Midnight Express (1978)

Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Oliver Stone (screenplay), Billy Hayes (book) (as William Hayes)

Stars:

Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins

Won 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Davis	...	Billy Hayes
Irene Miracle	...	Susan
Bo Hopkins	...	Tex
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Rifki
Paul L. Smith	...	Hamidou (as Paul Smith)
Randy Quaid	...	Jimmy Booth
Norbert Weisser	...	Erich
John Hurt	...	Max
Mike Kellin	...	Mr. Hayes
Franco Diogene	...	Yesil
Michael Ensign	...	Stanley Daniels
Gigi Ballista	...	Chief Judge
Kevork Malikyan	...	Prosecutor
Peter Jeffrey	...	Ahmet
Joe Zammit Cordina	...	Airport Customs Officer

Storyline

On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle 2 kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who actually sold him the hash. Billy's troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich, and one of the senior prisoners having already ...

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Plot Keywords:

two word title | male objectification | homoerotic | watching someone masturbate | male masturbation | 

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Taglines:

Walk into the incredible true experience of Billy Hayes, and bring all the courage you can!

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Maltese French Turkish

Release Date:

6 October 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Midnight Express

Filming Locations:

Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$35,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Casablanca Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (still photographs) Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Stone wrote the first draft of the screenplay in six weeks.

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Goofs

The amount of hash strapped to Billy's body differs from when he was first frisked in the airport and later when he was in the police interrogation room.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Susan makes her way through a line at an airline checkpoint]
Susan: Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me.
[she reaches Billy in line]
Susan: Nervous?
Billy Hayes: No.
Susan: Geez, I hate flying.
Billy Hayes: It's something I ate. I think I've been poisoned.
Susan: Or you're just excited about getting home.
Billy Hayes: No, I think it's the baklavas.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Entourage: I Wanna Be Sedated (2006)

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Soundtracks

Love's Theme
Composed By Giorgio Moroder
Arranged By Harold Faltermeyer, Giorgio Moroder
Published by Gold Horizon Music Corp. (BMI)
(p) 1978 Casablanca Record and FilmWorks, Inc.
© 1978 Columbia Pictures

User Reviews

What a tense movie!

It's interesting to note the comments on this movie.

I saw it on TV last night, not for the first time, and I noticed how the Turks in the film are all one-dimensional bad people, and physically ugly to boot. I also read that many of the scenes are completely fictional. I am not one of those people who think that a "true" story must be completely true; I think that the purpose of movies is to entertain, and this one certainly does that, if in a harrowing way. But, given the politics of our time, if the author of the screenplay wanted to create a demon people for dramatic effect, perhaps it would have been better to have set the story in a fictional or unidentified country.

The other observation I would make is, we are not much better than they are. We regularly sentence people to ungodly amounts of prison time for drug offenses, both on a state and federal level. Our prisons are no picnic, either, with many of the same sorts of things that were portrayed in the movie happening right here at home.

So, go check "the man in the mirror" before you condemn anyone else.