Sorry, Wrong Number
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Movie Reviews of Sorry, Wrong Number
Movie Review: Radio Suspense Makes Movie Thrills
Summary: 5 Stars
Lucille Fletcher's gripping story of a bed-bound woman who overheard her own murder being plotted when her phone connection was crossed made for one of the most exciting edge-of-your-seat thrillers ever produced for radio. Originally airing on Suspense with Agnes Moorehead in the lead role, and later Barbara Stanwyck, it would be broadcast an unprecedented seven times due to its incredible popularity. It was a forgone conclusion it would make it to film, and when it did, those who had doubted the claustrophobia of the radio version would translate well to the visual medium were treated to something every bit as good as what they'd heard over the airwaves while the lights were low.
Hal Wallis would produce more than one excellent noir melodrama with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead, and Sorry, Wrong Number was one of their finest collaborations. Stanwyck gives a very brave performance for a star of her caliber, allowing the audience to see a selfish and controlling woman hard to like through most of this film. It created sympathy for Burt Lancaster as her husband, Henry, who may have been bullied too far, and be in on the plot to kill her. In those nail-biting final moments, however, when Stanwyck is stripped and vulnerable, we see that it was insecurity that fueled her behavior, changing our opinion and creating panic in our hearts, as someone makes their way up the stairs.
A telephone is the link between life and death when Leona tries to call her husband from bed and somehow overhears the detailed conversation of two men plotting a woman's murder at 11:15 that night. Not thinking for a moment it was her own murder they were plotting, she tries desperately to have the operator connect her to someone who can help. Through phone calls, flashbacks and inventiveness on Livak's part, everything prior unfolds until the viewer is hanging on the next scene, wondering if it's headed where they think it is, and engrossed in how it got to that point. Leona stole Henry away from his Grassville sweetheart, Sally Hunt. Ann Richards is wonderful in creating sympathy for the girl Henry probably belonged with but was weak enough to lose. She still cares for him, and when her attorney husband seems to be focused on something big involving him, she has to find out if he's in any danger.
It is moody and atmospheric as she tails men to the beach and a house where mysterious signals precede the arrival by sea she knows can be no good for Henry. As she goes from phone to phone booth to give the desperate Leona a warning as the clock ticks, a story of Leona's suffocating love driving a weak man to take his chance at something his own is revealed. When Henry gets too greedy, however, it could be a vulnerable Leona who has to pay the price. William Conrad, whose own career had ties to radio, portraying Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke for years, is first-rate as the smarter crook, Morano. At 11:15 Henry has a change of heart and Leona realizes the phone call was about her own murder. But the footsteps on the stairs may be impossible to stop now. The viewer will find themselves leaning forward, willing her to get to the open window and scream for help. Stanwyck is magnificent here, just as on radio. Interestingly, Stanwyck would appear in an episode of Jack Benny's radio show in which he and the gang went to see this film, and afterward had a dream about it. Stanwyck had some great lines, and the spoof proved to be one of the most hilarious Benny ever did.
Beautifully photographed by Sol Polito, and framed by a suspenseful Franz Waxman score, director Antole Litvak gives this lonely and atmospheric thriller the wider scope required for the film medium through the use of flashbacks and shots of the harbor and bridge outside Leona's bedroom window. It is done so well the viewer never gets the sense this was once a radio play confined entirely to an invalid's bedroom. Having Tangerine playing on the car radio as Leona seduces Henry away from Sally is also a nice atmospheric touch, as it was playing softly down the street in a famous scene from Stanwyck's Double Indemnity as well. Harold Vermilyea is excellent as Henry's amiable accomplice who realizes before he does they are in over their heads. Wedell Corey, who would star with Stanwyck in another great Hal Wallis production, The File on Thelma Jordan, offers some good scenes as the doctor who clues Lancaster in on Leona's real condition.
This is film full of suspense and atmospheric touches, with a tremendous performance from Barbara Stanwyck no one who has seen this film ever forgets. A must see for classic film fans.
Movie Review: A murder mystery is solved before the murder takes place
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie shows how much things have changed and yet have stayed the same. Take the opening charge of the movie:"In the tangled networks of a great city, the telephone is the unseen link between a million lives...it is the servant of our common needs--the confidante of our inmost secrets...life and happiness wait upon its ring...and horror...and loneliness...and death!" With the advent of the cell phone, we have now become its servant. As for being a confidante, we are now all forced to listen to the private conversations of other people in public who can't seem to exist unless constantly squawking away on the little devices.
