Midnight Lace (1960)

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.

Doris Day is the reason to watch this - it's as if she truly became her character - and she IS terrified by the creepy threats made from disembodied strange voices when outside, from the telephone when inside ... and is being driven mad. The plot of this mystery is ... ok ... like the plot of most TV mysteries (say an average TV movie) but the difference is that Day IS this woman - and it's very unsettling - and worth seeing. Day in fact swore never again to take on a suspense movie - it almost gave her a nervous breakdown!Other benefits from this movie - it's lavish - you're looking at a quite upper middle class English couple in late 1950s, early 1960s London - the clothes, the settings, the furniture and accents - are all appealing. Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy, Herbert Marshall, John Gavin, Roddy McDowall comprise a big and fine cast. Day's character is NOT at home - but in London, a foreign land, she's relatively newly married to Rex Harrison, she's not feeling the utter security she might in other circumstances - and then awful things threaten. It's easy to like the movie - if you start to watch it, you'll finish it. I enjoy Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy, Herbert Marshall and John Gavin in all they've done done You'll enjoy it - but don't expect something GREAT.

I had not watched this movie before, but I still guessed the husband was behind it almost immediately! It was quite obvious. (Not the neighbor woman, though.) Guess I have watched too many other Hitchcock movies - I know how he was thinking! So the end was not very exciting to me. Normally, I like Doris Day. She is bright, funny, sunny and heart-warming! I like Rex Harrison a lot too, although he is always only playing himself. I like that style, dryness, intelligence, and suavity - although he was far from handsome if you have a closer look at him, especially in profile. But here I found Day overacting - which is very probably Hitchcock's fault. He always made women silly, stupid, helpless, and hysteric... which is a thing I do not like about his movies. Harrison was also blander than usual.This movie is not great, but well worth seeing if you can get it for free. These older Hollywood movies had a certain style and class, that you never see anymore.

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.