Review of Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) by Stu B — 01 Aug 2018
An odd concoction by '40s-'50s auteur Jean Negulesco, starring a mostly stone-faced Gary Merrill (who looks like he lost his dog, but in fact has left his wife) as a plane crash survivor who contacts the families of three of the victims to share their loved ones' final moments.
Merrill is fine, but the real reason to watch is the supporting cast: a young and beautiful Shelley Winters as a struggling actress, a nicely understated Beatrice Straight as the widow of a guilt-ridden doctor, and--in the final segment--a paralyzed and bedbound (yet reasonably effective) Bette Davis (!).
Corny and melodramatic, with lots of flashbacks and awkward shifts in tone meant, no doubt, to elicit the audience's tears in one scene and laughs the next, and one of those obscure little films that almost certainly never made it to the top of anyone's must-see list.
A pleasant enough way to spend ninety minutes, but that's all.
This review of Phone Call from a Stranger (1952) was written by Stu B on 01 Aug 2018.
Phone Call from a Stranger has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
