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| Doris Day in jeopardy |
MIDNIGHT LACE (1960). Director: David Miller.
Heiress Kit Preston (Doris Day) has never had a difficult day in her life, so the perky but somewhat neurotic lady is unprepared when she starts to get death threats from a sinister, cartoon-like voice in the London fog and over the telephone. Kit recently wed businessman Anthony Preston (Rex Harrison), and while he is concerned, neither he nor Inspector Byrnes (John Williams) are absolutely certain that Kit has been hearing anything. She is suspicious of everyone she encounters, including her maid's nephew (Roddy McDowall of Dead Man's Island); a hunky contractor working on a house next door (John Gavin); and an odd fellow who keeps following her (Anthony Dawson). Then someone pushes her in front of a bus ...
Midnight Lace is a smooth and entertaining suspense film with a host of good actors, including those mentioned and Myrna Loy as Kit's aunt and Herbert Marshall (of Gog) as Anthony's business associate. Natasha Parry [The Dark Man] and Hermione Baddeley are also notable. As for Day, she gives a convincing if borderline comical performance of a incredibly overwrought woman who is admittedly in a tense situation but has no clue as to how to handle it without getting hysterical -- and I do mean hysterical. One has to witness her incredible meltdown on the staircase to believe it! The picture is fun however. It has some structural similarities to another film directed by David Miller, Sudden Fear. (In that film Joan Crawford handles things with much more vigor than Day does). 
Day, Harrison, Williams, Gavin, Loy
Verdict: Unless you really hate Day you should enjoy this. ***.
LOL, hi Bill, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Doris is positively overwrought in this one, but it's a lot of fun. Her neurosis and hysteria are over the top. She is similarly high-strung in Julie and The Man Who Knew Too Much, two of her other melodramatic performances—but I prefer a dramatic Doris over a lot of her eye-rolling rom coms and coy bedroom farces. This is a good movie, not a great one, but as you mentioned, the glossy Ross Hunter treatment, with the Irene fashions and David Webb jewels, and the terrific cast make it very watchable. In her autobiography, Doris says she suffered a breakdown doing this movie and never attempted another dramatic role, only comedies after this. It's easy to see why—it's all up ther eon the screen. She was truly a Method actress!
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Beautifully put, Chris! I think her nervous breakdown actually occurred in real life when she was doing the staircase scene, LOL! The funny thing is, the hysteria completely suits her and suits her character, who married a man she hardly knows and isn't even swift enough to suspect him of anything! But fear not for Kit -- waiting in the wings is sexy John Gavin (who will probably turn out to be a serial killer). Seriously, this IS a fun movie!
ReplyDeleteTerrific review, Bill! 👏 (Ron C.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ron!
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