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'''''Sorry, Wrong Number''''' is a 1948 American thriller and [[film noir]] directed by [[Anatole Litvak]],<ref name="Paste">{{cite news |url= https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/film-noir/the-best-noirs-of-all-time|title=The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time |date=November 3, 2023|access-date=November 16, 2023|magazine=Paste}}</ref> from a screenplay by [[Lucille Fletcher]], based on her 1943 radio play of the same title.
'''''Sorry, Wrong Number''''' is a 1948 American thriller and [[film noir]] directed by [[Anatole Litvak]],<ref name="Paste">{{cite news |url= https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/film-noir/the-best-noirs-of-all-time|title=The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time |date=November 3, 2023|access-date=November 16, 2023|magazine=Paste}}</ref> from a screenplay by [[Lucille Fletcher]], based on her 1943 radio play of the same title.


The film stars [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Burt Lancaster]]. It follows a bedridden woman who overhears the plot of murder while on the telephone. By phone, she attempts to contact [[Switchboard operator|switchboard operators]], police, or others who might help her prevent the crime. Stanwyck was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].
The film stars [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Burt Lancaster]]. It follows a bedridden woman who overhears the plot of murder while on the telephone. By phone, she attempts to contact [[switchboard operator]]s, police, or others who might help her prevent the crime. Stanwyck was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].


It is one of the few pre-1950 [[Paramount Pictures]] films which remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by NBCUniversal).<ref>{{cite news| title=Peacock Cuts Deal with ViacomCBS to Expand Library| url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/peacock-nbcuniversal-viacomcbs-deal/| last=Bojalad| first=Alex| date=July 1, 2020| website=Den of Geek| access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref>
It is one of the few pre-1950 [[Paramount Pictures]] films which remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by NBCUniversal).<ref>{{cite news| title=Peacock Cuts Deal with ViacomCBS to Expand Library| url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/peacock-nbcuniversal-viacomcbs-deal/| last=Bojalad| first=Alex| date=July 1, 2020| website=Den of Geek| access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref>
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The play was performed seven more times, on August 21 of the same year and again in 1944, 1945, 1948, 1952, 1957 and 1960. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. [[Orson Welles]] called ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' "the greatest single radio script ever written".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/OrsonWelles-MercuryTheater-1938Recordings| title=The Hitch-Hiker, June 21, 1946, (at 1:00)| website=The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air| via=Internet Archive| access-date=2014-08-04| date=1988-02-24}}</ref> In 2014, the broadcast was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]] and selected for inclusion in the [[National Recording Registry]].<ref name=nrr>{{cite web| title="Sorry, Wrong Number" ("Suspense") (May 25, 1943)| url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SorryWrongNumber.pdf| year=2014| website=National Recording Registry| access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref>
The play was performed seven more times, on August 21 of the same year and again in 1944, 1945, 1948, 1952, 1957 and 1960. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. [[Orson Welles]] called ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' "the greatest single radio script ever written".<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/OrsonWelles-MercuryTheater-1938Recordings| title=The Hitch-Hiker, June 21, 1946, (at 1:00)| website=The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air| via=Internet Archive| access-date=2014-08-04| date=1988-02-24}}</ref> In 2014, the broadcast was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]] and selected for inclusion in the [[National Recording Registry]].<ref name=nrr>{{cite web| title="Sorry, Wrong Number" ("Suspense") (May 25, 1943)| url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SorryWrongNumber.pdf| year=2014| website=National Recording Registry| access-date=November 6, 2023}}</ref>


==Movie Plot==
==Film version==
The film version of ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' is about three times as long as the original radio play and includes flashbacks to previous events in Mrs. Stevenson's life and marriage, as well as scenes showing events involving other characters.
The film version of ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' is about three times as long as the original radio play and includes flashbacks to previous events in Mrs. Stevenson's life and marriage, as well as scenes showing events involving other characters.


