Product Details

• Actors: Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, Roddy McDowall
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300185974
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,140 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DORIS DAY DOES DRAMA..., March 6, 2003

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Midnight Lace [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This Ross Hunter technicolor production is glossy and sophisticated. It is a perfect, first class showcase for Doris Day, as she takes a dramatic turn in this film. Here, Ms. Day plays the role of Kit Preston, an American heiress newly married to the successful and busy British businessman, Tony Preston, played with panache by the ever dapper and debonair Rex Harrison.

While Kit's wealthy Aunt Bea (Myrna Loy) is visiting them in their beautiful home in London, Kit begins receiving a series of unnerving, anonymous calls, making threats upon her life. After notifying Scotland Yard of the threats, Kit continues to get these calls, which people are starting to think that she made up to get her busy husband's attention. She is also starting to believe that someone is following her and has some unnerving incidents occur, including one in which she is pushed in front of a moving bus and nearly run over.

Who is the stalker? Is it the handsome construction foreman, Brian Younger (John Gavin), working on the building next door, who seems to know Ms. Preston and makes his telephone calls from the pub around the corner? Is it Malcolm (Roddy McDowall), the son of Kit's maid, who is always shaking his mother down for anything he can get? Is it an executive at Mr. Preston's firm, Charles Manning (Herbert Marshall), who seems to be having money trouble and is an old love interest of Aunt Bea? Or could it be Tony, her loving husband, from whose firm someone has embezzled over a million pounds?

The red herrings fly fast and furious in this film, but the discerning viewer should be able to figure out who the crank caller is with relative ease. Notwithstanding this, the film is charming, suspenseful, and well done. Doris Day, beautifully gowned and coiffed throughout the film, is terrific as the unnerved, histrionic heiress, showing herself more than capable at handling dramatic roles. Myrna Loy is wonderful as her concerned aunt who, along with others, is beginning to think that all this is in her niece's mind. Rex Harrison, with his urbane, sophisticated air, is perfectly cast as Kit's successful and well connected husband. Roddy McDowall is excellent in the small role of the malevolent Malcolm, and John Gavin is perfect as the handsome hunk.

This is a stylish, well done film of psychological suspense, deftly directed by David Miller. Fans of Doris Day, as well as those who like a well paced mystery, will enjoy this film.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Day and Hunter's Lace is Delectable!, October 18, 2000

By 

Paul Brogan (Concord, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Lace [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Doris Day segued from a successful series of comedy smashes into this, producer Ross Hunter's take on a Hitchcock-style thriller, "Midnight Lace". The pair who had teamed so well in 1959 with "Pillow Talk", netting Day an Oscar nomination as best Actress, once again satisfied the masses with this slightly improbable but very engrossing and glossy suspenser. It was one of the big hits during the waning months of 1960.

The story about an American Heiress, Kit Preston, newly wed to Rex Harrison and taunted by mysterious threats from an unknown person(s), has been done before. Is she crazy? Is she only imagining these taunts as a means of garnering more attention from an unattentive husband or could there actually be someone out to kill her?

While a film buff may be able to see some of the holes in the fabric of the story and guess the ending before the final reel, most moviegoers will enjoy the fast-paced ride they are taken on and will easily get caught up in the events unfolding.

Doris Day is outstanding as Kit. She again proves her talent as an actress of depth and remarkable skill. She conveys her mounting fears with virtuoso ability, never going over the top into "hamminess". The production reportedly had to be briefly shut down after an especially harrowing scene in which Miss Day gave too much to the proceedings. She should have received a well-deserved Oscar nod.

Rex Harrison as her husband Tony is suave and dapper, while Myrna Loy is a delight as Day's Aunt Bea. Mix in Herbert Marshall, Roddy McDowell, John Gavin as well as John Williams, and you have the recipe for high suspense set in lavish surroundings indicative of Hunter's unique film style. Irene's stunning wardrobe, designed for Miss Day, was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award.

If you've only seen Doris Day in her well-loved comedies or earlier musical treats, try "Midnight Lace" which capably displays another side to the multi-talented superstar.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful and gorgeously produced, September 8, 2000

By 

Golden Girls fan "Adam" (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Lace [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This little thriller from 1960 echoes the tasteful talents of Sir Alfred Hitchcock and his 1954 production of the Frederick Knott stage hit "Dial M for Murder." Doris Day and Rex Harrison star as a wealthy upper-class newlywed couple living in modern-day London. He is the boss of a prestigious company and she lives at home, enjoying married life and all it has to offer. The joy comes to an abrupt end when she starts getting menacing phone calls and hears high-pitched voices calling at her from the fog of London. Her husband will not believe her claims and her best friend feels helpless in what appears to be a simple case of a neglectful husband. But who can't be suspicious when Day is nearly hit by a bus, breaks down in a stopped elevator, sees a man's shadow in her bedroom window at night, gets phone calls over and over, and is almost labeled as insane by those who know her best. The tension and suspense gets to be too much to stand for first time viewers, who cannot leave their seat once the film reaches its final quarter. The photography by Russell Metty (who won an Oscar that same year for his colorful photography of 'Spartacus') is at once appealing and splashy then changes to dark and foreboding, that there is someone in the shadows waiting and watching. One could suspect that Alfred Hitchcock had a hand in this but notice the similarities between this and "Dial M for Murder"...both husbands are named Tony, both stories are set in London, there's a phone involved, John Williams and Anthony Dawson both starred in "Dial M..." with Williams playing the detective and Dawson as the would-be killer. They each reprise such a character in "...Lace." Each film is based on a play. Day, John Gavin, Williams, and Dawson all worked with Hitchcock in different films. And each one poses enough wonder and apprehension to keep you watching to see how it will all turn out. Day played a similar role in the 1956 film "Julie". In any case, this mystery thriller belongs on the shelf of any film buff who loves mystery films and who adores Hitchcock. That twist ending will leave you gasping and wondering, "Why didn't I think of that?"