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Sorry, Wrong Number
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American noir thriller tragedy film directed by Anatole Litvak, 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, while on a telephone circuit, overhears men plotting the murder of an unknown individual. By phone, she tries to contact switchboard operators, police, and 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).
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.
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.
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". 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.
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.
Sorry, Wrong Number
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American noir thriller tragedy film directed by Anatole Litvak, 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, while on a telephone circuit, overhears men plotting the murder of an unknown individual. By phone, she tries to contact switchboard operators, police, and 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).
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.
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.
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". 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.
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.