As for things remaining the same, the suspense devices used in this movie still work. It is from the "film noir" genre in which everyone involved is an unsympathetic character and the outcome is usually tragic. The part of the movie that is not done in flash-back has a gloomy look to it, in spite of Leona's opulant physical environment, that accentuates the impending doom of the situation. As for the plot, poor Henry Stevenson meets wealthy Leona and falls for her - or her money, or both, it's really hard to tell, even from Henry's perspective. Leona certainly falls for Henry, as much as she is capable of falling for anyone. They marry, but after the honeymoon, things begin to fall apart. Bored with their wealthy circumstances and easy lives, they each try to manipulate their own particular situations. Leona wants to hold on to Henry by controlling his every move as one would control a pet. Henry wants a chance to be his own man. Thus their individual goals are at odds with one another, and both are ultimately trapped by their own failings. Leona, however, seems to have the upper hand through a heart condition that causes her health to take a turn for the worse anytime someone disagrees with her. Thanks to her enabling father, played by the great Ed Begley, this doesn't happen very often, though, until Henry comes along.
Thus Leona seems to have Henry whipped, with him playing the part of a titular VP bird in a gilded cage with no legitimate hope of escape. The accent is on legitimate. Henry's current predicament is revealed using a series of flashbacks via a string of telephone calls Leona takes part in one evening when she is all alone in her spacious mansion. In fact, the whole film takes place with Leona in her room on the phone, yet it is quite the thriller. One caller is from her past, Henry's old sweetheart; another is from her present, her personal physician; and finally there is a call from a mild-mannered chemist she doesn't know at all claiming to be Henry's partner in a criminal venture. Each caller fills in a piece of a puzzle that altogether paints a very unflattering picture of Henry, his extra-legal activities, his probable intentions, and Leona's own part in driving Henry to all of this. Particularly chilling is Leona's call to the Bowery 2-1000 number given to her by the chemist who is Henry's accomplice that has called earlier in the evening. She attempts to leave a message, but it is a place where no messages are ever given - the city morgue.
This is a very entertaining film noir with an engrossing and suspenseful plot featuring some excellent acting performances from veteran Barbara Stanwyck and a young Burt Lancaster. It is unusual in the sense that the film's murder mystery is solved - including the victim's identity and the motive for the crime - before the murder actually takes place. I haven't found any boxed sets that include this film, and there are several excellent ones that specifically feature the film noir genre. Thus, if you want this movie, you'll have to buy the individual DVD.
Movie Review: "HENRY, THERE'S SOMEBODY COMING UP THE STAIRS!!!"
Summary: 5 Stars
The 1948 chiller "Sorry, Wrong Number" is a film I've seen many times, and will doubtlessly see many more. This stylish black-and-white thriller, which stars Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, does a great job of building up to its chilling, "hide-under-the-covers" climax. It's impossible for me NOT to get the shivers every time I see that murderous shadow of the killer slowly ascending those stairs! A brilliant scene. The shadowy image of the murderer at the end of this film is one of the creepiest and most effective shots I've ever seen. Coupled with the film's grade-A music score, it makes that final act all the more bone-chilling.
William Conrad has a nice role here, too, playing a rather unsavory acquaintance of Lancaster's. And let's not forget Ed Begley, who is just fine as Miss Stanwyck's father.
"Sorry" unfolds in a series of flashback scenes (in fact, there's even one scene that features a "flashback within a flashback"). It never gets overly confusing however, with everything coming together nicely in the final act.
While Barbara Stanwyck is very good as the distressed main character ("Leona Cotterell-Stevenson"), I can't help but wonder what this film would have been like if Agnes Moorehead had starred in the part instead. Moorehead is famous for playing the role numerous times on radio.
This DVD-Video from Paramount Home Entertainment provides viewers with a darn-good video transfer of "Sorry, Wrong Number". The dark, shadow-filled "noir"-like qualities that emanate from this film translate nicely to the TV screen via this disc. The picture isn't 100% pristine here, with some grain noise dancing around in some scenes -- but I think it looks very good overall. The video aspect ratio is the intended Full Frame (1.33:1); with the original Mono audio pleasantly replicated here (in Dolby Digital 2-Channel form).
The DVD sports a French Mono audio track, too. Plus English subtitles. The Theatrical Trailer is also included. The trailer is the only "bonus" on the disc, but it's a honey. With a run time of 2:44, the trailer is the good old-fashioned type, which has dramatic phrases flashed in large, imposing letters on the screen to draw viewers into the theater. Enticing them to see (per this film's trailer) "The Most Electrifying Experience The Screen Has Ever Offered!" -- Think that might be a wee bit of an overstatement here? Well, in any event, that's up to each movie-watcher to decide I suppose. What is "electrifying" to one person might be nothing more than a wet sparkler to another. ;)
A two-sided, one-page insert comes in the Keep Case for "Sorry", with a Chapter List on one side (11 chapter breaks).
