Piège à minuit

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.

If that telephone voice doesn't give you the creeps, you are one tough cookie! Don't be fooled because this film stars Doris Day, noted for her frothy, professional virgin roles in movies with Rock Hudson, et al. This is another Ms. Day, although the movie showcases her in some great clothes. Driven to the brink of insanity by anonymous threatening phone calls which nobody believes, she plays it to the hilt. The elevator scene is especially gripping. John Gavin is totally miscast and is bland, as usual. The rest of the cast is top drawer....Rex Harrison, suave and sophisticated....Myrna Loy, as the worldly aunt, is wonderful.....and the greatest of English support players, John Williams, repeating his inspector role from Dial M for Murder. In a small part is Anthony Dawson, the perfect villain,also from Dial M for Murder. Herbert Marshall and Richard Ney are good in small roles. This looks and feels like a Hitchcock picture. You may guess the ending but it is worth the watch to see Doris Day give her all. Besides, everybody likes a good thriller and this fits the bill!

After watching most of her other films, with Rock Hudson, and

James Garner, this is a major departure for Doris Day. Midnight

Lace, requires an actress of considerable ability, but Day proves

up the task. Her performance is one of the best that I have every

seen. She plays the wealthy wife of Rex Harrison, who is having

financial problems, running the family firm. After receiving several

phone calls, threatening her life, she has problems proving to the

police, and Harrison, that the calls really took place.

Other threads of the story,including Roddy McDowall as the

penniless son of Day's maid, Herbert Marshall as a gambler with

money troubles, and John Gavin,as the builder, with flashbacks

from the war, there is no lack of possible suspects,who may be

threatening Day. This film has the same look and feel as ‘Dial M for Murder' so that

is as good a recommendation as anybody could want. 8 out of 10.

I started seeing this movie without great expectations but I must admit that it was a very positive surprise. David Miller has made a movie which in my opinion is to be compared with the best Hitchcock ever made. An excellent cast: John Gavin and Myrna Loy give good performances and Rex Harrison is - as always - Rex Harrison.

But it's Doris Days film. She was perfect in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" but here she's better. An outstanding performance. No other actress can look so terror-stricken, without overacting. The sequence where she is stuck in an elevator, gives a good impression of what she can.

If you haven't seen this movie - rush to see it.

The last of Doris Day's dramatic roles came with her being the terrorized wife in Midnight Lace. Henceforth she did nothing but comedies and musicals.

Not that she wasn't good in dramatic parts. Doris did well in Love Me Or Leave Me, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Storm Warning, and Julie. But in Midnight Lace she does pull all the stops out as a woman who seems to have attracted a stalker. In fact she meets the stalker in a fog bound London park near her home who threatens to kill just before the opening credits.

Doris is practically a newlywed, married to Rex Harrison a London businessman who is concerned but never is quite there enough to offer support. Even her visiting aunt Myrna Loy is thinking Doris has lost a step or two in her ladder. The only one who seems to believe her is John Gavin who is boss of a construction job next door. He's even a bit creepy himself because he knew who she was without any introduction.

The Man Who Knew Too Much was probably her best dramatic role and it was done for the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. But the Hitchcock film that Midnight Lace is best compared to is Dial M For Murder with Grace Kelly being the stalking victim there. Even the Scotland Yard inspector is the same in both films, John Williams.

By the way Williams unravels the truth behind the harassing phone calls in a most unusual way that the perpetrator never took into account.

The mood of Midnight Lace is somber and tense and Doris, Rex, and the rest of the cast perform their roles to perfection.