History Film / MidnightMary

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* TheDitz: Tom’s friend, Sam.

* ShesGotLegs: Mary's supervisor Mr. Tindle can't stop ogling Mary's stocking-clad calves. Eventually he makes a pass at her which she rejects.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The pre-code cocktail: prostitution, sex before marriage, and seduction.

* YourCheatingHeart: Tom has married an old childhood friend while Mary was in jail, and he doesn’t mind getting back together with Mary even though he’s in a relationship.

* HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook: Mary goes to juvenile hall for three years for shoplifting, when she didn't even do it. When she gets out, she resorts to teenaged prostitution before becoming a part of

''Midnight Mary'' (1933) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-code]] melodrama starring Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Una Merkel, and Franchot Tone, directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It boasts a screenplay by Anita Loos.

* DomesticAbuse: Bunny’s boyfriend, Angelo, hits her for making fun of his ill-fitting suit.

* GreyRainOfDepression: While Mary is looking for a job, it rains in sheets.
* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: Mary’s trial is renewed with the help of Tom, and they’re getting married afterwards.]]

* InstantDeathBullet: Mary shoots one bullet [[spoiler: and kills Joe immediately]].

* MurderByMistake: Leo and his buddies accidentally kill [[spoiler: Sam]] instead of their intended target, Tom.

* PrettyInMink: Once Mary [[spoiler: gets back with Leo]], she wears a chinchilla fur coat.

* TheStoolPigeon: Averted with Mary. She doesn’t breath a word about Leo’s heist, and she goes to jail for three years because of it.

* YourCheatingHeart: Tom [[spoiler: has married an old childhood friend]] while Mary was in jail, and he doesn’t mind getting back together with Mary even though he’s in a relationship.

* YourCheatingHeart: Tom [[spoiler: has married an old childhood friend]] while Mary was in jail, and he doesn’t mind getting back together with Mary even though he’s in a relationship.

''Midnight Mary'' (1933) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-code]] melodrama starring Loretta Young, Richardo Cortez, Una Merkel, and Franchot Tone, directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It boasts a screenplay by Anita Loos.

* HowWeGotHere: How did we get to Mary ignoring her murder trial by way of reading Cosmopolitan?

Things brighten for Mary when she meets rich lawyer, Tom Manning Jr. (Franchot Tone). He helps her escape her dire situation by sending her to secretarial school and helping her get work at his office. But Mary's past keeps creeping in, ruining any of her chances to get away for good.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: Mary wants to save Tom from being implicated with her crimes, so she lies to him, saying that she was taking him for a ride and how he's a sucker for falling for her.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Prostitution, sex before marriage, and seduction. The pre-code cocktail!

* TheStoolPigeon: Averted with Mary. She doesn’t breath a word about Leo’s heist, and she goes to jail for three years for it.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: Mary wants to save Tom from being implicated with her crimes, so she lies to him, saying that she was taking him for a ride and how he's a sucker for falling for her line.

* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: Mary’s trial is renewed with the help of Tom, and they’ll get married afterwards.]]

* PimpedOutDress: Being Leo’s girlfriend means that Mary gets the finest clothes.
* ThePreCodeEra

* SleepingWithTheBoss: Averted. But Mr. Tindle tries to get with Mary.

* WhipPan: Mary’s life is told through a series of whip pans, going from one event to another. They’re not as fast as the modern types because this film came out in 1933, but it adds a modern flare to the film and tells the story in a very interesting way. It helps give the film better pacing than most early talking films.

* CryLaughing: Mary’s reaction to a fainting woman who was turned away from the opportunity of working. She realizes she's in the same rut.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: How Mary decides to save Tom from being implicated with her crimes. [[spoiler: She tells him off, pretending that she was just [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] him.]]

!!Midnight Mary shows the following tropes:

She’s had a tough life; along with her friend Bunny (Merkel), they've lived most of their lives in poverty and have resorted to prostitution. A break comes when they meet gangster Leo (Cortez), but he’s no ray of sunshine in Mary’s dreary life.

Mary’s life brightens when she meets rich lawyer, Tom Manning Jr. (Franchot Tone). He helps her escape her dire situation with work as a secretary at his office, but her past keeps creeping in, ruining any of her chances to get away for good.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: How Mary decides to save Tom from being implicated with her crimes. [[spoiler: She tells him off, pretending that she was just [[GoldDigger gold-digging him.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Life to Mary isn’t kind.
* CryLaughing: Mary’s reaction to a fainting woman who was turned away from the opportunity of working.
* DefiledForever: Averted. Here’s where the pre-code morals kick in. Even though, Mary has a past of prostitution and living a life of sin, Tom is still willing to be with her.

* HowWeGotHere: How did we get to Mary ignoring her murder trial by reading Cosmopolitan?

* {{Jerkass}}: Leo always mentions to Mary that she may want to leave the life they live, but she’ll always crawl back to him.
* MarriedToTheJob: Tom’s wife complains that he’s too busy with work and won’t spend time to take her out.

* MurderByMistake: Leo and his buddies accidently kill [[spoiler: Sam]] instead of their intended target, Tom.

* SleepingWithTheBoss: Averted. But tried by Mr. Tindle with Mary.
* TheStoic: Mary.
* TheStoolPigeon: Averted with Mary. She doesn’t say a word about Leo’s failed heist, and she has to go to jail for three years for it.
* WhipPan: Mary’s life is told through a series of whip pans, going from one event to another. They’re not as fast as the modern types because this film came out in 1933, but it’s a rarity and tells the story in a very interesting way.