Harrison's Reports (1960)

October 15, 1960 HARRISON'S REPORTS 167 "Midnight Lace" with Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy and Roddy McDowall (Universal'Int'l, October; time, 108 min.) Good. Ross Hunter and Martin Melcher, co-producers of "Pillow Talk," are responsible for assembling this sugary, fancy-dressed suspense melodrama, filmed in Eastman Color, which can boast the names of Doris Day, Rex Harrison and John Gavin as its top assets. It will please the easily satisfied. The story, too similar to Hunter's "Portrait in Black," centers around a wealthy American woman residing in London, the victim of threatening phone calls, who learns before it is too late that her newly acquired British husband is out to kill her. Miss Day makes a fine frightened wife, while Rex Harrison is hampered by the poorly delined part of her scheming husband. Roddy McDowall and Herbert Marshall are outstanding in supporting characterisation. Direction is uneven; photography, fine: — Walking home through a thick London fog, Doris Day, wealthy American wife of Rex Harrison, is terrified when she hears a strange voice coming out of the fog, first taunting her, then threatening to kill her. Doris, who first met Harrison in Bermuda only a few months back, is an heiress. Harrison runs her company. Returning home, Doris is calmed by her husband, explains the voice as that of a practical joker. The next day she is nearly killed as she approaches her apartment building, when a steel girder falls from some nearby construction. Contractor John Gavin saves her life. At home she sees her ailing houskeeper giving her ne'er-do-well son, Roddy McDowall, most of her wages. Doris soon receives another threatening and abusive call. We next meet Doris' pretty, young neighbor, Natasha Parry, whose sailor husband is away. Doris tells Natasha about the voice. Harrison takes Doris to Scotland Yard, where they tell their story to John Williams, an Inspector. Williams hints that Doris may be making up the whole story to win more attention from Harrison. At the ballet with her aunt, Myrna Loy, and Herbert Marshall, treasurer of her company, McDowall threatens her when she hints that he seeks to steal money meant for his sick mother. The next day, after still another phone call, the following day Doris is in the automatic elevator when it is caught between floors. She screams and Gavin, working nearby, comes to her. It seems his men caused the electricity to fail temporarily. At another time, Gavin's men fail to find the stranger Doris says came to her door and ran away, when she went for the phone. Harrison promises to take her to Venice, but soon says he can't go. One evening he is called to the office by an ambitious young executive who has discovered someone has been juggling the books. The finger points to Marshall, heavily in debt to gamblers. Next, Doris, before boarding a bus, sees the stranger, Anthony Dewson. Suddenly she is pushed in the path of the oncoming bus. The driver sees her, stops in time. Natasha appears in the crowd, takes Doris home. Next, the stranger shows up with a gun. In a scuffle with Harrison, which we don't see, a shot rings out. It is Harrison who returns, tells Doris that he (Harrison) has been after her money and the one who has been terrorizing her. She looks to Natasha for help, learns Natasha is her husband's confederate and girl friend. She runs onto the balcony for help. Gavin comes to her aid and the police arrive on the scene. It seems that they were tapping the phone and heard Harrison making believe he was talking to them. We also learn that the stranger wounded by Harrison is Natasha's husband, who suspicious of his wife, returned from sea unannounced and started spying on her. A Ross HunterArwin Production. Ross Hunter and Martin Melcher produced, David Miller directed from a screeplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts. Based on the play, "Matilda Shouted Fire," by Janet Green. Adults. "Heaven on Earth" with Barbara Florian and Gabriele Tint! (JB Film Enterprises, current; time, 84 min.) Fair. A cinematic hodgepodge comprising an Eastman Color travelog of Rome, a documentary of that city's art treasures, a teen-age romance, a rock 'n' roll song, and scenes of Cardinal Mindzenty and the recent Hungarian uprising. An American-Italian coproduction, it was filmed in the Vatican with special Papal permission and in many parts of the Italian capital. The Sistine Chapel Choir and The St. John The Lateran Choir are seen and heard. The suspenselacking story concerns a handsome young Italian who blames Americans for killing his mother during World War II, but who conquers his prejudice while guiding a pretty U.S. teen-ager around the city. The acting is amateurish. Those adults interested in seeing Rome will be annoyed by the plot. Younger patrons will not find sufficient romantic interest in the travelog. Direction is adequate, color photography, excellent:— Aroldo Foa, a widowed count living in Rome with his handsome young son Gabriele Tinti, is visited by a former American major whose life he saved during World War II, Charles Fawcett, and his beautiful daughter, Barbara Florian. Fawcett's wife died three years ago. Foa asks his son to show the Americans the sights. Young Tinti holds all Americans responsible for his mother's death. He is unable to refuse his father's request, but he cannot hide his resentment. He cannot accept his father's explanation that no one really knows whose bullet was responsible. Tinti loses no time in starting to point out the city's landmarks. However, his manner is so openly ungracious that Barbara tells him to stop acting as their guide. Tinti is ashamed, begins to unbend, and the basic love for and pride in his city start to tinge his explanations. Fawcett cannot keep up with the youngsters, returns to his hotel, and Tinti and Barbara spend many days sightseeing by themselves. Slowly, Tinti forgets his long-harbored resentment. He helps Barbara discover the Rome which has been the hub of Western civilization and Christianity for more than 2,000 years. It becomes a deeply moving experience for Barbara, and, in the process, Tinti, too, achieves depth of understanding and emerges a more mature young man. Some of the places that Tinti points out to Barbara are the Mamertine Prison and the Cata(Continued on bac\ page)