starring Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster
directed by Anatole Litvak
89 minutes
Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck) is at home, trying to reach Henty (Burt Lancaster), her husband, by phone, when she somehow overhears a conversation between two men plotting to kill a woman. Leona, an invalid, is home alone and tries to report the potential crime. No one seems interested in listening to her including the police.
Over the course of the next few hours and a few telephone conversations, Leona learns more about her husband than she knew before. More is also revealed about Leona's past, her relationship with her husband, and the condition that has left her an invalid. Ultimately Leona discovers that she is the intended target of the would be murderers.
Ed Begley played the part of Leona's father, who shows up in a couple flashbacks. I saw him most recently in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).
Sorry Wrong Number was originally a 30-minute audio drama that was broadcast on May 25, 1943. Agnes Moorehead played the lead role in the radio broadcast. Lucille Fletcher, the author of the audio drama, adapted the story by adding a lot of background material that was not in the original story.
I listened to the audio drama after watching the movie. It starts out the same as the movie. Leona spent most of it on the phone getting increasingly frustrated when she couldn't get anyone to listen to her. Her husband is mentioned but he does not appear in the audio version, nor does her father. The ending is the same as the movie. On the whole I would say the movie is the better version of the story. The addition of flashbacks and even flashbacks within flashbacks improved the story immensely. I am not a fan of the 25 plus minutes of agitation that make up the audio production.
I like the way this movie is layered together but when it was over I felt a little cheated. The ending was a little too abrupt for me and I never felt invested in the characters.
I saw this movie as part of the 2023 Noir City DC Film Festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment