After watching Doris Day deal with a KKK husband in "Storm Warning", the pain of a kidnapped son in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and a psychotic husband in the dismal "Julie", watching her being stalked by someone presumably with the intent of killing her is painful to watch. It isn't that this is a bad movie; It is incredibly suspenseful. But how much suffering and tears can a woman take? She truly fears for her life, from even before the opening credits when a shrill voice haunts her from the fog and tells her that she's going to die. Wealthy British businessman husband Rex Harrison has given Doris pretty much everything she could ask for, the glamorous life and a wardrobe to die for. Decked out to die, so it seems, because every time she answers the phone it appears that the grim reaper has come calling. Fortunately, her beloved aunt Myrna Loy comes to make sure she's OK, yet it appears that Loy knows something. Or could it be handsome stranger John Gavin? Slimy housekeeper's son Roddy McDowall (obviously guilty of elder abuse in addition to being a suspect) who openly threatens her? The loving husband Harrison? Other minor characters, too, come in as suspects, and in a crowd of people trying to board a bus, she almost gets run over by it when somebody pushes her out into the street.Brilliantly made but hard to take at times because of Day's predicament which would drive anybody crazy, this has great set decoration featuring Harrison and Day's beautiful apartment, right near a construction site. At one point, Day is rescued from a falling metal beam, and later a stranger enters her home, stalking her as she runs to the balcony to yell for help. Like "The Man Who Knew Too Much", the audience really feels frightened for Doris. Watching her distraught over her son's kidnapping and a pending assassination attempt in the Hitchcock classic is almost nothing in seeing her here fighting for sanity and survival, and indeed, it is one of Day's greatest performances.Coming off the success of playing the obnoxious Henry Higgins on Broadway in "My Fair Lady", Rex Harrison is the epitome of suave sophistication here, but like the original "Unfaithfully Yours", there's something behind that smile you're never quite sure of. Loy is elegant and well mannered, but hints of an agenda too are given. If anybody is the obvious choice, it's McDowall's slimy son who leaves his ailing mother broke because of his failure to hold down a job. The dramatic music is straight out of a Hitchcock movie, and in many ways, it's very similar to "Rear Window", as well as many women in peril films like "Sorry Wrong Number" and "Witness to Murder" with Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford in "Sudden Fear" and "Female on the Beach". In spite of the familiarity of the plot, this is superbly done, and you will be drawn in from the very beginning.

"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.

Doris's costumes are high fashion - but unfortunately it was a bad fashion year. They were aiming for the 20s and achieving only hats like inverted flower pots. The colour is vivid, but it makes everyone look over made-up - and a little too old. Back in those days, women were always being warned against being "hysterical" (complaining, displaying any emotion). You either kept a stiff upper lip or collapsed completely, as Doris does here. It gets a bit boring. I'd give top marks to their luxurious but rather vulgar flat, full of heavy antiques - and a textured, mirrored wall. Myrna Loy's straw hat has to be seen to be believed. And wasn't 50s ballet dull? Acting-wise, darling Hermione Baddeley comes off best. Norah the maid is a close second. The last scene owes a lot to 32 Paces to Baker Street, and the whole film takes place in the same Hollywood London. Preston's offices are opposite Lambeth Palace, but you can see Westminster Abbey from the windows. And the London airport bus is bound for Dublin! Doris goes to bed in full slap every night - and why do people in films never have any bedclothes?

Doris Day is hearing voices. To be precise, one voice. And, he says he wants to kill her. But, the rub is - no one believes her. Her husband, the police. Her Aunt Bea wants to, but the more hysterical Doris gets, the more she doubts her. This film is so well made, it feels like a Hitchcock film, and it boasts an outstanding cast, including Rex Harrison, who plays her husband, John Gavin, who gives one of his most relaxed and natural performances of his career, Roddy MacDowell, Herbert Marshall, Myrna Loy as her Aunt Bea, and John Williams and Anthony Dawson, both from Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. It's been said that Doris Day swore off films like this, after completing this, due to it being physically exhausting and I can see why. Her breakdown is very real and she gives one of her most challenging and convincing acting jobs in her career here. She said she had to tap into her feelings and her pain from her abusive first marriage to really bring out the tears, and they flow! The staircase scene is where she really loses it. I have nothing negative to say about this terrifying winner! It may not win any awards, but it hits all the right buttons. For a suspenseful film with great stars and real class, this is the film for you.