In the film, Leona Stevenson is a spoiled, bedridden daughter of wealthy businessman James Cotterell. Using her phone, she tries to reach her husband, Henry. The servants are absent and she is alone in the apartment. On a crossed telephone connection, she overhears two men planning a murder. The call is cut off without Leona learning much, other than the deed is scheduled for that night at exactly 11:15 when a train will be passing by the murder location, drowning out any screams of the person being murdered. When she calls the telephone company and the police, they do not believe her about the murder.
In the film, Leona Stevenson is a spoiled, bedridden daughter of wealthy businessman James Cotterell. Using her phone, she tries to reach her husband, Henry. The servants are absent and she is alone in the apartment. On a crossed telephone connection, she overhears two men planning a murder. The call is cut off without Leona learning much, other than the deed is scheduled for that night at exactly 11:15 when a train will be passing by the murder location, drowning out any screams of the person being murdered. When she calls the telephone company and the police, they do not believe her about the murder.


While attempting to reach Henry, Leona recalls her past. Through various telephone calls, she learns that the secretary met Henry that day with an attractive woman named Sally Lord and did not return to the office. Leona recognizes the woman as Sally Hunt, a college friend in love with Henry, who at the time was poor and working in a drugstore. Leona took Henry from Sally, and married him against her father's wishes. Sally later married Fred Lord, a lawyer in the district attorney's office. From overheard conversations, Sally learns her husband was close to resolving an investigation about Henry. Sally is concerned; she follows Henry and two associates to a mysterious meeting of three men, including Henry, at an abandoned house on [[Staten Island]]. The house sign indicates the owner is Waldo Evans, later revealed to be a chemist working for Leona's father. Sally arranged to meet Henry to warn him about what she had seen, but he received a phone call, left the table and did not return. Sally later learns that the house was destroyed, "Morano"--an apparent gangster--has been arrested by the police, and Waldo escaped them.
While attempting to reach Henry, Leona recalls her past. She learns through his secretary that Henry met that day with an attractive woman named Sally Lord and did not return to the office. Leona recognizes the woman as Sally Hunt, a college friend in love with Henry, who at the time was poor and working in a drugstore. Leona took Henry from Sally, and married him against her father's wishes. Sally later married Fred Lord, a lawyer in the district attorney's office. From overheard conversations, Sally learns her husband was close to resolving an investigation about Henry. Sally is concerned; she follows Henry and two associates to a mysterious meeting of three men, including Henry, at an abandoned house on [[Staten Island]]. The house sign indicates the owner is Waldo Evans, later revealed to be a chemist working for Leona's father. Sally arranged to meet Henry to warn him about what she had seen, but he received a phone call, left the table and did not return. Sally later learns that the house was destroyed, Morano—an apparent gangster—has been arrested by the police, and Waldo escaped them.


Leona receives a message from Henry, stating he left town to complete some work he had forgotten about and will return on Sunday. Leona calls Dr. Phillip Alexander, the specialist she came to New York to see regarding her lifelong heart troubles. Alexander reveals that he gave Henry her prognosis ten days ago, something Henry kept from her. A flashback shows Leona had occasional cardiac episodes for a number of years before she married Henry, something Henry realized a few years into their marriage, when she suffered a cardiac arrest during a quarrel. It becomes clear Leona tries to use Henry, insisting he work for her father even though he is bored. As their troubles become severe, Leona's attacks become more frequent until she is bedridden. However, Alexander diagnoses the problems as purely psychosomatic. Nothing is wrong with her physically, but he thinks she needs psychiatric help.
Leona receives a message from Henry, stating he left town to complete some work he had forgotten about and will return on Sunday. Leona calls Dr. Phillip Alexander, the specialist she came to New York to see regarding her lifelong heart troubles. Alexander reveals that he gave Henry her prognosis ten days ago, something Henry kept from her. A flashback shows Leona had occasional cardiac episodes for a number of years before she married Henry, something Henry realized a few years into their marriage, when she suffered a cardiac arrest during a quarrel. It becomes clear Leona tries to use Henry, insisting he work for her father even though he is bored. As their troubles become severe, Leona's attacks become more frequent until she is bedridden. However, Alexander diagnoses the problems as purely psychosomatic. Nothing is wrong with her physically, but he thinks she needs psychiatric help.


