Sorry, Wrong Number — Sorry, Wrong Number( DVD)
Sorry, Wrong Number is a complexly plotted, yet rewardingly unfurling noir mystery. The late 1940s film features two greats in its lead roles, with Barbara Stanwyck as a bedbound woman who accidentally gets switched to a wrong number overhearing plans for a murder. And Burt Lancaster as her late home husband. It’s certainly a film that will keep you on your toes, with some neat twists, wonderfully tense moments, and of course top-class acting. Here from Australia’s Viavision Entertainment is a bare-bones DVD release of the film.
The 1948 film was based on a radio play by Lucille Fletcher- the respected Brooklyn-born writer had thirty-plus credits to her name-taking in both thrillers and mysteries. It was directed by Ukrainian-born Anatole Litvak-he had thirty-three credits to his name- these went from the musical comedy of The Song Of The Night(1932), WW one aviator drama Flight Into Darkness (1935), racketeer focused noir Out Of The Fog (1941), romantic drama The Deep Blue Sea (1955), and his final film The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun- which was a mystery thriller featuring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar.
The film begins in an early evening set large New York City-based mansion. In one of the grand upstairs rooms lies Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), who is bedbound due to a long-term ailment. She is starting to get concerned as her husband Henry (Burt Lancaster) has returned from the office. So, she decides to ring him- going through the operator to do so, the phone just rings and rings- then all of a sudden, the line seemingly switches, and she hears two men discussing killing a woman at 11.00 clock that night. This adds to her already neurotic and condescending manner- as she rings around a sequence of people, to try and report the murder plot and track down her seemingly missing husband.
As the film goes along, we get the classic noir flashback trope- and we find out a bit more about the couple. Leona is the frankly spoilt and always got her own way daughter of James Cotterell (Ed Begley) who runs a highly successful pharmaceutical company. And Henry comes from a blue-collar background, on the wrong side of town. The pair meet at a dance, and Leona becomes focused on getting her man- and they soon marry, with Henry going to work in her father's company. The pair live in her father’s mansion. And really any more plotting layout will rather spoil the detailed story/ twists ‘n’ turns of the film, as it moves towards its (frankly for the time) rather downbeat ending.
Stanwyck is really the star of the film, giving a spot-on performance as Leona- who first comes across as entitled and obnoxious, but later as an emotional and rather troubled character. Initially, Lancaster felt somewhat flat, but as the film progresses- this all makes sense, and he unfolds as a well-defined character. The film features a very good supporting cast- with worthy mentions being Begley, as do-anything-for-his-daughter big businessman. Dorothy Neumann as Lancaster’s busybody secretary Miss Jennings, and Harold Vermilyea who plays an at first decidedly creepy chemist, who later on becomes revealed as something quite different. Sorry, Wrong Number runs at just under the one hour and a half mark, and it’s certainly a film you need to fully focus on- as the plot is fairly complex, but most rewarding when we find exactly what is going on.
This region-free Viavision Entertainment features no extras, but the print looks good and clean- so I’m guessing some sort of rescan has been done. In finishing if you enjoy well-written and intricately plotted, at times quite tense and moody mystery in a noir setting, this will most certainly appeal.