Let's get over all this stuff about Powell-Loy. Howard-Lindsay hold their own in this Republic gem. I am all for 'the Republic for which it stands'.The plot, not too original but, who cares? It was carried out beautifully by a cast of some of the era's most popular character actors.The dialog, penned by a femme, was great fun and so well handled by John Howard and Margaret Lindsay. Why she never achieved greater fame, I will never know. She has a Lamarr-like beauty, gorgeous from any angle, and when it comes to line delivery excuse me - but - she equals Loy.The chemistry between the stars - and they are that - is beautiful, the dialog is clever and witty.The judo moves were very convincing as delivered by Keye Luke who also was A-plus in line delivery."A Tragedy at Midnight" is thoroughly enjoyable at any hour.

I become aware of Margaret Lindsay fairly recently, (not through her more famous films where she had a supporting role to Bette Davis, but) through the low-budget mystery film series "Ellery Queen", where she played the title character's loyal and smart secretary, Nikki Porter; her presence brightened up those films, and I became a fan. Now I will watch any mystery movie that Lindsay made around that period (let's say, 1935-1945), and she made plenty. But of course most of them are extremely hard to find today, even in DVD-R copies. Luckily, I did manage to get one such copy (of acceptable quality) of "A Tragedy At Midnight", where she is teamed up with John Howard, another actor prolific in this genre (he played Bulldog Drummond several times). Lindsay and Howard play a loving couple (he's a radio detective, she's a writer) who find a dead body in their own apartment (which is actually not quite their own apartment), and go on the run so that they can solve the case and prove their innocence. The two leads do click together, and Lindsay is once again delightful to watch. Keye Luke is also amusing as their jiu-jitsu-practicing butler! The film moves fairly fast and has more than enough twists packed into its short (just under an hour) running time. It's a pleasant watch, but more of an appetizer than a full-course meal. **1/2 out of 4.

A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)This is a snappy, genuinely funny movie. It's very short, and it's certainly a contrivance--a catchy idea and a necessary series of pratfalls and twists--but it entertains, which was the idea for a second feature like this, a counterpart to a bigger A-movie. Remember also that this is not a noir, but a crime film in the mold of the 1930s "Thin Man" series, with a combination of wise cracks and narrow escapes.The hook is that the leading man, played by John Howard (who played the "other man" in "Philadelphia Story"), has a radio show where he makes fun of the police for not solving crimes, and then solves them on the air. He comes home to find a dead woman in his wife's bed. His wife, Margaret Lindsay, helps him solve this crime, which they eventually do right on the air in a fun ending.I see that this has a very low rating, and that surprises me. Yes, the movie is slight and obvious, but only like the best television shows are (and t.v. shows get inflated ratings here). What I mean is, I think you'd find the movie rather well done and a fun time if you don't expect a full feature experience. Howard and Lindsay are both strong, likable, and convincing. The echoes of "The Thin Man" do make you realize that Powell and Loy are a different caliber altogether. But if you have a lazy 45 minutes, give this a shot.

"A Tragedy AT MIDNIGHT" was a very entertaining mystery romance. John Howard and Margaret Lindsay made a great romantic detective team. Keye Luke, was also good as their ingenious servant, always on the spot to get them out of trouble.They were always one step ahead of the police in solving crimes and broadcasting solutions of crimes on their radio program, thereby frustrating the police who then wanted to get them off the air by finding something they could be arrested for.this appeared to be solved when our hero woke up one morning and found a woman with a knife in her back in his wife's bed.They then proceed to unravel the mystery. In some ways this picture is similar to the Thin Man series.I had a VHS copy of this film that I made off the air but the tape oxide eventually went bad. I hope the last remaining copy on nitrate based film is restored before the nitrate turns to powder. it would be a shame if the picture were lost.