Show219
This episode had a really interesting premise. Perry involved in a case involving Nazi treasure? However, the episode was nearly derailed by the awful performances of some of the supporting players. Most egregious was Fred Vincent as Freddy who resembled a weaker and more effeminate version of Gopher from Love Boat. His constant whining over a girl he knew 3 weeks was beyond annoying. Our first introduction to Freddy is when he literally plows into Greta and mashes his face against hers. I didn't blame Greta for being appalled when he tried to push her into marriage. I felt sorry for Susanne Cramer. The two actors had absolutely no chemistry. But Cramer was also a bit too melodramatic too. She kept running away screaming and crying. Even Gerald Mohr as the tax exile from Hollywood was totally miscast. Just because they put a scarf on him and gave him a cigarette holder, didn't make him any more believable. He is best in roles where he plays a wiseguy or abuser of women and children. Amateur hour. The entire episode just seemed lower in quality than we are used to seeing. DM
The odd thing about this episode is they chose to place the main action in a village named "Mitternacht," presumably "Mitternacht am Mainz." This village is of course on the Mainz river. Not here nor near the other Mitternacht is there a lake of any sort (Althogh the river is very wide there, of course). Of course, a secondary problem is the action occurred in Switzerland, not Germany. So apparently the writer just grabbed a German/Swiss sounding name for the town. cgraul 12.3.12
Hey! What's Gerald Mohr doing with Paul Drake's sunglasses? This episode is more successful at giving a real sense of place than other shows set in Europe. There is a good Eric Amblerish plot here, but it gets lost in clumsy exposition and stilted dialogue. Another odd thing about this episode is that our suspect only has three or four minutes of screen time. DO 02/19/19
Interesting. Where is the Mainz River? There is a place called Mitternacht in the city of Mainz on the Rhine River. And there is a place called Mitternach (no t at the end) near the Große Ohe River in Bavaria. But a village of Mitternacht is across the border from Switzerland, per the conversation between Durfee and Ramirez (13:25-13:32 on the 2012 Paramount DVD): "I am merely a prisoner here in Switzerland." and "[Mitternacht] is only just over the border I think." And later (24:22) Appleton reads in the "Top Secret" papers of "full cooperation between American and German [West German?] governments...as soon as local permission could be obtained." But even later Hurt mentions, "Take him back to Germany." Further, Miss Koning mentions in Mitternacht that she was working in Germany, after she too had to cross "the border" to get to Mitternacht. So could Mitternacht be in Austria? And, by the way, what convinces Ralston to propose marriage after knowing Miss Koning for only three weeks? Well, at least there's sunshine at Midnight. Submitted by (lowercase, with a comma and period) masonite, 12/12/12.
In three of the last four episodes Perry Mason was supposed to be in Paris, France (and other locations abroad). It would have been so much better if the stories had been connected. Submitted by H. Mason 4/11/15
It was odd that Hurt (Werner K) shot the guilty person but then ended up going to see Greta with the dramatic walk up with the Luger. He states he was sure he shot him but no follow up to confirm so he could have escaped. There has to be some backstory to this episode since it is so unusual. Submitted by Perry Baby 11/3/16
+This shot was one of the worst directing choices in the PM galaxy and there have been many poor ones. It is there just as "misdirection" to "fool" the audience, but since the real story is immediately told, the shot just looks foolish. cgraul 8.29.23