Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Lucille Fletcher (radio play)
Lucille Fletcher (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 September 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

She overheard the plans for her own destruction!

Plot:

Leona Stevenson is sick and confined to her bed. One night, whilst waiting for he husband to return home...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Apartment | Debt | Embezzlement | Investigation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Leona Stevenson
Burt Lancaster	...	Henry Stevenson
Ann Richards	...	Sally Hunt Lord
Wendell Corey	...	Dr. Alexander
Harold Vermilyea	...	Waldo Evans
Ed Begley	...	James Cotterell
Leif Erickson	...	Fred Lord
William Conrad	...	Morano
John Bromfield	...	Joe - Detective
Jimmy Hunt	...	Peter Lord
Dorothy Neumann	...	Miss Elizabeth Jennings
Paul Fierro	...	Harpootlian

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1949) | USA:Approved (PCA #12493) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Hal Wallis Productions

Trivia:

Film noir adaptation of the famous 1943 radio play.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Whenever camera pans out Leona's window to cityscape with moving cars, city lights, etc., smoke emitting from smokestacks never moves.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Leona Stevenson: Operator! Operator! Operator!
Voice of Operator: Your call please?
Leona Stevenson: Operator, I've been ringing Murray Hill 35097 for the last half hour and the line is always busy. Will you ring it for me, please?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hill Street Blues: Sorry Wrong Number (#7.16)" (1987)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (Unfinished)

Girl, get outta that bed!!

Once you get over the fact that 40-year old Stanwyck is playing a wealthy college coed who marries a 34-year old Burt Lancaster (who is also playing a twentysomething), this is a superb thriller with an ending that packs a wallop no matter how many times you see it. The supporting casts includes Leif Erickson from the TV series "HIGH CHAPARRAL" and a very young William Conrad from "CANNON" fame. Next to "DOUBLE INDEMNITY", this is Stanwyck's finest cinema moment as she metamorphisizes from a spoiled, wealthy hypochondriac, so used to bending her husband and father to her will, into a terrified and helpless victim.

I still say "Girl, get outta bed and RUN!" every time I watch the tape.