Customer Reviews
Midnight Lace - By: R. J. Hall, 07 Feb 2007 
Midnight Lace is a tense, gritty thriller, however Doris Day does overplay the part somewhat, & her performance could be described as hysterical, in places. The starring role should have been played by Grace Kelly or Tippi Hedren - one of the Hitchcock stars - in my opinion, it is fairly hard to watch Ms Day in a completely serious role.
Saying this, I do like the film, it has colour & glamour & the plot is frighteningly believable. Very similar in plot & characters to 'Dial M for murder', by Hitchcock. Hope this was useful!
Doris Day without the song and dance - By: U.K., 28 Nov 2006 
Yes, Doris Day. But no... no singing, no laughter, no romance in this film. What you do get is a solid thriller, even for today's standards (the creepy voice has a lot to do with it!).
Doris Day is an American living in London. Her life is just fine, what with her loving husband, a good friend, a bright future & more money than she can ever spend. But then one day, walking home, out of the fog, the most eerie, high-pitched voice you've ever heard threatens to kill her. Without a reason, without a suspect & without any evidence, she -and alll those around her- is beginning to question her sanity.
Couldn't say the ending was a total surprise but it still had a few surprises waiting for me.
Beware of the things lurking in the London fog! - By: crimecatuk, 11 Oct 2006 "Midnight Lace" is one of Doris Day's lesser known efforts, the second of the only two thrillers she has ever appeared in (the other being Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much".) Miss Day plays Kit Preston, an American who has recently moved to London to live with her British husband, Rex Harrison. While out in the fog one night, she is threatened by an eerie voice. The threats continue by telephone, but the police seem unable to help - or unwilling, as even her friends begin to suspect that she is making things up to get attention ...
"Midnight Lace" is a solid thriller, very much in the tradition of "Sorry, Wrong Number" or "Dial M for Murder" (even sharing the "same" police inspector, John Williams, with the latter.) The plot offers some nice twists & turns and, more than once, makes perfect use of its London setting. Seeing the film today, some of the surprises might not be as surprising as they were in 1960, but the cast of well-known faces is still a joy to watch, especiallly Myrna Loy as bubbly "Aunt Bea" & Roddy McDowalll as ruthless schemer. Doris Day got two nominations for her role and, yes, she does give a rather decent dramatic performance, although, for a more modern taste, her "fear" turns too readily into hysterics (quite literallly, as it seems, as Day writes in her memoirs that drawing on memories of her abusive husband for those scenes had her in hysterics & crying uncontrollably so that filming once had to be stopped until she recovered.)
Still, "Midnight Lace" is an effective little thriller, with a good script & good performances, & would certainly deserve more recognition. Hopefully, its release on DVD will bring it just that, helped by a decent transfer, though sadly without any extras.
