Sophia Loren Archives - Five Miles to Midnight (1962)

FOREIGN TITLES & RELEASE DATES

France -

December 12, 1962 - Le couteau dans la plaie - 100'
Italy - December 1962 - Il coltello nella piaga - 100'
West Germany -

December 21, 1962 - Die dritte Dimension - 109'
Spain -

1962 - Un abismo entre los dos - 102' (attendance: 149,196)
USA (New York, Astor & Murray Hill Theaters) - March 20, 1963 - Five Miles to Midnight - 110'


German poster	American poster	American poster	Italian poster

PLOT

Lisa Macklin, tired of her strange husband Robert for who she no longer feels affection, wants to leave him, but then learns of his death in an airplane accident. Suddenly, however, she sees him reappear in disguise, determined to fake his own death in order to cash in on the insurance. Lisa would like to oppose the plan, but is forced to go along with it, cooperating with on the verifications, fa king her own widowhood, and continuing her work in a fashion studio. A man named Perry falls in love with her and Robert, who is living in hiding in her house while waiting to cash in the money, realizes that he is losing his wife. Still, he promises that he will disappear from her life as soon as he has achieved his purpose. Once the fraud has been successful, however, he tries to force her to follow him by threatening to blackmail her to get his way. At that point Lisa, exasperated and beside herself, runs him over and gets rid of the body once and for all. (Masi/Lancia)
Story: André Versini.

FILMING LOCATIONS

Franstudio, Saint-Maurice (France)
Paris (France)

Filming dates: December 11, 1961 - March 1962

MAIN CAST

Sophia Loren (Lisa Macklin)
Anthony Perkins (Robert Macklin)
Gig Young (Dino Perry)
Jean-Pierre Aumont (Aldo Stagni)
Yolande Turner (Barbara Ford)

CREDITS

Photography :
Henri Alekan (VistaVision)
Music:
Mikis Theodorakis
Costume design:
Guy Laroche
Dressmaker:
Jeanette Spanier
Sophia's voice is dubbed by:
Marion Degler (German)
Still Photographer:
Elliott Erwitt, Loomis Dean
Production:
Anatole Litvak and André Smagghie for Filmsonor (Paris) / Dear Films (Rome)

NOTES

Working title: The Third dimension

Sophia receives the New York Film Critic's Award during the shooting of the movie.

Fashion designer Guy Laroche and singer Régine both appear in the movie.

Director Anatole Litvak falls about eight feet onto a steel camera dolly in final scenes of the shooting and must spend a few days at a Paris hospital.

QUOTES AND REVIEWS

"Nothing is too small to demand her attention if it has something to do with her career. For example, she keeps a magnifying glass beside her bed, where she goes over the tiny contact prints of her publicity pictures."
Anatole Litvak

"Sophia Loren's animal vitality is not enough to pull this one out of the mire of mediocrity."
James R. Silke, Cinema

"Loren shows her animal attractiveness and more or less babies Perkins who acts like a motherless child. Beyond that, the acting is miserable."
TV Guide

"Sophia Loren is given very little opportunity to display her ackowledged talent for acting in Anatole Litvak's new film, a melodrama called Five Miles to Midnight."
Bosley Crowther, New York Times, 21 mar 1963

"Sophia Loren is th only one who does anything... She's the only one who seems to act as best she can."
Franco M. Pranzo, Il Corriere lombardo, 27 mar 1963

"And what can be said of Sophia, except that she does everything she can, under her pear-shaped helmet of hair, to appear
dramatically concincing?"
Leo Pestelli, La Stampa, 25 jan 1963