Midnight Express
A film poster for Midnight Express.
Directed by	Alan Parker
Produced by	Alan Marshall David Puttnam
Written by	Billy Hayes (book) William Hoffer (book) Oliver Stone
Starring	Brad Davis Randy Quaid John Hurt Irene Miracle
Music by	Giorgio Moroder
Cinematography	Michael Seresin
Editing by	Gerry Hambling
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 6, 1978 (USA)
Running time	121 min.
Country	United States
Language	English Turkish (inarticulate) Maltese (minimal)
Budget	US$ 2,300,000
IMDb profile

Midnight Express is a 1978 film, based on Billy Hayes' book of the same name adapted into screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. The movie deviates from the book's accounts of the story, especially in its portrayal of Turks, to such a level that many have criticized the movie version, including Billy Hayes himself. Later both Oliver Stone and Billy Hayes expressed their regret on how Turkish people were portrayed in the movie.^[1] It starred Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, Peter Jeffrey and John Hurt. Alan Parker directed and David Puttnam produced. The film's title is prison slang for an inmate's escape attempt. Image File history File links Midnight_express. ... Alan Parker on the set of Pink Floyd The Wall Sir Alan Parker (born February 14, 1944) is a British film director, producer, writer, and actor. ... David Puttnam receiving his BAFTA Fellowship, 19 February 2006 David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE is a film producer and politician. ... Billy Hayes (born April 3, 1947 in New York, USA) is a convicted cannabis smuggler whose story inspired the film Midnight Express. ... William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ... Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 - September 8, 1991), better known as Brad Davis, was an American actor. ... Randall Rudy Randy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and comedian. ... For the singer, see Mississippi John Hurt. ... Irene Miracle in Dario Argentos Inferno (1980) Irene Miracle (born August 20, 1954 in Stillwater, Oklahoma) is an American film and television actress. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events February 1 - Bob Dylans film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour premieres in Los Angeles, California March 1 - Charlie Chaplins coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery 3 months after burial March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for Star Wars Episode... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... // Events February 1 - Bob Dylans film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour premieres in Los Angeles, California March 1 - Charlie Chaplins coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery 3 months after burial March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for Star Wars Episode... Billy Hayes (born April 3, 1947 in New York, USA) is a convicted cannabis smuggler whose story inspired the film Midnight Express. ... Midnight Express is a 1977 book by Billy Hayes, then a young American who was sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle cannabis out of Turkey to the US. The book was adapted to film in 1978. ... William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ... These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the DEA. Smuggling is illegal transport, in particular across a border. ... Confiscated hashish. ... Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 - September 8, 1991), better known as Brad Davis, was an American actor. ... Irene Miracle in Dario Argentos Inferno (1980) Irene Miracle (born August 20, 1954 in Stillwater, Oklahoma) is an American film and television actress. ... Bo Hopkins (born February 2, 1942 in Greenville, South Carolina) is an American actor. ... Paolo Bonacelli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Paul L. Smith (born February 5, 1939 in Everett, Massachusetts) is a Hollywood character actor. ... Randall Rudy Randy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and comedian. ... Norbert Weisser (born July 9th, 1949) is a German actor, most known for his many collaborations with the director Albert Pyun. ... Peter Jeffrey (born 18 April 1929 in Bristol, died 25 December 1999) was a British actor with many roles in television and film. ... For the singer, see Mississippi John Hurt. ... Alan Parker on the set of Pink Floyd The Wall Sir Alan Parker (born February 14, 1944) is a British film director, producer, writer, and actor. ... David Puttnam receiving his BAFTA Fellowship, 19 February 2006 David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE is a film producer and politician. ...

Synopsis

On October 6, 1970, after a stay in Istanbul, a U.S. citizen named Billy Hayes is arrested by Turkish police, on high alert due to fear of terrorist attacks, as he is about to fly out of the country with his girlfriend. After being found with several bricks of hashish taped to his body – about two kilograms in total – he is sentenced to a relatively lenient four years and two months' imprisonment on the charge of drug possession. He is sent to Sağmalcılar prison to serve out his sentence. In the remand centre, he meets and befriends other Western prisoners and quickly prepares an escape plan, which fails. In 1974, after a prosecution appeal (who originally wished to have Hayes found guilty of smuggling and not possession), his original sentence is overturned by the Turkish High Court in Ankara, and he is ordered to serve a 30-year term for his crime. His stay becomes a living hell: terrifying and unbearable scenes of physical and mental torture follow one another, where bribery, violence and insanity rule the prison. Monstrous wardens cruelly force the prisoners to undergo the worst brutalities. Some prisoners work for the prison administration as 'informers'. In a fit of madness, Billy bites off the tongue of a prison informant who has notified the warden of his escape plan and also accused one of Billy's accomplices. In 1975, after being committed to the prison's insane asylum, Billy again tries to escape, this time by attempting to bribe the warden-in-chief. He ends up accidentally killing the warden, as the latter wanted to rape him, and Billy puts on an officer's uniform and manages his escape by walking out of the front door. From the epilogue, it is explained that on the night of October 4, 1975 he successfully crossed the border to Greece, and arrived home three weeks later. is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ... Confiscated hashish. ... A prisoner who is denied, refused or unable to meet the conditions of bail, or who is unable to post bail, may be held in a prison on remand until their criminal trial. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the countrys second largest city after Ä°stanbul. ... The Inferno redirects here. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Differences between the book and the film

There are some differences between the cinematographic and literary versions of Midnight Express.

• In the movie, Billy Hayes is in Turkey with his girlfriend, whereas he was alone in the original story. In the movie, the love story is a main dramatic driving force.
• The rape scenes are also fictional. Billy Hayes never claimed to be raped by his Turkish wardens or that he ever suffered any sexual violence. He engaged in consensual sex, which is alluded to in the film.
• Billy Hayes never bit out anyone's tongue.
• The endings of the cinematographic and literary versions of Midnight Express differ from one another. While in the narrative, the protagonist is moved to another prison from which he escaped by sea, in the movie this passage has been replaced by a violent scene in which he unwittingly kills the warden-in-chief.

Awards

The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score (Giorgio Moroder) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Stone). It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Hurt), Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture. The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Award for Directing is one of the awards given to directors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ... // The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ...

Filming location and casting

Although the story is set largely in Turkey, the entire movie was filmed in Malta, after permission to film in Istanbul was denied, using local actors along with some Italians, Americans, Greeks and Armenians playing Turks.^[2] The movie was also filmed in Libya.^{[citation needed]} Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ...

Criticism

Billy Hayes interviewed

An amateur interview with Hayes appeared on the website YouTube recorded during the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, in which he described his real experiences and expressed his disappointment with the film adaptation.^[3] YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. ... This article is about the year. ... The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the worlds oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. ...

In an article for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Hayes was reported as saying that the film 'depicts all Turks as monsters'.^[4] The daily Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the second leading newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. ...

Screenwriter's apology

When he visited Turkey in 2004, screenwriter Oliver Stone, who won an Academy Award for his adaptation, apologized for the film, expressing regret that 'many hearts were broken in Turkey' due to the film.^[5][6] Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...

Reviews

Several authors criticized the movie's inaccurate portrayal of the events.

"Midnight Express is 'more violent, as a national hate-film than anything I can remember', 'a cultural form that narrows horizons, confirming the audience’s meanest fears and prejudices and resentments'".^[7]

"The Turks I saw in Lawrence of Arabia and Midnight Express were like cartoon caricatures, compared to the people I had known and lived among for three of the happiest years of my life."^[8] Lawrence of Arabia is an award-winning 1962 film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. ...

'This story could have happened in almost any country, but if Billy Hayes had planned to be arrested to get the maximum commercial benefit from it, where else could he get the advantages of a Turkish jail? Who wants to defend Turks? (They don’t even constitute enough of a movie market for Columbia Pictures to be concerned about how they are represented)'^[9] The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ...

