Midnight Lace (1960)

Director:

David Miller

Writers:

Janet Green (play)
Ivan Goff (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 December 1960 (West Germany)

Genre:

Thriller | Mystery

Plot:

Kit and Anthony Preston never had a real honeymoon, and the midnight lace pajamas are for when they can finally get out of London...

Plot Keywords:

Fog | Telephone | Elevator | Woman In Jeopardy | Police Detective

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Doris Day	...	Kit Preston
Rex Harrison	...	Anthony 'Tony' Preston
John Gavin	...	Brian Younger
Myrna Loy	...	Beatrice ('Aunt Bea') Corman
Roddy McDowall	...	Malcolm
Herbert Marshall	...	Charles Manning
Natasha Parry	...	Peggy Thompson
Hermione Baddeley	...	Dora Hammer
John Williams	...	Insp. Byrnes
Richard Ney	...	Daniel Graham
Anthony Dawson	...	Roy Ash
Rhys Williams	...	Victor Elliot
Richard Lupino	...	Simon Foster
Hayden Rorke	...	Dr. Garver
Doris Lloyd	...	Nora, The Housekeeper

Runtime:

110 min | 108 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2000) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Arwin Productions

Trivia:

In her autobiography, Doris Day wrote that to prepare herself for one of the terror scenes, she recalled a time when her first husband, trombonist Al Jorden, dragged her out of bed when she was ill and pregnant and hurled her against a wall. Day related that in the scene she wasn't acting hysterical, she WAS hysterical, and at the end of the take she collapsed in a real faint. She was carried to her dressing room, and producer Ross Hunter shut down production for a few days while she recovered.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kit Preston is pushed to the ground in front of a bus and is subsequently helped to her feet to leave the scene, her coat remains immaculately clean throughout, in spite of having fallen face down on a wet road.

Quotes:

Kit Preston: With or without onions?
Peggy Thompson: With! When your husband's 10,000 miles away, what does it matter?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mad Men: Long Weekend (#1.10)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Midnight Lace

Glossy and totally unbelievable but entertaining

American Kit Preston (Doris Day) lives in London with husband Anthony (Rex Harrison). She starts being stalked and getting phone calls by a man saying he's going to kill her. But nobody else is around when he calls. Is he real or is she going crazy?

A VERY loose remake of "Gaslight". The film is far-fetched (especially at the end) and full of obvious red herrings. Also there were one or two plot threads never adequately explained at the end. Still, this was entertaining. It's very glossy with breath-taking sets and 17 costume changes (!!!) by Day--but this IS a Ross Hunter movie (he did "Imitation of Life" which had the same kind of treatment). So, even when the movie slows down there's always something to look at.

There's mostly solid acting by the entire cast. Harrison was just so-so as the husband but everybody else was fine. John Gavin pops up a few times just being incredibly handsome but actually isn't that bad. Myrna Loy steals the show as Aunt Bea in every scene she's in--and check out the incredibly ugly yellow hat with green sash she wears at one point! Best of all is Day. You might think she would be terrible in a straight dramatic role but she's actually quite good. Her terror at what's happening is totally believable and there's an incredible scene where she has a complete nervous breakdown. She hated making this film because it emotionally wore her down--she vowed never again to do a thriller. That's too bad--she was so good here.

So it's not believable but is still worth watching. Recommended.