Review of Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) by David D — 28 Dec 2007

Film noir, and Barbara Stanwyck, were never better. If the first ten minutes grab you hold onto your seat as the last ten will haunt you. The picture opens early in the evening with Miss Stanwyck as a bedridden and all alone Leona Stevenson, the daughter of a pharmaceutical tycoon who is accustomed to getting whatever she wants.

While attempting to make a call phone lines become crossed and she overhears a murder plot scheduled to transpire at 11:15PM that very evening. Attempting to invesigate the eavesdropped conversation, Leona opens a door she wishes she could close.

Fate can sometimes be a funny thing. But Leona's not laughing. I consider this film a work of art as the movie unfolds and events become more clear through an astonishing sequence of flashback. All this leads up to quite possibly the most fantastic ending in cinematic history.

Miss Stanwyck is quite convincing in this role as the fast-talking Leona. Then again, when was Miss Stanwyck never up to the task? It is practically impossible to believe Barbara Stanwyck never won an Academy Award.

She received her fourth and final nomination for her work in this film adapted from the radio play by Lucille Fletcher. The suspense is extraoridnary, especially in the final scene which, interestingly, culminates with the movie's title.

But the real stars in this picture just might be director Anatole Litvak and director of photography Sol Polito. The use of flashback dictates the picture's flow and is developed quite well in the film.

And the overall direction is exquisite. But let's not leave out a very fine performance by Burt Lancaster as the tormented husband of Leona. Add to that a hard-edged supporting cast including Ed Begley, Ann Richards and a young William Conrad of television's "Cannon" fame and you have a recipe for an indelible evening in front of your television set.

But be sure and watch this one in the dark!