Lucille Fletcher's Sorry, Wrong Number, written in 1943 (with Agnes Moorehead in mind for the lead role of Leona Stevenson) and first broadcast on radio's Suspense anthology series in 1943, is the story of a bedridden invalid terrorized after accidentally overhearing a murder plot on the telephone (click here to read the original radio script). The program was so popular it was repeated seven more times over the 20 year run of Suspense, with Agnes Moorehead reprising her role each time.
The play was adapted for the screen in 1948 by Fletcher herself, with a greater backstory and forestory in order to expand it from the 22-minute radio play to the feature-film length of 89 minutes. Moorehead, an accomplished film actress with roles inCitizen Kane, Dragon Seed, and Lost Moment (among others) and Best Actress Oscar nominations for The Magnificent Ambersons and Mrs. Parkington, would seem to have been a natural choice for the film adaptation; and in fact, she had campaigned for it:
"Of course I wanted to play ... in Sorry, Wrong Number. It had been written for me by Lucille Fletcher, and I must have done it on radio about 18 (sic) times. I went to Hal Wallis at Paramount when they were casting it to put my hat in the ring, but he said he owed Barbara (Stanwyck) a picture and that I could have a supporting role. I said no. I'm not bitter about it, I let the chips fall where they may and go on from there." Then, with a chuckle, she added: "They played my recording constantly on the set." |
To help Stanwyck with her difficult performance arc of fear and hysteria, director Anatole Litvak shot all Stanwyck's scenes in sequence over a span of twelve days, and the result was Stanwyck's well-earned Oscar nomination for Best Actress (which she lost to Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda).
The film itself was nominated for the 1949 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture, and the play was later adapted for television in 1989 with (shudder) Loni Anderson in the lead role. With casting like that, one wonders why they didn't put Gary Coleman in the role of Henry Stevenson.
Film Synopsis:
Young, Rich, bedridden Barbara Stanwyck dials a telephone number one night and overhears two men plotting the murder of an unidentified woman. She becomes frantic. Her terror is intensified by mysterious calls from an old college rival and a friend of her father. With time running out, Stanwyck pieces evidence together that leads her to suspect that it is her husband (Burt Lancaster) who wants her murdered.
Technical
| Video: |
Fullscreen 1.33:1 |
| Audio: |
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Mono |
| Subtitles: |
English, Closed Captions |
| Chapters: |
11 |
The video transfer of the black & white
film is fine, although the contrast is somewhat lower than we would like. There
are also some weak spots, particularly near reel changes, but certainly not more than
would be expected in a film a half-century old. The sound level
is set slightly on the low side, but that is easily taken care of with
the volume control; once set at an appropriate level, the monophonic soundtrack is reproduced clearly.
There are no Easter Eggs, and if anybody calls you to tell you
there are, hang up.
