Midnight Lace - Kino Lorber - 6/26

[James Luckard]

Looking forward to this, saw it on VHS years and years ago. I remember it as a fun Hitchcockian thriller.



Midnight Lace (1960) with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
• Theatrical Trailer

Color 103 Minutes 2.00:1 Not Rated

Target for Temptation… or Terror! Screen legends Doris Day (Love Me or Leave Me) and Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) star in this shocking Hitchcockian thriller wonderfully directed by David Miller (Sudden Fear). Kit Preston (Day) is the elegant newlywed wife of British financier Anthony Preston (Harrison). Shortly after moving to one of London’s wealthiest neighborhoods, Kit is threatened by an unknown party. The tension mounts as the menacing phone calls continue and her husband shows little concern, until Kit begins to doubt her own sanity and the motives of everyone around her. This nail-biting thriller sports a top-notch supporting cast including Myrna Loy (The Thin Man), John Gavin (Psycho), Roddy McDowall (Lord Love a Duck), Herbert Marshall (The Letter) and Anthony Dawson (Dial M for Murder).

[Todd Tomorrow]

I have the German blu-ray of this which looks so bad, I have up after ten minutes. Hope this looks better.

[BluPat]

I started to buy the German Blu-ray for a while now. Glad I waited!

[Phibes]

Got the DVD at Walmart (was it an exclusive?) for cheap and don't remember it being as bad as the German one is being described. It was from Universal.

Originally Posted by brasil

I have the German blu ray. Great movie, but the blu ray looks to be unrestored from a bad, older scan and it's in Universal's dreaded 1:200 ratio.

Based on the specs listed in blu ray.com, there is no indication Kino is using anything different from what the German blu used.

Pity.

Will wait for review or capsaholic comparisons.

[BluPat]

RIP Doris Day (1922-2019)

So glad Midnight Lace (1960) is coming to Blu-ray. I've never seen it but I was already going to get it.

[tehthomas]

Saw this years ago when AMC used to play old movies. Good flick.

[cooney]

My copy arrived today. As expected, it looks rough (it makes me think for Kino’s recent release of The Bedroom Window). I haven’t checked out the commentary yet but I’m curious to have a listen. But I’m happy to have finally seen it again. My parents loved this so I saw it a few times growing up but completely missed the DVD release so its been a while.

[James Luckard]

FYI - the KL disc actually contains two individual transfers of the film, one 1.78:1 and one 2.00:1.

It's great that they did this, since I believe 2.00 was the preferred Universal aspect ratio at the time, but I suppose it would likely have also been seen in 1.85, which is close enough to 1.78. Presumably the commentary will talk about this.

The 2.00 isn't merely a cropped version of the 1.78, it actually has more information on the sides, though it has less on the top and bottom.

They're both dated but serviceable transfers. The 2.00 looks noticeably better.

I tried adding the info to the database, but there's no option for "1.78 / 2:00," there are only options for "1.78 / 2:20" or "1.85 / 2:00," neither of which is correct.

[Jlouisbarrett]

I just watched this and, yeah... it looks like a very old DVD. These are some rickety old transfers, that’s for sure.

[Jobla]

Then I assume that the film hasn't been restored or remastered.

[Jlouisbarrett]

Definitely not.

[Maczones]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Looking forward to this, saw it on VHS years and years ago. I remember it as a fun Hitchcockian thriller.



Midnight Lace (1960) with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
• Theatrical Trailer

Color 103 Minutes 2.00:1 Not Rated

Target for Temptation… or Terror! Screen legends Doris Day (Love Me or Leave Me) and Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) star in this shocking Hitchcockian thriller wonderfully directed by David Miller (Sudden Fear). Kit Preston (Day) is the elegant newlywed wife of British financier Anthony Preston (Harrison). Shortly after moving to one of London’s wealthiest neighborhoods, Kit is threatened by an unknown party. The tension mounts as the menacing phone calls continue and her husband shows little concern, until Kit begins to doubt her own sanity and the motives of everyone around her. This nail-biting thriller sports a top-notch supporting cast including Myrna Loy (The Thin Man), John Gavin (Psycho), Roddy McDowall (Lord Love a Duck), Herbert Marshall (The Letter) and Anthony Dawson (Dial M for Murder).

Anybody have a photo of the backside of this Bluray?

Mac