From the Terrace (1960)

Midnight Lace (1960)

“Practical jokers have particular talents. Not commendable, but highly special.”

            I do not like films that have to deal with stalkers and someone being psychologically tortured by a stalker. And then of course no one ever believes the person who is being stalked they usually think the person is imagining everything and just going barmy. I hate those kinds of stories to absolutely no end. I do not mind films that are intense but this kind of tension with a stalker and someone being driven to insanity I just do not like. I had no idea that Midnight Lace dealt with a young woman being stalked and driven mad, all I knew about it is that Myrna Loy was in it and if that woman is in a film I have to see it!

            Kit Preston (Doris Day) was walking home from in incredibly thick fog when she hears someone call out to her from behind a statue. The voice is comical yet menacing. It tells her that she does not have long to live. Kit is well frightened but when she gets home her husband Anthony (Rex Harrison) calms her down and the moment is taken out of her mind.

            Unfortunately, the voice comes back and tortures Kit mercilessly. It calls her house constantly to tell her she does not have long to live and other things. Anthony takes her to the police station to speak to a detective. The detective thinks that Kit is just trying to get Anthony’s attention since he is never really home.

            Kit tries desperately for someone to believe her and tell Anthony that they too heard the voice. Her aunt Bea (Myrna Loy) comes into town. For a while Kit is very happy and does not really tell Bea what is going on. Kit has a complete meltdown in front of Anthony and Bea when Bea picks up the phone and the caller just says he was getting back to Kit. Bea knows that Kit is not making this stuff up but Anthony seems like he is taking the side of the detective.

            There are plenty of other players in this mystery of who is stalking Kit and you will not know how the major players are until the very end.

            As I said I watched Midnight Lace for Myrna Loy. I adore this woman so much I will sit through anything she is in, including a Doris Day film. I am not a massive fan of Doris Day there is something about her I cannot get into so there was no way I would have seen this film had Loy not been in it. Of course Loy steals the whole film in my opinion. She was as just as sharp and witty as she was in her most well-known films in the thirties and forties. And I have to say Loy’s red hair and amazingly light blue eyes were a joy to see in color she was so stunning.

            Producer Ross Hunter wanted to work with Myrna Loy. He produced Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. In Loy’s fantastic autobiography Being and Becoming, Hunter is quoted as saying about Loy:

I had always wanted to work with Myrna, and the part of Doris Day’s worldly aunt in Midnight Lace made it possible. I’ve never worked with anybody who gave so much to a role. She made a good role excellent. And she always looked great… Myrna cares- that’s why she’s a star. It’s rare in this town that a star remains a star so long. She’s a dependable friend, too, which is even rarer.

When Day has exhausted herself from filming Kit’s breakdown scene and had to be sent home Hunter explained, “We would’ve lost a day’s shooting if Myrna hadn’t stepped in unflustered to do an unscheduled scene in one take. She was ready. That’s a star!”

Loy herself said she enjoyed working on the film. At this point in her career she was fifty-five and no longer considered a real leading lady. She said she had spent so long and worked so hard to become a leading lady and at this time she had to learn to step aside. In my opinion, whatever Loy was in, either as a leading lady or a side character, she was always the main attraction. Her sharp wit immediately takes the cake as soon as she starts talking to Day in this film.

Rex Harrison I am not a real huge fan of either. He does not bother but he does not entertain me. He is just kind of there.

Midnight Lace was alright. It took me some time to get through it because I got bored. Plus, I knew who the real stalker was and what the deal was almost as soon as one of the characters was introduced. As I said, I am not a fan of stalker story lines and I am also not a big fan of Doris Day’s so I kind of ignored some of the scenes. Despite my dislike of the story line and the leading actress Midnight Lace is worth watching at least once, especially for Myrna Loy in color. 

The Great Divide (1929)

“Someday you’ll be sorry you broke my heart.”

            This “western” takes place at the boarder of the United States and Mexico known as The Great Divide. Steven Ghent (Ian Keith) is returning home after being away for a long time. He has just sold his mine that he has had for fifteen years. He has been working alone and hard since his partner Frank Ruth died years before. In that time Steven has been taking care of Frank’s daughter. Waiting for him at his house is a young Mexican girl named Manuella (Myrna Loy). She is in love with Steven but he only sees her as a child not as someone he could love.

            Ruth (Dorothy MacKaill), Frank’s daughter, is on her way out west to see Steven about the mine along with her lawyer and a bunch of mooching friends. Ruth is not happy about having to spend time in a small mid western town. She is a lively girl who constantly wants to have a good time and be entertained. Once in town Ruth and her friends walk around and join in the fiesta. Steven and two of his friends ride wildly into town. He almost runs Ruth over with his horse. She is furious with him. She gives him a piece of her mind and calls him a Mexican bandit. Steven plays along with the Mexican bandit line and pretends he is one.

            Steven rides his horse right into a bar. Manuella was in the bar and runs up to Steven. He pushes her away which causes her to become infuriated with him. Ruth saw Steven ride his horse into the bar and is now intrigued by him. He sings a song with his friends and when he is done Ruth wants him to come over. A few moments later they are dancing with each other and Manuella, still in the bar, sees them together and fumes in jealousy. She has the musicians in the bar play flamenco so she can dance to it and gain Steven’s attention. Manuella’s plan works for a bit until Ruth notices him staring at the dancing girl and gets his attention right back.

            Manuella’s jealousy soon gets the better of her and she openly threatens to kill Ruth if she does not leave Steven alone. In his defense of Ruth Steven drops his Mexican bandit act to yell at Manuella to leave them both alone. Ruth is upset with Steven and his deception she calls him cheap and immediate goes crawling into the arms of her friend Edgar.  

            When Steven finds out that Ruth is Frank’s daughter he gets mad at what she has become and whisks her away into the desert that night. He does this to show here that there is more to life than partying and needing constant attention. Her lawyer still does not know who Steven really is. Still thinking Steven is a real Mexican bandit he announces that there will be a ten thousand dollar reward for whoever finds Ruth and captures the bandit who took her.

            Steven and Ruth return to his house a few days later. They are now both in love with each other which should not be a shock to anyone reading this. Manuella shows up out of the blue and looking for a throw down with Ruth.

            Of course everything works out in the end and Steven and Ruth are happily together.

             The Great Divide has all the hallmarks of an early sound film. The acting is not that great as the actors were still getting used to acting out the lines they were speaking. The camera was stationary and the cuts were very few. I would not have come near The Great Divide if Myrna Loy had not been in it. The story was not too bad but it is one that has continued to be made over and over since the dawn of the movies. I think the only reason it is available at all through Warner Archive is because Loy is in it. At the time she made this film Loy was twenty-four and still playing exotic characters even though she was a redheaded Irish, Welsh, and Scottish girl from Montana. It pained me to hear Loy try to fake a Spanish accent. Her early speaking roles just pain me in general but as a massive obsessive Myrna Loy fan I have to see whatever films of hers I can find. Unless you are a Myrna Loy fan like me than there is no reason to watch The Great Divide. If you are interested in watching it the film is available to view in full on YouTube.