Sorry, Wrong Number
Encyclopedia
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American suspense film noir
directed by Anatole Litvak
. It tells the story of a woman who overhears a plot for murder. It stars Barbara Stanwyck
, Burt Lancaster
, Ann Richards
, Wendell Corey
, Ed Begley
, Leif Erickson
and William Conrad
.
The film was adapted by Lucille Fletcher
from her radio play. It is one of the few pre-1950 Paramount Pictures
films that remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by Universal
).
After a number of phone calls, the terrorized Leona begins to piece together the mystery. Her uneducated husband, who works for her wealthy father, turns out to be not all he seems. Finally, to her horror, Leona realizes she is the intended victim.
. The movie is shot in real time, with many flashbacks to flesh out the story.
Stanwyck's bedroom window overlooks the night skyline of Manhattan
. The film is shot very dark, with looming shadows and circling camera shots used to maintain a high level of suspense.
Hollywood's Production Code Administration initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of illegal drug trafficking, and the script was significantly revised to win approval.
radio program on May 25, 1943, essentially a one-woman show with Agnes Moorehead
as Mrs. Stevenson. The play was reprised seven times, each starring Moorehead. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. However, there was another radio version: on January 9, 1950, Lux Radio Theater
broadcast an adaptation of the film, with Stanwyck recreating her big screen role. The radio is now being broadcasted in many countries such as Guam, Ecuador, and India.
play on a local New York
station on January 30, 1946 starring Mildred Natwick
and G. Swayne Gordon. A second live teleplay was broadcast on November 4, 1954, as the fourth episode of the CBS
anthology series, Climax!, starring Lillian Bronson, adapted by Fletcher herself, with music provided by her then-husband, Bernard Herrmann
. It was remade into another television version in 1989, starring Loni Anderson
, Patrick Macnee
and Hal Holbrook
. It was directed by Tony Wharmby
and adapted by Ann Louise Bardach
.
On 17 October 1948, Stanwyck did a parody of Sorry, Wrong Number on The Jack Benny Program
.
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
. It tells the story of a woman who overhears a plot for murder. It stars Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
, Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
, Ann Richards
Ann Richards (actress)
Ann Richards was an Australian actress, who achieved notability in Australian films as Shirley Ann Richards before moving to the United States where she continued her career as a film actress, mainly as an MGM starlet....
, Wendell Corey
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey was an American actor and politician.He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey and Julia Etta McKenney . His father was a Congregationalist clergyman...
, Ed Begley
Ed Begley
Edward James Begley, Sr. was an Academy Award-winning American actor.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in...
, Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...
and William Conrad
William Conrad
William Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television....
.
The film was adapted by Lucille Fletcher
Lucille Fletcher
Lucille Fletcher was an American screenwriter of film, radio and television. Her full name was Violet Lucille Fletcher...
from her radio play. It is one of the few pre-1950 Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
films that remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by Universal
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
).
Plot
Stanwyck plays Leona Stevenson, a spoiled, bedridden daughter of a millionaire. The telephone is her sole connection with the outside world. One day, while listening to what seems to be a crossed phone connection, she eavesdrops on two men planning a woman's murder. Leona calls the phone company and police, only to be ignored. Adding to Leona's dilemma is the fact that her husband Henry (Lancaster) is missing.After a number of phone calls, the terrorized Leona begins to piece together the mystery. Her uneducated husband, who works for her wealthy father, turns out to be not all he seems. Finally, to her horror, Leona realizes she is the intended victim.
Production
Sorry, Wrong Number conforms to many of the conventions of film noirFilm noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
. The movie is shot in real time, with many flashbacks to flesh out the story.
Stanwyck's bedroom window overlooks the night skyline of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The film is shot very dark, with looming shadows and circling camera shots used to maintain a high level of suspense.
Hollywood's Production Code Administration initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of illegal drug trafficking, and the script was significantly revised to win approval.
Radio play
Fletcher's play originally aired on the SuspenseSuspense (radio program)
-Production background:One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
radio program on May 25, 1943, essentially a one-woman show with Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
as Mrs. Stevenson. The play was reprised seven times, each starring Moorehead. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. However, there was another radio version: on January 9, 1950, Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
broadcast an adaptation of the film, with Stanwyck recreating her big screen role. The radio is now being broadcasted in many countries such as Guam, Ecuador, and India.
Other adaptations
Sorry, Wrong Number was made into a televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
play on a local New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
station on January 30, 1946 starring Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
and G. Swayne Gordon. A second live teleplay was broadcast on November 4, 1954, as the fourth episode of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
anthology series, Climax!, starring Lillian Bronson, adapted by Fletcher herself, with music provided by her then-husband, Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
. It was remade into another television version in 1989, starring Loni Anderson
Loni Anderson
Loni Kaye Anderson is an American actress who played the role of Jennifer Marlowe on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.- Early life :...
, Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
and Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
. It was directed by Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby is an English television director and producer.Wharmby is best known for his directorial work on television series such as JAG, NCIS, The O.C., Bones, Providence, Coronation Street, High Sierra Search and Rescue, The X-Files, Coins in the Fountain, New Scotland Yard, Gossip Girl,...
and adapted by Ann Louise Bardach
Ann Louise Bardach
Ann Louise Bardach is an American journalist and non-fiction author. Bardach is best known for her work on Cuba and Miami and was called "the go-to journalist on all things Cuban and Miami," by the Columbia Journalism Review having interviewed people such as Fidel Castro, Juanita Castro, Luis...
.
On 17 October 1948, Stanwyck did a parody of Sorry, Wrong Number on The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...
.