Some of my favorite dialogue from "Sorry, Wrong Number":
>> Miss Stanwyck, after being asked over the telephone by the rather shady "Waldo Evans" to repeat back a multiplicity of instructions intended for her husband --- "REPEAT IT BACK TO YOU!! ARE YOU INSANE?!" (The one hysterically-funny moment in the picture.)
>> "Well, who is this? What number am I calling?!" .... "Bowery 2, one-thousand, ma'am -- the city morgue."
If you're looking for a really good mystery/suspense story, "Sorry, Wrong Number" is a can't-miss choice. Just watch out for that guy on your stairs!
Movie Review: A Murder Mystery Milestone
Summary: 5 Stars
Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster were two of the most dynamic stars in Hollywood history and together they generated fireworks in "Sorry, Wrong Number." Anatole Litvak directed this mystery classic along with "Snake Pit" and both were released in 1948. Both "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "Snake Pit" deal with psychiatric problems, a major winner during the period following Alfred Hitchcock's success in "Spellbound" three years earlier.
Based on a radio drama, the film revolves around Stanwyck overhearing a party line conversation concerning what she soon realizes is a plan to murder her that evening. The bed ridden woman then frantically pieces together all the information she can about the planned event. She becomes overwhelmed when she realizes that Lancaster, who is conveniently away on business, is part of the mix.
A surprise that emerges during all the investigation, which involves convincingly applied flashbacks, is Stanwyck's physical condition. She refers to herself as an invalid and lives the part, but Wendell Corey in the role of a doctor consulted by Lancaster reveals that Stanwyck's problems are psychological rather than physiological as her periodic "attacks" occur whenever her husband challenges the status quo.
The plight into which Stanwyck ultimately descends results from her strong-willed and spoiled manner as a young woman who sees Lancaster and plucks him from the arms of a woman from his own station in life who loves him. Her father, played by Ed Begley, is a Chicago pharmaceutical giant who initially balks over her intention to marry a man from a poor family who has lived his entire life in a small town and is a high school dropout. The unrelenting Stanwyck is used to getting her way and it proves to her ultimate disadvantage with Lancaster.
Some reviewers criticized the film by stating that Lancaster, a he man type, was miscast as someone who is pigeonholed by a rich woman and put in a showcase vice president's job working under her father with few responsibilities other than satisfying her. They missed the point of recognizing that the film's dramatic tension springs from the conflict within Lancaster, who is too strong and independent to function as a "toy boy" for a spoiled rich woman. Eventually he tells her, "I've learned to like this life but on my own terms." Stanwyck is then confronted with a monster of her own creation.
When Lancaster turns against Stanwyck it is with a vengeance as he convinces a chemist to unite with him to make money by siphoning off some of the company's drug supply and selling it to the mob for a huge profit. William Conrad plays the part of the mob boss with stern conviction.
The clock ultimately winds down for Lancaster as well as Stanwyck as they both become enmeshed in complicated mob machinations.
Movie Review: A Little Treasure for Fans of Suspense
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite the fact the film came out in 1948, it still holds up and even exceeds many of today's so-called thrillers in terms of storytelling and suspense.
There are a few things about this thriller that sets it apart from the rest. One is that it's believeable. Second, her process of investigation, trying to track her husband while also trying to get someone to do something about the murder plot is simply use of common sense instead of these extremely complicated ways of discovering plot points in the majority of today's films. She's an invalid and faced with that dilemma, they successfully distract us from the time as each call takes us back, giving an understanding of why she'll be murdered at 11:15.
By the time this film reaches its climax, we understand the pain and frustration of each of these characters, who are both the cause of the horrible event about to take place.
The climax would have failed had we not been set up properly. Without an understanding of both points of view, that ending never would have paid off because you wouldn't have believed in their remorse in the end.
By the time they realize the mistakes they've made, it's too late to right them and this little treasure of a film delivers one of best last lines ever in a movie. And who could forget Bowery 2-1000?
With so many films remade today including "The Haunting," "House of Wax" and "House on Haunted Hill," you wonder why somebody hasn't attempted to update this story. Very rarely does Hollywood acheive a successful remake, but if it's good stories they want (and those are usually the ones to make good box office returns) they should take notes from Sorry, Wrong Number. The only film I can think of that even resembles this film is "Cellular" and it doesn't hold a candle to this classic.
So, if you want to curl up on your couch on a cold, October night with a bowl full of popcorn, I recommend this little jem for a night of genuine suspense.