Waldo calls Leona with a message for Henry. He discloses that Henry recruited him to steal chemicals from the Cotterell Drug Company and sell them for Morano. Henry tried to bypass Morano when Waldo was transferred. However, Morano coerced Henry into signing an [[IOU]] for $200,000 in three months to compensate for a lost profit. When Henry protested he had insufficient money, Morano pointed out that Leona had a large insurance policy. With Morano in custody, Waldo stresses that Henry no longer needs to raise the sum. He gives Leona a number to reach Henry, but when she calls she discovers it is the city [[morgue]]. The clock is shown as being 11pm. The distraught Leona calls a nurse at the hospital requesting a private nurse, but is told they can't provide her with one. A frantic Henry calls Leona from a telephone booth as Leona hears an intruder lurking inside the house. Leona tells Henry she knows about his stealing from her father's company, that Waldo has conveyed that there is no longer any need for Henry to obtain the money (from Leona's life insurance) and that she knows she is the victim of the murder plot. Henry tells Leona she has 3 minutes to get to the open window in her bedroom and scream as loudly as she can for the police. However, paralyzed by fear, she is unable to move, and--as a train is seen and heard approaching nearby--the phone line goes dead. As the police prepare to arrest Henry, he re-dials the phone, which the killer answers, replying curtly: "Sorry, wrong number."
Waldo calls Leona with a message for Henry. He discloses that Henry recruited him to steal chemicals from the Cotterell Drug Company and sell them for Morano. Henry tried to bypass Morano when Waldo was transferred; however, Morano coerced Henry into signing an [[IOU]] for $200,000 in three months to compensate for a lost profit. When Henry protested that he had insufficient money, Morano pointed out that Leona had a large insurance policy. With Morano in custody, Waldo stresses that Henry no longer needs to raise the sum. He gives Leona a number to reach Henry, but when she calls she discovers it is the city [[morgue]].
 
At 11:00&nbsp;p.m., the distraught Leona calls the hospital requesting a private nurse, but is told they can't provide her with one. Henry calls Leona from a telephone booth at a train station as she hears an intruder lurking inside the house. Leona tells Henry she knows about his stealing from her father's company, that Waldo has conveyed that there is no longer any need for Henry to obtain the money (from Leona's life insurance) and that she knows she is the victim of the murder plot. A now frantic Henry tells Leona she has 3 minutes to get to the open window in her bedroom and scream as loudly as she can for the police. Paralyzed by fear due to the intruder approaching her bedroom, Leona is unable to move, and hangs up the phone before she is strangled to death as a train is seen and heard approaching nearby. As the police prepare to arrest Henry, he re-dials the phone, which the killer answers: "Sorry, wrong number."


