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Rating:  -
The Bottom Line:
Though Sorry Wrong Number can sometimes feel a little stagebound (its radio origins are often noticable), it's a taut and intriguing thriller which has held up well over the years and can still shock you with its cruel punchline.
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Barbara Stanwyck was such a terrific actress that even though she is insanely miscast in this 1948 Anatole Litvak film as Leona, the wealthy invalid heiress who accidentally overhears a murder being plotted over the phone, she is still incredibly affecting and powerful. Agnes Moorehead has a terrific success in the original Lucille Fletcher radio play of the same name and was asked to reprise it six more times during her career, but the studio heads at Paramount chose to cast Stanwyck instead, whose Brooklyn accent seems exactly wrong for the wealthy Chicago-bred Leona and who seems extremely unconvincing in the scenes Fletcher added to her own radio play where Leona's supposed to be a college student (Stanwyck was forty when the film was made). To make Stanwyck's casting seem even more confusing, the producers chose Ed Begley, only six years Stanwyck's senior, as her adoring father the pharmaceutical king, and Burt Lancaster, six years Stanwyck's junior (but looking much younger with a long shock of light hair), as her morally corrupt husband. But once you get over this, Stanwyck makes the whole thing work just through her sheer nerve: when she begins to realize the woman the killers have been hired to get is actually herself, she becomes incredibly affecting and makes the work's famous finale unbearably suspenseful. Fletcher's attempts to "open up" the radio play have been hugely criticized for making the whole work too convoluted, but the director, Anatole Litvak, seems most animated by the beautiful haunting desolate beach scenes the expansion allows him to film which are supposedly set in Staten Island. With William Conrad as a mobster and Ann Richards as Leona's college roommate from Lancaster's character's Podunk hometown, each speaking in tones far too plummy and with diction far too excruciatingly correct to be very believable.
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The first time I saw this film was in 1992 at school. For years the movie's memories never left me and I made a effort to locate this film in 2005 or so only to a dead end. I confused this film with "Dial M for murder." I finally was able to locate this film in 2006 and bought a VHS copy on ebay for like $1.00. I'd like to get the DVD version eventually but it may need to wait. I am glad that they did not "colorize" this film on DVD or else I would stick with my VHS version. This film remains a classic by remaining in black and white.
Overall excellent acting and drama! 5 stars!!
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I loved this movie when it first came out. I had a hard time watching some very tense scenes but that was part of the fun. The DVD arrived on time and in good condition. Thanks. Amazon.com has always given me great service. M Khaldi
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Leona (Barbara Stanwyck) is a rich invalid who is driving her husband (Burt Lancaster) crazy with her attempts to keep him dependent on her financially. When one night he doesn't come home, Leona attempts to call him. Picking up the receiver, she discovers the line in use. A moment of unintentional eavesdropping reveals a murder plot that Leona is helpless to prevent.
For her performance, Stanwyck earned an Oscar nomination. The film is exquisitely directed by Anatole Litvak (the philandering husband of Miriam Hopkins). This is a classic example of film noir and the perfect date night movie. "Sorry....wrong numba..."
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