As he continues to rehearse, a mysterious and disembodied voice begins to sing the lines along with Xiao’ou, effectively teaching him the part.

Upon inquiring with the theatre's haggard caretaker, Xiao’ou learns that the voice belongs to a once famous actor long thought to be deceased - Song Danping.

In flashbacks, Danping reveals that prior to his acclaim as a theatre actor, he was a revolutionary fighter in the Second Chinese Revolution, after which he was forced to go into hiding and develop a new identity.

Back in the present day, Danping explains that he now lives in the seclusion of the theatre attic, only coming out to sing every midnight, comforting a mentally unstable Xiaoxia with his song.

Tang aims his pistol at Xiao’ou, but in order to protect her boyfriend, Die jumps in front of the shot, and is killed.

The pair fight their way to the top of the tower while Xiao’ou does his best to unsuccessfully calm the rising anger of the audience, the excited theatregoers quickly becoming an angry, torch-wielding mob.

Author Yiman Wang argues that Song at Midnight not only presents left-wing nationalist ideology indirectly, but also alludes to the war anxieties of Chinese citizens in the late 1930s.

According to Wang, the phantom in the film was related to the traumatic history in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which was under colonial domination.

[3] Indeed, Yomi Braester notes that the unique narrative style of the film also makes it different from the "soft movie" entertainment more prevalent in the 1930s.

Braester goes on to state that because of its "hard" characteristics, left-wing critics were able to promote Socialist Realism through this film, emphasizing cinema's mission to awaken the masses.

Ironically, the scar also stands in counterpoint to the revolutionary message, because Danping is prevented from carrying out his mission due to the fact that he does not want to show his face in public, which could be read to be a veiled critique of film censors.

For example, only Danping's silhouette is shown while he performs “Song at Midnight” at the beginning of the film, in order to establish a sense of ambiance and mystery, since it is sung by a figure that is unknown to the audience.

After the release in February 1937, Song at Midnight instantly became well known to almost every household in Shanghai and achieved a huge box office success.

Author Yomi Braester states in his book Revolution and Revulsion that where Song at Midnight was screened, especially the major coastal cities, the usage of revolutionary representation gained followers because of the internal tension of the plots.

[15] Writing for Paste Magazine, critic Jim Vorel notes that Song at Midnight "presages creative decisions" later present in the Universal Pictures' Phantom of the Opera (1943).

[16] As part of their Chinese film retrospective, Cinema Epoch released Song at Midnight on Region 0 DVD on May 8, 2007.

An earlier DVD edition by the Guangzhou Beauty Culture Communication Co. Ltd was released on December 1, 2006, in the United States.

It was the most famous remake, starring pop singer Leslie Cheung in the lead role of Song Danping.