==Cast==
==Cast==
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==Production==
==Production==
''Sorry, Wrong Number'' conforms to many of the conventions of [[film noir]]. The film plays in real time with many flashbacks, and adds more characters and backstories. The bedroom window overlooks the night skyline of [[Manhattan]]. The film is shot in very dark light, with looming shadows and a circling camera used to maintain a high level of suspense.<ref>Eifert, Steve (June 29, 2008). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080926030435/http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2008/06/sorry-wrong-number-1948.html "Sorry, Wrong Number"]}}. ''Film Noir of the Week''.  Accessed July 12, 2013. </ref> Hollywood's [[Production Code Administration]] initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of [[drug trafficking]], and the script was significantly revised to win approval.<ref>Passafiume, Andrea. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16418/sorry-wrong-number#articles-reviews "Sorry, Wrong Number"]. ''Turner Classic Movies''.  Accessed November 16, 2023.</ref>
''Sorry, Wrong Number'' conforms to many of the conventions of [[film noir]]. The film plays in real time with many flashbacks, and adds more characters and backstories. The bedroom window overlooks the night skyline of [[Manhattan]]. The film is shot in very dark light, with looming shadows and a circling camera used to maintain a high level of suspense.<ref>Eifert, Steve (June 29, 2008). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080926030435/http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2008/06/sorry-wrong-number-1948.html "Sorry, Wrong Number"]}}. ''Film Noir of the Week''.  Accessed July 12, 2013.</ref> Hollywood's [[Production Code Administration]] initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of [[drug trafficking]], and the script was significantly revised to win approval.<ref>Passafiume, Andrea. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16418/sorry-wrong-number#articles-reviews "Sorry, Wrong Number"]. ''Turner Classic Movies''.  Accessed November 16, 2023.</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
''Variety'' listed the film as one of the top grossers of the year, earning $2,850,000 in the U.S. alone.<ref name=grossers/> Although not as well received as the radio play, with some critics noting the plot is too padded out, the movie adaptation is considered a classic of the film noir genre. Its twist ending is often cited as one of the era's most memorable. Stanwyck's performance was highly acclaimed, and garnered her a fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 86%.<ref>{{cite web| title=Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)| url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1032814_sorry_wrong_number| website=Rotten Tomatoes| language=en| access-date=2021-05-10}}</ref>
[[Bosley Crowther]] raved about the final reel of the film: “Anatol Litvak has whipped it up hotly toward the end”. He also praised Stanwyck's performance: “.{{nbsp}}.{{nbsp}}. her terror is titanic—and she has run up some telephone bill .{{nbsp}}.{{nbsp}}.” He found the flashbacks within flashbacks convoluted and tedious.<ref>[[Bosley Crowther|Crowther, Bosley]]. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/02/archives/sorry-wrong-number-based-on-radio-play-at-paramount-barbara.html 'Sorry, Wrong Number,' Based on Radio Play, at Paramount -- Barbara Stanwyck Stars]", ''[[The New York Times]]''. September 2, 1948. 18.</ref>
''Variety'' listed the film as one of the top grossers of the year, earning $2.85 million in the U.S. alone.<ref name=grossers/>
 
The film scores 86% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)| url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1032814_sorry_wrong_number| website=Rotten Tomatoes| language=en| access-date=2021-05-10}}</ref>


==Adaptations==
==Adaptations==
* A one-hour radio adaptation of the film was broadcast January 9, 1950 on ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]''. Stanwyck and Lancaster recreated their screen roles.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oNgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5184%2C1998610&q=Barbara+Stanwyck+Burt+Number |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Monday High Spots |page=3 (Daily Magazine) |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=1950-01-09 |access-date=2022-06-16 }}</ref>
* A one-hour radio adaptation of the film was broadcast January 9, 1950 on ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]''. Stanwyck and Lancaster recreated their screen roles.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oNgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5184%2C1998610&q=Barbara+Stanwyck+Burt+Number |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Monday High Spots |page=3 (Daily Magazine) |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=1950-01-09 |access-date=2022-06-16 }}</ref>
* The original May 18, 1943 broadcast of the radio program ''[[Suspense]]'' featured [[Agnes Moorehead]] in the role. It was repeated no fewer than seven times.<ref name=nrr/>
* The radio version of ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' was made into a television play broadcast on station [[WCBS-TV|WCBW-TV]] (now WCBS-TV) in New York on January 30, 1946, starring [[Mildred Natwick]].<ref name="etvs">{{cite book| last1=Terrace| first1=Vincent| title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010| year=2011| publisher=McFarland| location=Jefferson, N.C.| isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7| page=995| edition=2nd}}</ref>  
* ''Sorry, Wrong Number'' was made into a television play broadcast on station [[WCBS-TV|WCBW-TV]] (now WCBS-TV) in New York on January 30, 1946, starring [[Mildred Natwick]].<ref name="etvs">{{cite book| last1=Terrace| first1=Vincent| title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010| year=2011| publisher=McFarland| location=Jefferson, N.C.| isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7| page=995| edition=2nd}}</ref>  
* A second live teleplay was broadcast on November 4, 1954, as the fourth episode of the anthology series ''[[Climax!]]'', starring [[Shelley Winters]] and adapted by Fletcher, with music provided by Fletcher's former husband [[Bernard Herrmann]].<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette2">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CpZRAAAAIBAJ&pg=3435%2C1470634&q=Shelley+Winters |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Television High Spots and Programs |page=3 (Daily Magazine) |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=1954-11-04 |access-date=2022-06-16 }}</ref>
* A second live teleplay was broadcast on November 4, 1954, as the fourth episode of the anthology series ''[[Climax!]]'', starring [[Shelley Winters]] and adapted by Fletcher, with music provided by Fletcher's former husband [[Bernard Herrmann]].<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette2">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CpZRAAAAIBAJ&pg=3435%2C1470634&q=Shelley+Winters |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Television High Spots and Programs |page=3 (Daily Magazine) |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=1954-11-04 |access-date=2022-06-16 }}</ref>
* A version was produced for [[Sorry, Wrong Number (1958 film)|Australian television in 1958]] starring [[Georgie Sterling]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51940428 |title=Western heroes revolt |magazine=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=26 |issue=2 |date=18 June 1958 |access-date=22 May 2016 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Sterling had performed in the play on radio in 1948.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193963239 |title=NEW FEATURE FOR 2 AD |newspaper=The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser |issue=3488 |date=10 May 1948 |access-date=22 May 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  
* A version was produced for [[Sorry, Wrong Number (1958 film)|Australian television in 1958]] starring [[Georgie Sterling]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51940428 |title=Western heroes revolt |magazine=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=26 |issue=2 |date=18 June 1958 |access-date=22 May 2016 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Sterling had performed in the play on radio in 1948.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193963239 |title=NEW FEATURE FOR 2 AD |newspaper=The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser |issue=3488 |date=10 May 1948 |access-date=22 May 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  
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[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Anatole Litvak]]

