Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
"Le couteau dans la plaie" (original title)

Lisa Macklin, an Italian woman, has a fight with her American husband Robert in a Paris night club. He leaves the next day for a business trip and Lisa says she does not want to see him ... See full summary »

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

André Versini (idea), Peter Viertel (screenplay),

Stars:

Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Gig Young

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sophia Loren	...	Lisa Macklin
Anthony Perkins	...	Robert Macklin
Gig Young	...	David Barnes
Jean-Pierre Aumont	...	Alan Stewart
Yolande Turner	...	Barbara Ford (as Yolande Finch)
Tommy Norden	...	Johnny
Mathilde Casadesus	...	Mme. Duval, Concierge
Billy Kearns	...	Capt. Wade
Barbara Nicot	...	Regine
Louis Falavigna	...	Pharmacist
Elina Labourdette	...	Mme. Lafont
Régine	...	Mrs. Wade
Pascale Roberts	...	Streetwalker
Sophie Réal	...	Housemaid
Jean Ozenne	...	Monsieur Babasse

Storyline

Lisa Macklin, an Italian woman, has a fight with her American husband Robert in a Paris night club. He leaves the next day for a business trip and Lisa says she does not want to see him again. She is with newspaperman Alan Stewart that evening when she learns Robert's plane has crashed with no survivors. Waking from sedation after the funeral, Lisa finds Robert in their flat, injured but alive. He was thrown clear of the crash by a lucky twist of fate. He now plans to collect the $120,000 insurance he took out at the airport. Once Lisa collects the money and turns it over to him, she will finally be rid of him. She attempts to get advice from Stewart, but he has been replaced by David Barnes. Lisa's life becomes a tortuous ordeal, at work, at home, faced with a fugitive husband and a growing love for David, who suspects everything. Finally her nightmare concludes when she finally gets the check and meets Robert. As they drive to the Belgian border, he reveals he never intended giving ...

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Plot Keywords:

italian woman | crash | insurance | survivor | female stockinged feet | 

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Taglines:

A motion picture that touches the trigger of violence in all of us!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

Five Miles to Midnight

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dear Film Produzione, Filmsonor, Mercury

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

After Johnny (the little boy) enters Robert Macklin's house through a front window, Macklin asks him where Johnny's dad is. Johnny answers "At the office. He came home early yesterday, but mostly I'm alone." The camera angle changes at "but mostly I'm alone" from front to left side. You can see that Johnny's mouth is not moving when he says "but mostly I'm alone."

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Quotes

Robert Macklin: [talking to a cat] How do you do? Come on in! What's the matter? Not in the mood? Here, kitty, kitty, kitty. Time for a coffee break. Well, what's new in the outside world today? Has the price of catnip gone up again? Hey cat you sure got a pretty coat. Would my wife envy you.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeepers Creepers (2001)

User Reviews

I'm Not Leaving on a Jet Plane

Rather pedestrian, generally slow, and, as others have succinctly noted, very miscast "thriller" about a husband surviving a plane crash and forcing his estranged, unhappy wife into acting like he is dead in order to cash in the huge insurance settlement. Tony Perkins plays the mean, horrible husband - and there are times when his boyish looks and behaviours actually come off as somewhat convincing but more often as not he just seems not up to the part. Sophia Loren - wildly miscast as the downtrodden wife and the wife of this guy to boot. She opens the film doing what has to be the best version of the Twist I have ever seen(she is lovely, absolutely lovely!). But Loren is given really very little to do and she looks so disinterested throughout most of the film until she has some climatic scenes at the end and overacts. There is little thriller here at all - mostly Loren looking unhappy and Perkins smiling and trying to be shocking. Huhhhhh! Sorry I was stifling a yawn. Gig Young, again miscast, plays some former police detective leering at Loren throughout and getting in so to speak to the Italian Zone in Paris. The Parisian backdrops and even the French-themed music are rather nice but I saw the ending coming well before the five mile marker and way before midnight.