Five Miles to Midnight (French: Le Couteau dans la plaie, literally The Knife in the wound) is a 1962 French-Italian-American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...

. It was produced through Filmsonor S.A., Dear Film Produzione and Mercury, and distributed by United Artists

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

.

Plot

Immediately after Lisa (Loren) declares that she is leaving her immature, abusive, but easy-going husband Robert (Perkins), he is reported dead in a plane crash. Secretly still alive, he convinces her to collect his life insurance, although she knows that it's a bad idea. Lisa must contend with the complications of the scheme, which involve an aggressive suitor (Young), Robert's jealousy, and her own guilt.

The film takes place primarily in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Lisa is Italian; Robert is American.

Production

The film was directed by Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...

 and produced by Litvak and Louis Wipf from a screenplay

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 by Peter Viertel

Peter Viertel

Peter Viertel was an author and screenwriter.-Biography:He was born to Jewish parents in Dresden, Germany, the writer and actress Salka Viertel and the writer Berthold Viertel. In 1928, his parents moved to Santa Monica, California where Viertel grew up with his brothers, Hans and Thomas...

 and Hugh Wheeler

Hugh Wheeler

Hugh Callingham Wheeler was an English-born playwright, screenwriter, librettist, poet, and translator. He resided in the United States from 1934 until his death and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended London University.Under the noms de plume Patrick Quentin, Q...

 with dialogue by Maurice Druon

Maurice Druon

Maurice Druon was a French novelist and a member of the Académie française.Born in Paris, France, Druon was the nephew of the writer Joseph Kessel, with whom he translated the Chant des Partisans, a French Resistance anthem of World War II, with music and words originally by Anna Marly.In 1948...

, based on an idea by André Versini. The musical score was written by Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...

 for the film, which also includes music by Jacques Loussier

Jacques Loussier

Jacques Loussier is a French pianist and composer. He is well-known for his jazz interpretations in trio formation of many of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, such as the Goldberg Variations.-Early life and education :...

 and Giuseppe Mengozzi. The cinematography

Cinematography

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

 was by Henri Alekan

Henri Alekan

Henri Alekan was a French cinematographer.-Life:Henri Alekan was born in Montmartre in 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at the Billancourt studios. He then spent a short time in the army,...

.

The film stars Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...

 and Anthony Perkins

Anthony Perkins

Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...

, with Gig Young

Gig Young

Gig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...

, Jean-Pierre Aumont

Jean-Pierre Aumont

-Early life:Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons in Paris, the son of Suzanne and Alexandre Salomons, owner of La Maison du Blanc . His mother's uncle was well-known stage actor Georges Berr. His father was from a Dutch Jewish family and his mother's family were French Jews...

, Yolande Turner, and Tommy Norden

Tommy Norden

-Career:Tommy Norden is best known for his years playing Bud Ricks, the red-haired, younger brother of Sandy Ricks , on the television series Flipper, starring Brian Kelly and Andy Devine....

.

Cast

• Sophia Loren
  Sophia Loren
  Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
  
   as Lisa Macklin
• Anthony Perkins
  Anthony Perkins
  Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
  
   as Robert Macklin
• Gig Young
  Gig Young
  Gig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...
  
   as David Barnes
• Jean-Pierre Aumont
  Jean-Pierre Aumont
  -Early life:Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons in Paris, the son of Suzanne and Alexandre Salomons, owner of La Maison du Blanc . His mother's uncle was well-known stage actor Georges Berr. His father was from a Dutch Jewish family and his mother's family were French Jews...
  
   as Alan Stewart
• Yolande Turner as Barbara Ford
• Tommy Norden
  Tommy Norden
  -Career:Tommy Norden is best known for his years playing Bud Ricks, the red-haired, younger brother of Sandy Ricks , on the television series Flipper, starring Brian Kelly and Andy Devine....
  
  as Johnny