Midnight Lace Ah, the movies were a tough game in 1960. It was hard to outdo t.v. for any lightweight drama or comedy. And when it came to real movie intensity, well, there was Douglas Sirk or Alfred Hitchcock or maybe Stanley Kubrick (and a few others, of course)...but it was rough sledding for the mainstream moviemakers without a signature style. Enter Doris Day, who managed those strained and slightly wonderful comedies (Rock Hudson helping out). Here's a real drama-Myrna Loy and a truly terrific Rex Harrison and even Herbert Marshal make that clear. It comes four years after her famous dramatic role in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much." And she is good as a rich woman with some insecurities...though I won't say she gives the role depth, just conviction. And she has lots of pricey clothes and posh sets to dither and gasp. As Marshall says later on, "There's nothing wrong with money that having it can't cure." It was weirdly common to set American movies in this period in Europe or Britain, so here London is given the travelog treatment between more important scenes. But it starts with a stylized, dramatic sequence in the "London Fog" where Day's character, Kit Preston hears a stalker, a voice she hears later in an ominous phone call. This should be a Hitchcockian gem, and cinematographer Russell Metty is quite impressive making every single scene, from a glance to a swooping camera view on a short comment, a matter of consequence. Rex Harrison is really impressive as her husband-at ease, confident, caring-and of course he is suspect number one. There is the handsome man overseeing a construction project and the office assistant or two, plus an older man and a stranger in a hat. Lots of potential nasty fellows. I don't mean that this is a lighthearted film, but it does largely avoid any actual frightfulness (the elevator scene is an exception). I have to admit that I was especially happy to see Myrna Loy-forever a force that penetrates the doldrums. In all, the cast of characters large and small is impressive. So who is director David Miller? A Hollywood mainstay with few exceptional films, but he did direct that rather amazing "Sudden Fear" in a full noir manner. Here he is certainly in top form-I think the feeling of pace, staging, and development of story are first rate. There was a lot of comment in reviews at the time about how worn the basic idea was (a woman in danger from an unseen evil man, as with the more celebrated "Sorry Wrong Number" and so on), but taken out of that context this feels rather workable as is. The story flags for half an hour in the middle, mostly because the sub-plots, if you can call them that, are not enough to sustain the lulls between the main worry. Visually, this is not a Technicolor masterpiece (it used Kodak's Eastmancolor film), and in some ways this is a major drawback, but a lot of the film (as with a Sirk melodrama) has to do with sucking us into the drama almost regardless of the events. It's quite visually well photographed. Finally, it has to be said that Doris Day is sometimes annoying, and it isn't all her fault. She's been scripted to be helpless and at times hysterical. She is never given the more natural role of trying to defend herself, even by thinking through the options, keeping an eye through windows, get advice from other women, all the survival things that women would do beyond screaming for help-which she does not do in the final scene even as the police are watching. That final scene is a great example of how superb this film is at its core-dramatic and gorgeous in its filming and editing, with a taut score and a final twist or two. Hitchcockian, for sure.

In general, I don't like Hitchcock-like thrillers, and this is no exception. I found the screenplay rather boring ,on the whole, with some major questionable aspects, as follows: 1) The mysterious voice that keeps popping up certainly did not sound like Rex(Harrison) nor like Natasha Parry(Peggy). In fact, it didn't sound clearly like a man or women, but something in between. 2) Peggy's supposed involvement in pushing Kit(Doris) in front of the bus doesn't look possible. I didn't see her standing in back of Doris, among the crowd looking to board the bus. Rather, a short time later, she comes barging through the thick crowd behind where Doris was. How did she get back there so quick if she did the pushing? 3)I thought Peggy's husband was in Singapore in the navy, or do I have the wrong neighbor in mind? 4)Why did Kit keeping listening to the phone messages by the stalker, instead of slamming the phone down as soon as she recognized the voice? 5)Why did Rex bother with the stalker voice if he wanted to kill Kit because he needed her inheritance and because he was having an affair with Peggy, and wanted Kit out of the way before she discovered the affair and divorced him? Presumably, he wanted to drive Kit out of her mind(which he did) so that her death might be chalked up as a suicide, if done right......Things sure got complicated at the end, with both Rex and Peggy's husband on the prowl. Good thing John Gavin(Brian) showed up every now and then to comfort or save Kit......See it at YouTube or on DVD.

