Review of Wait Until Dark (1967) by David S — 07 Feb 2013
Directed by Terence Young (Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965)), this is a suspenseful thriller adapted from Frederick Knott's 1966 play. Hitchcock vied for the rights, but Warner Bros.
and producer Mel Ferrer got there first. It's a minimalist piece, and showed what a talented director Young was, and that there was more to him than the early James Bond films. It begins in Montreal, where a doll which has heroin inside is smuggled into the United States by Lisa (Samantha Jones), who asks photographer Sam Hendrix (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
) to hold on to it, and she will collect it later. Some time later, 3 con men, Mike Talman (Richard Crenna), Carlino (Jack Weston) and Harry Roat, Jr. (Alan Arkin) come by to the apartment to look for the doll, only to find it's not there.
They think the flat belongs to Lisa, but it belongs to Sam and his blind wife Susy (Audrey Hepburn). The three crooks come up with a plan to try and recover the doll from Susy, who doesn't know where it's gone to, then it literally gets darker.
It's a good thriller, with a different kind of performance from Hepburn, who gave up acting for 9 years after this film, although she didn't intend to. Arkin plays brilliantly against type, and he plays well with the rest of the cast, the finale is absolutely gripping, and has to be seen in the dark.
This review of Wait Until Dark (1967) was written by David S on 07 Feb 2013.
Wait Until Dark has generally received very positive reviews.
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