Midnight

Midnight (1939) is a screwball romance from director Mitchell Leisen, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A broke American chorus girl steps off a train into rainy Paris with nothing but the gown on her back, then talks her way into the city's high society as a Hungarian baroness.

Claudette Colbert plays Eve Peabody, who hops into the cab of a Hungarian driver named Tibor and just about wins his heart. Money comes first, though, so she crashes a fancy recital under a borrowed title. There a wealthy stranger, Georges Flammarion (John Barrymore), corners her with an odd proposition: keep up the act and help him pry a smooth gigolo away from his straying wife. The more elaborate the lie gets, the harder it is for Eve to recall which woman she actually is.

The script came from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, the pair who would later write Sunset Boulevard. The dialogue snaps along at a furious clip, and Barrymore quietly walks off with every scene he touches. Anyone who prefers vintage Hollywood comedy built on wit rather than slapstick will have a fine time here. Stream Midnight (1939) online on iFILM.