"Midnight Lace" is a thirties style mystery with an "A" list cast but with no murder.Kit Preston (Doris Day) is an heiress (I think) who is married to Anthony Preston (Rex Harrison) who runs the family business. While walking home through the London fog one night, Kit hears a mysterious voice that threatens her life. Anthony and her friend Peggy (Natasha Perry) convince her that it was probably a prank.However, Kit starts to receive threatening phone calls. She and Anthony go to Scotland Yard to report the incidents. There, Inspector Byrnes (everybody's favorite Scotland Yard detective - John Williams) reassures the couple and doubts Kit's story. But the calls continue.The film lines up the suspects so that each may have a motive for the calls. First there is businessman Victor Elliott (Rhys Williams) who tells the Preston Board of Directors that someone will pay if his company is allowed to go under. Next is clean cut builder Brian Younger (John Gavin) whom we see ogling Kit outside her apartment. Then there is money hungry Malcom Stanley (Roddy McDowell) who tries to extort money from Kit on behalf of his ailing mother (Doris Lloyd), Kit's housekeeper. Charles Manning (Herbert Marshall) the treasurer of the Preston firm apparently is in some financial difficulty and acts suspiciously. Kit's eccentric Aunt Bea (Myrna Loy) arrives and is also under suspicion.One night Anthony receives a call from his assistant Daniel (Richard Ney) who has found some shortages on the company's books. A mysterious stranger, Ash (Anthony Dawson) appears at Kit's apartment and she panics believing him to be the mystery caller. Anthony feigns going to the office in an effort to lure and trap Ash into returning. When he does a scuffle ensues and.................................Doris Day gives an excellent performance in a straight dramatic role as the frightened Kit. She conveys her fear through tears and screams while trying to evade her tormentor. Rex Harrison is good as the supportive husband who has secrets of his own. Not sure what John Gavin is doing here but to rescue Kit. Thirties favorites Loy and Marshall are largely wasted in supporting roles. The always interesting McDowall makes an excellent little rat as well.Alfred Hitchcock would have had at least one murder to deal with.

Midnight Lace is directed by David Miller and adapted to screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from the play Matilda Shouted Fire by Janet Green. It stars Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, Roddy McDowall and Herbert Marshall. Music is by Frank Skinner and cinematography by Russell Metty.Kit Preston (Day) is being stalked, but she can't get anyone to believe her. Is she going mad?The "woman in peril" thriller has always proved popular since the advent of film, Midnight Lace may not have the class or menace of something like Gaslight, but it's a splendid mystery thriller yarn. Pic sets its goals out from the start, as the delightful Miss Day is pursued through the pea souper fog by person unseen. Then the phone calls start, a weird voice at the end of the line issuing less than complimentary advice, but nobody is sure if she is really suffering these harassments.So, enter a whole ream of suspects from weasels and schemers to the unbalanced and the too suave to be true, red-herrings now rule the roost and it's great fun. As things progress Kit's hysteria goes up a notch at a time until it's all out psychological bedlam. The big reveal is not exactly a surprise, but the enjoyment was in getting there. Unfortunately the production loses points for some sloppy editing and poor design for the London setting, the latter rendering the already fanciful story a fake feel that's hard to shake off; the theatrical origins evident for sure.Still, Harrison and Day can pretty much sell these characters in their sleep, and they are backed up by Gavin and Loy enjoying themselves. It makes up for what it doesn't have in atmospherics or freshness of formula, with honest to goodness entertainment values. 7/10