Midnight Lace ending explained: Kit's harasser in the film, revealed

If you are someone who loves to indulge in an engaging, mind-boggling thriller, and also love pretty vintage fashion, you might not want to miss out on the 1960s classic, Midnight Lace.

This David Miller directorial follows the plot of a wealthy woman named Kit, who has just stepped into experiencing marital bliss with her husband Tony. But after just three months since their marriage, Kit finds herself being stalked and intimidated by an unknown entity.

She repeatedly hears a haunting voice of a man that makes murder threats, and also faces verbal abuse on calls. She even survives a near-death experience. Meanwhile, Kit finds an unknown man whom she sees in different public places as well as her own residence. Eventually, in the end, Tony does get hold of that trespasser, but the truth is far more than what meets the eye.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Midnight Lace. Reader discretion is advised.

So, who is actually Kit's harasser in Midnight Lace? Well, it is revealed that those menacing voices were the doing of Tony, along with his married neighbor and Kit's friend, Peggy. Apparently, Tony and Peggy indulged in an affair, but in order to gather Kit's wealth, Tony married her out of convenience.

So, if those voices and bizarre telephonic conversations were done by Tony and Peggy, then who was the strange, lanky man who kept following Kit? Well, that intruder is Peggy's former husband, who, after knowing about her affair with Tony, wants to kill them both.

Keep reading to see what more happens in Midnight Lace.

Historical gaslighting, perceived madness and the dubious nature of kismet- all in one comes together in Midnight Lace

In Midnight Lace, Kit Preston is an affluent American woman who lives in London with her British businessman named Tony. Everything looks glitzy and glamorous. The time when the newly married Kit is blushing in love and is relishing a life of opulence and beautiful dresses, her world begins to crumble brutally.

Kit sees herself in terrorizing situations where she hears a piercing, mysterious voice, or, as Peggy calls it, "one of those telephone stalkers with a kink." Kit hears them first when she is headed out to her home, making her way through a foggy street.

Soon, that voice makes its way to reach her residence, through phone calls. The voice throws erotic as well as threatening words at Kit. Meanwhile, Kit brushes with mortality as she finds herself almost getting killed by a girder that drops from a building. She is saved by the young dashing man, Brian, who is a WWII veteran.

In the due course of the storyline, Kit again faces a distressing situation in a stuck elevator. A shadow lurks in, and the moment we think that finally the intruder could be revealed, it is Brian again out at her rescue!

When this harassment issue is being brought to the cops, they brush it aside, thinking it is "all in her head." Meanwhile, Tony seems to be quite an emotionally unavailable husband who is swamped up with his work. He seems lovable towards Kit on the surface, but he prioritizes his business deals over his foreign trips with his wife.

Kit is unfortunately faced with an overwhelmingly unpleasant experience everywhere in Midnight Lace. If all of this weren't enough, the diabolical Malcolm, who is Kit's maid's Nora's son, verbally torments Kit to extort money from her. Meanwhile, there has been a theft of capital in Tony's company.

The only people who give solace and comfort to Kit in this distress are Aunt Bea and Peggy. But slowly, everyone begins to think something is "wrong" with Kit. They begin to believe that these are all a manifestation of Kit's mind, because nobody else is bearing witness to the intangible things that she is experiencing. Even that mysterious man is not able to catch hold of it.

Finally, at the end of Midnight Lace, in order to catch the harasser, Inspector Byrnes and Tony stage a scene where Tony pretends to leave, whilst Byrnes is just outside their residence. Soon, the man appears in front of Kit and Tony, but interestingly, he only attacks Tony. That man is Peggy's former husband, who knows about her and Tony's affair and is now thirsting for their blood.

Meanwhile, Tony reveals to Kit that those telephonic conversations were a part of his and Peggy's plan in order to frame Kit as a lonely, delusional wife who is hearing voices in her head. Peggy tormented Kit by playing those unsettling voices on the tape, and eventually, both Tony and Peggy would kill Kit.

Tony was eyeing Kit's wealth, as he wanted a means to clear off his debts. So by portraying Kit as a 'hysterical' woman and fabricating her murder as a case of suicide, Tony thought he could achieve his motive. But alas! Life had other plans for Tony and Peggy. As they were following Kit, little did they know that the consequences of their actions were actually following them.

In the meantime, when Peggy's ex-husband enters the scene, Tony and Peggy's plans get interrupted. In the end, we know that Tony's actions are revealed by the Inspector. Brian again comes to Kit's rescue, as he ensures that she reaches home safely.

Midnight Lace explores the stereotype of the "hysterical" woman who has been gaslit all the way. In the film, Tony knew very well how society perceives women, and he tried to use that to achieve his motive. He knows that the patriarchal society does not believe in women when they express discomfort and abuse. Historically, women have either been perceived to be liars or hysterical, with their pain being mostly received with dismissal.

Same thing happens with Kit in Midnight Lace. Even though she is an affluent woman with economic and social privilege, she too was subjected to experiencing marital abuse, systemic gaslighting and mental harassment.

The film stars Doris Day, Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy, John Gavin, Natasha Parry, John Williams, Roddy McDowall and many others.