Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster star in Sorry, Wrong Number, an odd telephonic thriller that starts off with a bang. Stanwyck, playing a shrill invalid, is at home alone and phoning around to find her husband. Thanks to a crossed wire, she overhears a murder plot, but she can barely get anyone to pay attention to her, let alone believe her. The rest of the film is played out in telephone conversations and flashbacks as our increasingly frightened heroine tries to find her husband and unravel the murder. Stanwyck, as always, gives a terrific performance, managing to make her character both unlikeable and compelling at the same time. Lancaster, as her kept husband, is handsome, virile, and trapped all at once. The plot, expanded to a film from a tight, dark little radio play, wanders at times but gathers itself back together for a corker of an ending. --Ali Davis Amazon.com

"There's someone on the stairs!"

Leona (Barbara Stanwyck) is a rich invalid who is driving her husband (Burt Lancaster) crazy with her attempts to keep him dependent on her financially. When one night he doesn't come home, Leona attempts to call him. Picking up the receiver, she discovers the line in use. A moment of unintentional eavesdropping reveals a murder plot that Leona is helpless to prevent.

For her performance, Stanwyck earned an Oscar nomination. The film is exquisitely directed by Anatole Litvak (the philandering husband of Miriam Hopkins). This is a classic example of film noir and the perfect date night movie. "Sorry....wrong numba..." August 3, 2008

Classic

My mother and I watched this movie when I was a pre teen, many years ago now. I knew I had to own it. It's a wonderfully written murder mystery that isn't so intricate that you lose interest this movie definetly keeps you on your toes. July 27, 2008

Sorry Wrong Number

Movie was good, not what I expected but good, worth watching if you like movies that stay in the same setting. (kind of remind me of the movie "The Phone Booth") . April 12, 2008

great film

Disturbing, mesmerizing. It shows that sometimes there are no second chances in life. Great performances. Stanwick and Lancaster are terrific. Hollywood is not all about happy endings. March 25, 2008

Classic Film Noir

Classic film noir about an invaled woman who overhears a plot on the telephone to murder a woman, whom she becomes convinced that is her. March 22, 2008

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