The plot features Day as an American woman living in a swanky London flat, newly married to Tony Preston, a suave and sophisticated British businessman (Harrison). Her character, Kit, is as happy as a clam until she takes a stroll through Hyde Park in a thick fog, where she’s stalked by a creepy voice belonging to a man she can’t see. Tony laughs off her unnerving experience as a prank that some Londoners love to play during a “pea-souper.” But then things turn more serious when Kit gets crank calls featuring the same creepy voice, promising to kill her before the month is out.
At this point, Day as Kit begins to wig out, which is painful to watch as a woman in the 21st Century. To put it bluntly, she’s a hysterical weakling who never thinks for herself. (Day was in her late 30s at the time, which is quite long in the tooth for the infantile character she plays.) Kit’s only interests appear to be shopping for designer clothes, having lunch at swanky places downtown, and hanging out with her only girlfriend, a neighbor woman named Peggy, whose husband is a British naval officer often away on patrol. She depends on male authority figures for everything, even when her own life is at stake. Of course, this is not the fault of Day; this is the way the wives of “successful businessmen” were portrayed in the era. Still, her numerous hysterical breakdowns are irritating, not harrowing—and Day found these scenes so personally draining, that this is the main reason why she refused to make any more thrillers. Which is unfortunate, because she was quite good in the much-superior thriller, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of his own earlier film of the same title.
There are several subplots in Midnight Lace that throw red herrings in the mix, including Roddy McDowall playing his usual sleazy boulevardier character looking for a fast buck; and John Gavin as the handsome building manager who comes to Kit’s aid a couple of times. The script does keep you guessing up to a point, because it hides a big “reveal” until about the middle of the action: it’s Kit who has all the money, not her allegedly “successful” husband.
At that point, of course, the seasoned movie fan begins to think of an older, much more famous film directed by George Cukor that stars Ingrid Bergman; a film which literally gave the verb “gaslight” to the popular English lexicon. If you’ve never seen that film, you might find the ending of Midnight Lace surprising; if you have seen it, well, you might still enjoy the mid-mod fashions and scenery of old-timey London. (Midnight Lace does, however, feature a subsidiary ending “twist” about the scar-faced man who is stalking Kit that’s somewhat original.)
Although highly derivative, Midnight Lace is worth watching for the clothes, the fabulous flat, and the great Myrna Loy stealing scenes as Kit’s Auntie Mame-ish aunt. There is also a creepy elevator scene that is very suspenseful, but on the whole, most of the suspense is ruined, at least for me, by Day’s over-the-top hysterics. 6/10. There doesn't seem to be a current DVD release, but used and out-of-print discs can be found online, as well as DVDs that are included in Doris Day anthology collections. You can also find a fairly decent copy on Youtube as of this writing.
