All Rights Reserved. A gaunt stranger watches Kit as she returns to the apartment, where she is almost knocked down by a falling girder from the construction site that abuts the building. Midnight Lace. That Midnight Lace works as well as it does is due to Ms. Day's committed performance. McDowall played the son of Doris Lloyd, who had also played his mother in the 1945 Twentieth Century-Fox picture Molly and Me and the 1946 M-G-M production Holiday in Mexico (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40). |, June 26, 2005 If we want to keep playing comparison games, the claustrophobic elevator car isn't much different than the Hitchcock movie's confining shower stall. | Rating: 2.5/5 It's not a particularly demanding part. |, June 10, 2015 Kit is unhurt but frantic, and after Peggy helps her inside, she begs her neighbor to lie to Tony that she has heard the voice on the phone. Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service. Doris as scream queen! I wasn't acting hysterical, I was hysterical, so that at the end of that scene I collapsed in a real faint. Changing pace at the height of her popularity, Doris Day made this smash hit suspenseful thriller about a woman who gets thtreatening phone calls from a mysterious stranger. Released the same year as Hitchcock's original Psycho, this intriguing mystery thriller explored some of Hitchcock's past themes and plot-devices, making comparisons very strongly to Rear Window and Vertigo. Rex Harrison was in a strange kind of mood, no doubt because his wife, Kay Kendall, had died. George Clooney's reaction to Felicity Huffman's surprise pregnancy before filming The Midnight Sky: 'Holy s***' By Cassie Carpenter For Dailymail.com. The young lead of the film seems to be a very pampered and upscale sort of woman, which audiences I'm sure at the time (and even today) couldn't relate to. Many superior murder mysteries lack originality or clever plot twists, yet are redeemed by clever directors. It's a big, necessary scene that Day pulls off with aplomb. All Critics (6) Ultra luxurious equally overwrought melodrama with Doris in one high fashion outfit after another being terrorized by phone. That was nice of her, but I'm not sure how well I was hanging on to my own sanity at the time!" The films made after her Warners contract years were her best and most varied, and included a fine performance for Alfred Hitchcock that marked her first 'lady in peril' outing. The subdued monochromatic package art looks interesting, but doesn't reflect the film's bright and saturated color scheme. by Jeff Stafford, The marvelous singer, actress and personality Doris Day was always popular, but it's often thought that her screen work didn't fully tap her potential. Peggy reluctantly complies, but Tony reveals that the phone has been out of order all day. All rights reserved. | Rotten (1). I enjoyed the film and it kept me guessing till the end. Read More Only Kit has heard the voices, unfortunately. For most of her film career, Doris Day was typecast in roles - many of her own choosing - that exploited her wholesome screen presence and sunny disposition. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. Kit Preston: Rex Harrison ... Anthony Preston: John Gavin ... Brian Younger: Myrna Loy ... Aunt Bea: Roddy McDowall ... Malcolm: Herbert Marshall ... Charles Manning: Natasha Parry ... Peggy: Hermione Baddeley ... Dora: John Williams Rex Harrison. At home, Malcolm Stanley, the son of Kit's maid Nora, visits and annoys Kit with his typical shiftless, unctuous behavior. She is threatened by the eerie, high-pitched voice as she walks in the thick London fog. Cast (in credits order) verified as complete. Close enough to reach out and put my hands on your throat. As soon as he leaves, the threatening voice calls on the telephone, again claiming he will kill Kit. Midnight Lace posters for sale online. Midnight Lace (1960) falls into the latter category with Ms. Day maintaining a high pitched hysteria throughout the narrative while looking fabulous in her seventeen costume changes by Irene (she received an Oscar® nomination for her designs). Midnight Lace was released a few months after Hitchcock's Psycho. Music: Frank Skinner Herbert Marshall Charles Manning. Follow Us! My mouth crooked, my hair mussed, my eyes swollen, my dress a shambles," she revealed in her autobiography, Doris Day: Her Own Story (co-authored by A. E. Hotchner). One night while walking alone through a thick fog, she is stalked by an unseen tormentor threatening her in an eerie, unidentifiable voice. Kit races to the door, where she discovers Byrnes, who reveals that he had tapped the Prestons' phone and heard Tony make a fake phone call to the police. Hermione Baddeley Dora. David Miller. Coming Soon. Before he leaves, the voice phones again, and when this time Tony hears it, he phones Byrnes to ask him to surround the building. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. The sound of footsteps approaching the dark car causes her to panic, but it is only Brian, whose construction work has disrupted the building electronics, attempting to rescue her. Roddy McDowall and Rhys Williams voice direct threats (which as we all know, exonerates them). Launched to superstardom after being paired with Rock Hudson in the racy romantic comedy Pillow Talk (1959), this film allowed her to play against type in a Hitchcock-styled thriller. Tony leaves briefly, then returns in secret. He just came over to tell her that his men accidentally knocked out the power for a few minutes. Over the next few days, Kit becomes increasingly paranoid, but none of her suspicions amount to anything. A young woman can't get anyone to believe she's being stalked. It might have scared audiences in 1960 but now it sounds like a character on The Cartoon Network, one you might encounter on "Courage, the Cowardly Dog" or "Aquateen Hunger Force." Midnight Lace is an Drama, Mystery, Thriller movie that was released in 1960. You're almost there! John Gavin. They meet Bea and Charles, her old beau, at a nightclub, where Bea questions Tony about Kit's agitation. Unfortunately, Day, as good as her performance is here, is forced into constant damsel-in-distress mode, a victim of gaslighting which is both frustrating and eventually underwhelming. According to studio press materials, music supervisor Joseph Gershenson appeared onscreen, conducting the orchestra during the ballet sequence. Just then, the caller phones to announce that he is coming to kill Kit. There was a time when film lovers would flock to their local video store to rent a weekend’s worth of entertainment. MIDNIGHT LACE – FINISHES POLE STYLE OVERALL HEIGHT CLASS FINISH COLOUR MOUNT OPTION OPTION ... pole is spun cast with this concrete mix. "To convey the terror of my reaction I re-created the ghostly abuses of Al Jordan [Day's first husband, 1941-1943]. Only after the shadowy figure slowly lowers itself down beside her is it revealed to be Brian, the nice contractor from next door. Day is cast as Kit Preston, the American wife of a wealthy London businessman (Rex Harrison). When her elevator suddenly halts between floors, Kit panics almost immediately. an old english film with doris day acting her lil' heart away and a final monsterous twist at the end. As the tall, bland and handsome Brian on the scaffolding next door, John Gavin is positioned as a potentially psychotic killer. Marty and Ross Hunter [executive producer] hurried to my side. and the Terms and Policies, It only sustains the plot more rather than pull the rug out from underneath it. Or did he purposely cause the elevator to stall? Directed by David Miller, Midnight Lace may not be great art but it's consistently entertaining as a Hitchcock imitation, just like Miller's previous "damsel in distress" suspenser - Sudden Fear (1952) starring Joan Crawford. Over here now Mrs.Preston. By using this site, you agree to our updated, Having been harassed in the fog and now on the phone, American Kit (Doris Day) and English financier husband Tony (Rex Harrison) visit Scotland Yard where inspector Byrnes (John Williams) comments on local miscreants, in, Midnight Lace (1960) - A Real London Fog, London fog and Grosvenor Square as American heiress Doris Day gets terrified in the opening to the 1960 thriller, Midnight Lace (1960) - No Telephones In Gondolas, Dining out in London with his possibly financially-troubled colleague Charles (Herbert Marshall) and her aunt Bea (Myrna Loy), businessman Tony (Rex Harrison) confides a thing or two regarding his heiress wife Kit (Doris Day), who's got a phone stalker, in, Doris Day can't get anyone to believe she's being stalked by a killer in. Director: David Miller It's pretty much a dated score, but not one that has lost any of it's charm. 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