Wait Until Dark
by Terence Young
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Arkin, Audrey Hepburn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Richard CrennaDirector: Terence Young
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Wait Until Dark
Movie Review: Implausible but engrossing thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
The thrills of "Wait Until Dark" have diminished somewhat through the years. The thriller, released in late 1967, is still impressive for Audrey Hepburn's Oscar nominated performance as Suzy Hendricks, a blind woman terrorized in her apartment by a trio of thugs searching for a child's doll stuffed with heroin, as well as for Alan Arkin's snake-like Mr. Roat, the leader of the termites. But the nightmare she experiences could have been avoided if she had simply locked the door and called the police. When watching it recently, I kept asking myself, "Why doesn't she lock the door and call the police?"
Did Frederick Knott, the author of the play on which the film was based, ask that question when writing it?
Did Fred Coe, who staged the original Broadway production, ask that question before or during the show's run?
Did Mel Ferrer, who optioned the film rights when the play was still in galley form, question the character's lack of common sense in this matter while showing such courage and intelligence otherwise?
Did Audrey Hepburn, then married to Ferrer, wonder why her character never simply bolted the door to prevent the intrusion?
When viewing the film at a private screening, did Jack L. Warner ever question the implausible scenario?
Somehow or other, it still works, though less effectively than it did when I was an 11-year-old watching the creepy goings on while munching popcorn, licking my buttered fingers, and sipping a then reasonably priced Coca-Cola.
Despite the claustrophobic setting, the film avoids appearing like a filmed play. Much of the credit for that probably belongs to Terence Young, whose greatest claim to fame was, and remains, as director of three of the first four James Bond movies ("Dr. No," "From Russia With Love," and "Thunderball"). Accustomed to, and proficient at, action and adventure, he keeps the film moving.
Brian W. Fairbanks
Summary of Wait Until Dark
Audrey Hepburn's last Oscar nomination was for this adaptation of Frederick Knott's famed stage thriller about a blind woman, a con man (Alan Arkin), and a doll full of heroin. Thanks to Hepburn's husband, a photographer who does a good deal of traveling, she's unknowingly come into possession of said doll, which was given to him on a plane by a comely young drug runner who winds up dead. The murderous Arkin, aided by sympathetic henchman Richard Crenna, will let nothing stand in the way of his obtaining it, even if it comes down to assaying multiple "personalities" in order to visit and terrorize Hepburn; Crenna is unwillingly enlisted to help. However, the "world's champion blind lady" (as Hepburn sardonically states) is more than up to the task of defending herself in her basement Manhattan apartment in a heart-stopping climax that to this day still defines the way horror movies with jack-in-the-box psychos are made. Despite the obvious staginess of it all (the entire action takes place in Hepburn's apartment), it still works magnificently, thanks to Hepburn's steely will and Arkin's deadly, sadistic madman. A helpful hint: turn out all the lights when you watch it; theaters back in 1967 did so, killing the guiding lights during the film's last 15 minutes. We can't tell you why, but trust us, it's worth it. --Mark EnglehartA photographer's blind wife, trapped in her New York apartment by an evil trio who are ready to murder to retrieve a heroin-filled doll hidden in her apartment, cleverly outwits them. Music by Henry Mancini. Based on the long running Broadway play by Frederick Knott.
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