Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (film)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by	John Lee Hancock
Based on	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Starring	Kevin Spacey John Cusack
Music by	Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Edited by	Joel Cox
Production company	Malpaso Productions Silver Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	November 21, 1997 (1997-11-21)
Running time	155 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[2]
Box office	$25.1 million[3]

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American crime drama film based on John Berendt's 1994 novel of the same name, directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack. It follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute.

Plot

The panoramic tale of Savannah's eccentricities focuses on a murder and the subsequent trial of Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey): self-made man, art collector, antiques dealer, bon vivant, and semi-closeted homosexual. John Kelso (John Cusack), a magazine reporter, finds himself in Savannah amid the beautiful architecture and odd doings to write a feature on one of Williams' famous Christmas parties.

Kelso is intrigued by Williams from the start, but his curiosity is piqued when he meets the violent, young Billy Hanson (Jude Law), Williams' lover. Later that night, Hanson is dead, and Kelso stays on to cover the murder trial. Along the way he encounters the irrepressible The Lady Chablis, a transsexual stand-up comedienne; Sonny Seiler, lawyer to Williams, whose famous dog Uga IV is the official mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs; a man who keeps flies attached to mini leashes on his lapels and threatens daily to poison the water supply; Serena Dawes, a former silent-film actress; the Married Ladies Card Club; and Minerva, a spiritualist and voodoo practitioner.

Between becoming Williams' friend, cuddling up to a torch singer, meeting every eccentric in Savannah, participating in midnight graveyard rituals, and helping solve the mysteries surrounding Hanson's murder, Kelso has his hands full. The judge and jury later find Williams not guilty, much to the pleasure of Kelso and the witnesses. Williams congratulates Kelso on proving his innocence.

As depicted in the film, Williams suffers a heart attack and dies a week after the trial concludes. As he dies on the floor near where Hanson died from his wounds, Williams sees an apparition of the hustler in death, then momentarily alive. The camera cuts away from the scene, showing both Hanson and Williams dead and only a few feet from each other. Following the funeral and visiting Hanson's grave once more with Minerva, Kelso, Mandy and the Lady Chablis go off together for a picnic with Uga.

Cast

Production

Several changes were made in adapting the film from the book. Many unused characters were eliminated or combined into composite ones. John Kelso was based upon Berendt. The multiple trials were combined into one on-screen trial. Williams' real life attorney, Sonny Seiler, played Judge White, the presiding judge of the trial. Advertising for the film became a source of controversy when Warner Bros. used elements of Jack Leigh's famous photograph in the posters without permission.

Filming locations

The Mercer House. The alleged murder of Billy Hanson occurred in Williams' study – the bottom left room in this photograph

Principal photography began in spring 1997 in Savannah, Georgia, where the entire film was shot.^[4] Several scenes were filmed in and around Monterey Square. Jim Williams' Mercer House is located on the southwestern ward of the square, at 429 Bull Street. John Kelso stays at the Italianate Comer House at 2 East Taylor Street, on the square's northeastern ward; however, the shots from his windows were filmed at 120 East Jones Street, across from 115, which doubled as Joe Odom's house. (Odom's real house, constructed by Eliza Jewett in 1847, was at 16 East Jones.)^[5] Kelso's six-month rental, shown at the end of the film, is 218 West Jones Street, which is now valued at over $1.2 million.^[6]

2 East Taylor Street, where John Kelso stayed during his visit

The scenes at Williams' attorney Sonny Seiler's offices were filmed at the Armstrong House, 447 Bull Street, south of Monterey Square and close to the northern edge of Forsyth Park. As of March 2017, Seiler still practises there.

The courthouse scenes were filmed at the United States Bankruptcy Court, on the western side of Wright Square. Dixie's Flowers, the flower shop Mandy works at, is on the northeastern side of the square, on East State Street.

The northern side of the Forsyth Park fountain

The residence used as The Lady Chablis' home is 418 East Liberty Street. The Myra Bishop Family Clinic she walks to is at the corner of Habersham Street and East Liberty Lane.

Kelso has breakfast at Clary's Cafe, at 404 Abercorn Street. Photos of the cast taken during down time from filming are hung on the walls of the diner.

The Married Women's Card Club is at 126 East Gaston Street.

Churchill's Pub was located at 9 Drayton Street at the time of filming, but it burned down in a fire six years later.^[7] It is now at 13 West Bay Street.

The Debutante Ball was filmed at the now-defunct Savannah Inn and Country Club.

Bonaventure Cemetery, on the city's eastern edge, is featured on several occasions.

Forsyth Park, the venue for the dog-walking scenes, included the cameo appearance of Uga V, the English bulldog live mascot of the University of Georgia, playing his father, Uga IV. The Uga mascots live in Savannah between football games.

After location filming ended in June 1997, a fundraiser was held at and for Savannah's Lucas Theatre, which was built in 1921. Spacey donated $200,000 in Williams' honor to assist in the $7.6-million renovation of the theatre.^[8] "I love Savannah. I had a great time here," said Spacey, an Oscar winner in 1996 for his role in The Usual Suspects. "I plan to visit again. And once this (theater) gets done, I'll bring a play here."^[8] It was hoped that the movie's premiere would take place at the Lucas,^[8] but it was instead held on November 17 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

Soundtrack

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	November 18, 1997
Length	58:04
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Ernie Altschuler

Soundtrack
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

The soundtrack for the film was released in 1997. It is also dedicated to Johnny Mercer. The CD includes versions of songs heard in the film.

Reception

The film was a box office failure, grossing $25.1 million^[3] to an estimated $30 million budget.^[2] It also received mixed reviews, with a 'rotten' score of 49% on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews with an average rating of 6/10.^[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[10]

See also

• Bird Girl, the sculpture from the poster.

References

Sources

• Hughes, Howard (2009). Aim for the Heart. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-902-7.

External links

• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil on IMDb
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Rotten Tomatoes
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Box Office Mojo
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Metacritic