In popular culture

• The scene of Billy Hayes trying to smuggle drugs was spoofed in The Simpsons, in a segment from the episode "Treehouse of Horror II", entitled The Monkey's Paw. Homer tries to smuggle contraband on a flight home from Morocco with the family, although the objects strapped onto his body aren't dope, but various mundane items such as a coffee mug and junk souvenirs. Homer assumes a similar pose to that of Billy when he is found out (clueless, hands in the air) by the rampant talking authorities. However, he doesn't go to jail, and they ask him for only 'two American dollar [sic]' to pass the items through. It turns out Homer failed to pay a tariff on the items.
• The scene in which Billy bites off the snitch's tongue in the prison shortly after going crazy can be seen on the movie "Natural Born Killers" (directed by Midnight Express screenwriter Oliver Stone) when Mickey Knox is watching television in a motel scene.
• The scene in which Billy's girlfriend Susan exposes her breasts and presses them to the glass between herself and Billy was parodied in the 1996 dark comedy The Cable Guy in which Jim Carrey opens his shirt and presses his bare nipple against the glass between himself and Matthew Broderick. He even imitates Susan's line of, 'Oh, Billy!'
• The scene is also parodied in an episode of Family Guy, "Brian, Portrait of a Dog", in which Brian is locked up. As Brian speaks on the phone to Lois, a nearby dog places itself up against the glass in a similar manner.
• The radio show Coast to Coast AM uses a song from the film's soundtrack as its theme song.
• Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, uses quotes from the film in his song "Sanctified", mainly the words of his written apology to his family back home.
• Captain Oveur says to a young boy in the movie Airplane! (1980), 'Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?'
• The film is spoken of quite often throughout the British comedy series Little Britain.
• The film is also mentioned in episodes of Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, Dharma & Greg, That 70's Show, and Entourage.^{[episode needed]}
• An episode of Blossom had Blossom and her friend Six discover a marijuana cigarette. Her father later has rented Midnight Express and gives a moving lecture on the fate of Billy Hayes. While the rest of her family thinks watching the film would be a good idea, Blossom doesn't want to do so as she is nervous about the marijuana.

Simpsons redirects here. ... Treehouse of Horror II is the seventh episode of The Simpsons third season, the second Simpsons Halloween episode, and the first Halloween episode where names in the closing credits were replaced by spooky name parodies. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        For other uses of this word, see tariff (disambiguation). ... For the song, see Natural Born Killaz. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For the comedian, see Larry the Cable Guy. ... James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning Canadian-American A-list film actor and comedian. ... Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is a Tony Award-winning American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as the title character in Ferris Buellers Day Off. ... Family Guy is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series about a dysfunctional family in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. ... Brian: Portrait of a Dog is an episode of Family Guy from season one. ... Coast to Coast AM is a late-night syndicated radio talk show in the United States which deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate either to the paranormal, or to alleged conspiracies. ... Michael Trent Reznor, also known as Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965), is an American musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. ... “NIN” redirects here. ... Airplane! is an American comedy film, first released on 27 June 1980, produced, directed, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the British TV show Little Britain. ... Max and Paddys Road to Nowhere is a British comedy television show on Channel 4 starring and written by Peter Kay and Patrick McGuinness. ... Dharma & Greg is an American television situation comedy co-produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, More-Medavoy Productions and 4 to 6 Foot Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. It first aired from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002, and starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson... That 70s Show logo That 70s Show is a Fox Network television sitcom centered around the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburb of Point Place, near Green Bay, during the late 1970s. ... Entourage is an Emmy Award-winning HBO original series created by Doug Ellin that chronicles the rise of Vincent Chase — a young A-list movie star — and his childhood friends from Queens, New York City as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain of Hollywood, California. ... Blossom was a half-hour comedy television series broadcast from 1991 to 1995 on NBC, Mondays at 8:30pm (after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). ...

See also

• Midnight Express (book)
• Anti-Turkism
• Valley of the Wolves Iraq, a film which has been described as "Turkey's answer to Midnight Express."

Midnight Express is a 1977 book by Billy Hayes, then a young American who was sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle cannabis out of Turkey to the US. The book was adapted to film in 1978. ... Anti-Turkism (Turkish: Türk Düşmanlığı), Turkophobia, Turcophobia or anti-Turkish sentiment is the hostility towards Turkish people, Turkish culture and the Republic of Turkey. ... Valley of the Wolves Iraq (Turkish: Kurtlar Vadisi Irak) is a popular Turkish film from 2006 based on a television series of the same name that has been a hit in Turkey for three seasons. ...

Notes

External links

• Midnight Express at the Internet Movie Database
• Midnight Express truth revealed by Alinur (Part 1 - Part 2): Interview with Hayes about the movie at YouTube.