Latest revision as of 00:31, 10 October 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use American English Template:Main otherScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other

Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American thriller and film noir directed by Anatole Litvak,[1] from a screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, based on her 1943 radio play of the same title.

The film stars Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. It follows a bedridden woman who overhears the plot of murder while on the telephone. By phone, she attempts to contact switchboard operators, police, or others who might help her prevent the crime. Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

It is one of the few pre-1950 Paramount Pictures films which remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by NBCUniversal).[2]

Radio play

Lucille Fletcher's play originally aired on the Suspense radio program on May 25, 1943, essentially a one-woman show with Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Stevenson.

Plot

Mrs. Stevenson, an imperious invalid, accidentally intercepts a phone call between two men plotting a murder for that evening. She tries to enlist the help of the telephone operator, the police, and a hospital, becoming more frantic as the time passes. In the final moments of the play, she realizes that she is the intended victim.

Broadcast history

The play was performed seven more times, on August 21 of the same year and again in 1944, 1945, 1948, 1952, 1957 and 1960. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. Orson Welles called Sorry, Wrong Number "the greatest single radio script ever written".[3] In 2014, the broadcast was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.[4]

Film version

The film version of Sorry, Wrong Number is about three times as long as the original radio play and includes flashbacks to previous events in Mrs. Stevenson's life and marriage, as well as scenes showing events involving other characters.

In the film, Leona Stevenson is a spoiled, bedridden daughter of wealthy businessman James Cotterell. Using her phone, she tries to reach her husband, Henry. The servants are absent and she is alone in the apartment. On a crossed telephone connection, she overhears two men planning a murder. The call is cut off without Leona learning much, other than the deed is scheduled for that night at exactly 11:15 when a train will be passing by the murder location, drowning out any screams of the person being murdered. When she calls the telephone company and the police, they do not believe her about the murder.

While attempting to reach Henry, Leona recalls her past. She learns through his secretary that Henry met that day with an attractive woman named Sally Lord and did not return to the office. Leona recognizes the woman as Sally Hunt, a college friend in love with Henry, who at the time was poor and working in a drugstore. Leona took Henry from Sally, and married him against her father's wishes. Sally later married Fred Lord, a lawyer in the district attorney's office. From overheard conversations, Sally learns her husband was close to resolving an investigation about Henry. Sally is concerned; she follows Henry and two associates to a mysterious meeting of three men, including Henry, at an abandoned house on Staten Island. The house sign indicates the owner is Waldo Evans, later revealed to be a chemist working for Leona's father. Sally arranged to meet Henry to warn him about what she had seen, but he received a phone call, left the table and did not return. Sally later learns that the house was destroyed, Morano—an apparent gangster—has been arrested by the police, and Waldo escaped them.

