy Kibbe's office.

This movie is a way imaginative panic from beginning to end.
Lots of great one liners, tons of great character actors, the sets are great, the music is terrific. it's nearly all great.

The amusement park scene is flat out weird and the scene in the park with Bobby Blake is even more flaky. Two scenes slightly out of place in the film, but oddly perplexing enough to stand on their own as nutty.

The only insight I'll add to this film is that an older friend of mine who was alive at the time told me there was some public disenchantment with the film when it came out. WW2 had just or was just about to end and some people felt that after all everyone had been through, an irreverent manic comedy about an angel sent to destroy the earth was somewhat a bit of a betrayal of what people had suffered for. For those folks, the timing of the film was a little off. For today's audiences, the thought would be unlikely to even occur.

PS- Allyn Joslyn and John Alexander also appear together in the much requested, but never released on video, "Junior Miss" a 20th Century-Fox film comedy released in 1944 or 1945 which starred Peggy Ann Garner in the title role with Joslyn as her Dad and Alexander as her Dad's really loud boss. Mel Torme has an unbilled and unsinging part in the film, too, near the end.

No, this isn't an academy award winning movie, but it is better than most of the comedies pushed on us today. It's quirky, funny, and wonderfully entertaining. Jack Benny is perfect as the last person you want to be responsible for the fate of the human race. He is assisted by a marvelous supporting cast in giving viewers a humorous morality tale that will make you smile and, at times, laugh out loud. I have loved this movie since I first saw it many years ago, and I know it will still please amazon customers if it is given a chance to live. Please do something good: save this movie, and put it out on DVD. Jack Benny, and the cast and crew, deserve it.