When French beauty Noelle Page falls in love with American pilot Larry Douglas, she believes he'll marry her. Instead, he returns to the U.S and marries the sweet but naive Catherine. Even though Noelle has found a new lover, an affluent Greek named Constantin, and has started a great career as an actress, she vows revenge on her onetime lover. But once her plan is in motion, she and Larry fall in love and plot Catherine's death.
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Can any one tell me the link between this film and JFK and Jacquie Kennedy and what happened before he got married is there some thing or not?? Please help I've watched this film twice and I do feel that the director was trying to tell us some thing else in the film is this film a work of fiction or more of a biography of events that happened to some one ( friend or some one in a position of power ) and the story could not be told out right ?? I feel the case could be made as he was in the Air Force and she was Greek And had money her self and he was also a bit of a Fe lander was this a marriage of Love or of revenge may be a woman scorned and obsessed by power behind every good man is a strong woman
This takes place from 1939 to 1948. An innocent French girl named Noelle (Marie-France Pisier) falls in love with American pilot Larry Douglas (John Beck). They live together for a while then he leaves her and promises to return. He's lying of course and leaves her alone and pregnant. He meets ditzy but intelligent Catherine (Susan Sarandon) and marries her. However Noelle marries a billionaire (Raf Vallone) and decides to take out her revenge on Larry.This was supposed to be a big hit. It was based on a HUGE bestseller by Sidney Sheldon and they spent a lot of money on the production. It was shot on location in Greece, Italy and the US. The settings are beautiful, the costumes great and there's a wonderful music score propelling the movie. Also Pisier and Sarandon are wonderful in their roles. Unfortunately the movie bombed. It's easy to see why. It's WAY too long (165 minutes) and Beck is all wrong in his role. He's supposed to be sexually attractive and dynamic...but Beck can't pull it off. He's a total blank in the role and he's not good-looking at all. Considering he's one of the main characters it totally drains the film of any interest and makes it a chore to watch. I dozed off TWICE! Even worse some of the dialogue is SO bad it's incredible. Dull and stupid. Read the book instead.
Amazing that Noelle Page (Marie France Pissier) had it all, and managed to lose everything-including her life in this interesting 1977 film.John Beck is no leading actor and he proved that in this film. Not one to have good looks, Beck is miscast as the pilot who believes in impregnating women and then dumping them.Raf Vallone plays an Aristotle Onassis like-character with vengeance in his heart.The real solid performance here is by Susan Sarandon, who starts off as a meek secretary, who falls under the spell of Beck and even marries him.This is definitely a story of lust, greed, hate and vengeance, nicely done. Beginning in 1939, surprisingly it really doesn't deal with the war, but with people caught up in lust and ultimate misery.The ironic ending must serve as a reminder to all that the wealthy have unbelievable power in society.
"Anne of a Thousand Days" director Charles Jarrott's "The Other Side of Midnight" struggles hopelessly to amount to a sophisticated romantic revenge melodrama. Sadly, scenarists Herman Raucher and Daniel Taradash's adaptation of author Sidney Sheldon's bestseller ends up as a sophomoric comic book soap opera. Initially, this is surprising when you consider that Jarrott also helmed "Mary, Queen of Scots" and the splendid Jack Palance made-for-television chiller "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" from 1968. We'll try to forget his movie misfire, the musical version of "Lost Horizon." Not only was Herman Raucher, who wrote the bestseller "Summer of '42," no lightweight penman, but also neither was Oscar winning scribe Daniel Taradash who penned "From Here to Eternity" as well as "Golden Boy," "Picnic," and "Hawaii." Meanwhile, what is not so surprising is the basis for the film, Sidney Sheldon's bestseller. The leads are nothing spectacular. Vietnamese born French woman Marie-France Pisier went nowhere in America and her leading man John Beck didn't make much of an impression and wound up playing supporting roles. Only Susan Sarandon had a Hollywood career to speak of.Essentially, "The Other Side of Midnight" occurs before, during, and after World War II, but it is not a war picture. The Raucher & Taradash screenplay deals with a love quadrangle. French ingénue Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier of "French Postcards") is sold into the fashion business by her father. Jacques Page (Roger Etienne of "Marathon Man") advises his daughter, "You have beauty. It's your only weapon of survival. Let the hand under your dress wear gold." She is shocked by this advice and at firsts tries to be a good girl. Not long afterward, however, Noelle surrenders her virtue to a greedy little dressmaker Lanchon (Sorrell Brooke of "The Dukes of Hazzard") and he wants her to fulfill his every desire. Instead, Noelle flees to Paris and runs into a dashing, no-good jock of a Royal Air Force pilot, Larry Douglas (John Beck of "Rollerball"), who wines and dines her. No sooner does Larry promise to marry Noelle than he abandons her with a baby and a bleak future. Wielding a coat hanger, Noelle aborts her baby in a bathtub and decides to use her body to become a high-priced fashion model and European film starlet.Meanwhile, Catherine Alexander (Susan Sarandon of "Joe") is a fortune-seeking American girl who seeks her fortune in Washington, D.C. As a magazine advertiser, Catherine can only handle the really tough assignments and fouls up the easy ones. Dispatched to Hollywood to produce a war documentary, she falls in love inadvertently with that no-good Larry who takes her to the altar. After the war, Larry suffers problems readjusting to normal life, a problem which is financed by Noelle who is determined to ruin his life and force him to return to her and marry him! While engineering Larry's downfall, Noelle becomes the mistress of a vindictive Greek millionaire Constantin Demeris (Raf Vallone of "Nevada Smith"), the richest man in the world. Larry winds up as the pilot for Noelle's plane which the Greek buys for her and she begins an affair with Larry behind the Greek's back. Ironically, Noelle cannot marry Larry who she really and truly loves because he cannot divorce Catherine who worships Larry like a god. Imagine what happens next? This kind of absurdity is dragged out for well over two and a half hours and "The Other Side of Midnight" feels like it takes that long for the events to resolve themselves. Director Charles Jarrott tries to relieve this tedium by flaunting classy production values. Furthermore, Oscar winning "Towering Inferno" cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp provides some stunning picture postcard photography of Greece. He makes it seem like you are watching an extended tourist travelogue. When you're not a tourist, you're a voyeur. Koenekamp's cameras turn the bedroom and the nudity of its stars into a geographical "Playboy" shoot. Expect a lot of profanity and sex from this epic along with some occasional suspense. The way the script spells everything out ensures that nothing will be left to your imagination. "The Other Side of Midnight" qualifies as little more than glossy trash. Further, the way thing develop makes this film seem unintentionally silly and stupid. For example, why does Noelle go to such lengths to wreck what starts out to be revenge? Despite the film's numerous faults, there are some women who dream of being a princess and men who crave all the wealth and power that the world can offer. These people may find something redeeming about this sappy soap opera. All that can be said about "The Other Side of Midnight" is that the filmmakers or novelist Sidney Sheldon refrain for anteing up another side of "Midnight!"