Leona receives a message from Henry, stating he left town to complete some work he had forgotten about and will return on Sunday. Leona calls Dr. Phillip Alexander, the specialist she came to New York to see regarding her lifelong heart troubles. Alexander reveals that he gave Henry her prognosis ten days ago, something Henry kept from her. A flashback shows Leona had occasional cardiac episodes for a number of years before she married Henry, something Henry realized a few years into their marriage, when she suffered a cardiac arrest during a quarrel. It becomes clear Leona tries to use Henry, insisting he work for her father even though he is bored. As their troubles become severe, Leona's attacks become more frequent until she is bedridden. However, Alexander diagnoses the problems as purely psychosomatic. Nothing is wrong with her physically, but he thinks she needs psychiatric help.

Waldo calls Leona with a message for Henry. He discloses that Henry recruited him to steal chemicals from the Cotterell Drug Company and sell them for Morano. Henry tried to bypass Morano when Waldo was transferred; however, Morano coerced Henry into signing an IOU for $200,000 in three months to compensate for a lost profit. When Henry protested that he had insufficient money, Morano pointed out that Leona had a large insurance policy. With Morano in custody, Waldo stresses that Henry no longer needs to raise the sum. He gives Leona a number to reach Henry, but when she calls she discovers it is the city morgue.

At 11:00 p.m., the distraught Leona calls the hospital requesting a private nurse, but is told they can't provide her with one. Henry calls Leona from a telephone booth at a train station as she hears an intruder lurking inside the house. Leona tells Henry she knows about his stealing from her father's company, that Waldo has conveyed that there is no longer any need for Henry to obtain the money (from Leona's life insurance) and that she knows she is the victim of the murder plot. A now frantic Henry tells Leona she has 3 minutes to get to the open window in her bedroom and scream as loudly as she can for the police. Paralyzed by fear due to the intruder approaching her bedroom, Leona is unable to move, and hangs up the phone before she is strangled to death as a train is seen and heard approaching nearby. As the police prepare to arrest Henry, he re-dials the phone, which the killer answers: "Sorry, wrong number."

Cast

Template:Cast listing

Production

Sorry, Wrong Number conforms to many of the conventions of film noir. The film plays in real time with many flashbacks, and adds more characters and backstories. The bedroom window overlooks the night skyline of Manhattan. The film is shot in very dark light, with looming shadows and a circling camera used to maintain a high level of suspense.[5] Hollywood's Production Code Administration initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of drug trafficking, and the script was significantly revised to win approval.[6]

Reception

Bosley Crowther raved about the final reel of the film: “Anatol Litvak has whipped it up hotly toward the end”. He also praised Stanwyck's performance: “.Template:Nbsp.Template:Nbsp. her terror is titanic—and she has run up some telephone bill .Template:Nbsp.Template:Nbsp.” He found the flashbacks within flashbacks convoluted and tedious.[7] Variety listed the film as one of the top grossers of the year, earning $2.85 million in the U.S. alone.[8]

The film scores 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.[9]

Adaptations

Parody

On October 17, 1948, Stanwyck did a parody of Sorry, Wrong Number on The Jack Benny Program.[16]

Other media

Clips from Sorry, Wrong Number were used for the 1982 comedy-mystery Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, the 1991 thriller Dead Again and the 2014 action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

See also

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Streaming audio

Template:Anatole Litvak

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Eifert, Steve (June 29, 2008). Template:Usurped. Film Noir of the Week. Accessed July 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ Passafiume, Andrea. "Sorry, Wrong Number". Turner Classic Movies. Accessed November 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ Crowther, Bosley. "'Sorry, Wrong Number,' Based on Radio Play, at Paramount -- Barbara Stanwyck Stars", The New York Times. September 2, 1948. 18.
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named grossers
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Template:Trim/ Template:Trim at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:WikidataCheck.
  16. ↑ "The Jack Benny Show". The Old Time Radio Network Library. December 8, 2011. Accessed July 12, 2013.
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