Tonight's Saturday Night Special is a movie I first saw a long, long time ago. It was made in 1960, and is titled......
.........."Midnight Lace!"
"Midnight Lace" stars Doris Day, whose body of film work is usually confined to the puppies and cotton candy realm, so it freaked me out as a kid to see her in a movie like this, kind of like how I felt when Frankie Avalon got stabbed in "The Haunted House Of Horror!"
Doris is a rich American in London!
Her British husband is played by the always charming Rex (Dr. Dolittle) Harrison!
I look at this shot, and the word 'stuffy' comes to mind first thing!
Hence the title "Midnight Lace!"
The 'Danger' signs come into play more than once to help deliver the foreboding overall feel!
Dungeon stalwart Roddy (Planet of the Apes) McDowall
has the role of an annoying possible suspect, a role that fits him well!
But all in all, "Midnight Lace" is basically a suspenseful showcase for Doris Day!
Gee Willikers, where's Rock Hudson when you need him?
Not really the best time to be celebrating anything!
Doris is stuck in the dark and claustrophobic lift going up to her flat!
These days any prank, annoying, or threatening phone call you make can probably be traced back to you, but back in the day when phone booths existed, it was a lot easier to hassle people on the phone anonymously! Like today, if you called your local dive bar and asked for mouse knuckles like Tabonga and I used to do, you'd probably have the authorities up your butt in no time at all!
Doris just turned 96 four days ago on April 3rd!
In a 60's male-dominated society, "Midnight Lace" was a film that had a female in the lead role, and supporting roles like Myrna (Nora Charles) Loy, and......
.....Natasha (The Fourth Square) Parry! Oddly enough, Natasha was also in another movie with the word midnight in the tile in 1950, "Midnight Episode!"
I don't have the exact calculations, but I'd bet that close to 40% of "Midnight Lace" is different head shots of Doris Day!
Doris Day has 43 acting credits to her name, but she was also a very successful singer, and songs with her vocals have been used in movies 117 times and growing, and that's why she will never be forgotten, because of songs like "Dream A Little Dream," "Tea For Two," and "Que Sera, Sera!"
Belated Happy Birthday Doris!! We love you!
3 comments:
I like this one too, though I haven't seen it in forever.
She's actually been in a number of suspense films. Maybe the oddest one as far as the casting is "Storm Warning," a film with her and Ginger Rogers about the Klan (!).
Great post, as always, but Myrna Loy played Nora Charles, not Laura. ;)
Ai-Yi-Yi! Of course it was Nora. Sometimes these fingers type whatever the Hell they want. Thanx for the correction
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