"Sorry, Wrong Number", on the surface, seems derivative of every other suspense drama from the 1940s with its climactic score and shadowy cinematography. Yet, at the end of this gripping thriller (which is economically paced at 88 minutes), I was stunned at how it really stands on its own as a great piece of film-making. It is full of heart-stopping suspense, twists and turns, and an ending I guarantee you won't see coming. Another surprise is our heroine, bed-ridden heiress Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), isn't your typical, spunky female lead (like, say, Theresa Wright in "Shadow of a Doubt") or a coolly elegant Hitchcock blonde knockoff. On the contrary, our protagonist is, in many ways, the antagonist. Leona is a shrill, spoiled, manipulative rich girl who bulldozes her way into humble young Henry (Burt Lancaster, looking remarkably clean-cut)'s heart until he agrees to marry her. A so-called heart condition forces Henry to agree to Leona's every whim, all for the sake of her fragile health. But Henry's patience with his domineering wife starts to wear thin, and it's one fateful night when Leona accidentally overhears a murder plot on the phone that she faces not only some ugly truths about herself, but also her own mortality.
I really loved the slow camera work in this movie, the way it cautiously creeps over every bit of scenery, enhancing Leona's (and our) sense of dread. Kudos as well to whoever put the sound of a rotary dial in the score during the opening credits. After you've seen this movie, that sound becomes downright menacing. "Sorry, Wrong Number" relies heavily on the convention of flashbacks, so if you have no patience for this plot device, this is not the movie for you.
Stanwyck makes Leona someone you root for, even though she plays the most hateful rich girl this side of Paris Hilton. Then again, Stanwyck also made a con artist lovable in "The Lady Eve" and a middle-aged schemer in "Double Indemnity" sexy, so it really comes as no surprise. She also shows how Leona's icy calm slowly unravels, and by the movie's end she looks as if she's aged a decade.
Lancaster is also good as the fed-up husband, creating a character so complex you don't know what to think of him.
This is an underrated, unconventional classic that is especially powerful seen in the dark. See it, and count your blessings that we no longer live in the era of rotary dials and inefficient operators.
I really loved the slow camera work in this movie, the way it cautiously creeps over every bit of scenery, enhancing Leona's (and our) sense of dread. Kudos as well to whoever put the sound of a rotary dial in the score during the opening credits. After you've seen this movie, that sound becomes downright menacing. "Sorry, Wrong Number" relies heavily on the convention of flashbacks, so if you have no patience for this plot device, this is not the movie for you.
Stanwyck makes Leona someone you root for, even though she plays the most hateful rich girl this side of Paris Hilton. Then again, Stanwyck also made a con artist lovable in "The Lady Eve" and a middle-aged schemer in "Double Indemnity" sexy, so it really comes as no surprise. She also shows how Leona's icy calm slowly unravels, and by the movie's end she looks as if she's aged a decade.
Lancaster is also good as the fed-up husband, creating a character so complex you don't know what to think of him.
This is an underrated, unconventional classic that is especially powerful seen in the dark. See it, and count your blessings that we no longer live in the era of rotary dials and inefficient operators.