SYNOPSIS

Leona Stevenson is a wealthy invalid confined to her bed. It would be easier for people to feel sorry for her if she weren't such a caustic, demanding woman. One night she tries to call her husband Henry at his office and accidentally overhears two men planning a murder on the telephone. As her suspicions mount, Leona becomes more hysterical and paralyzed with fear, convinced that the murderers she has overheard may be coming for her. Left alone on the third floor of her enormous house, Leona's only connection with the outside world is her telephone, which also becomes the source of her growing panic and paralysis.

Director: Anatole Litvak
Producers: Hal Wallis, Anatole Litvak
Screenplay: Lucille Fletcher
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Editing: Warren Low
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Earl Hedrick
Music: Franz Waxman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck (Leona Stevenson), Burt Lancaster (Henry Stevenson), Ann Richards (Sally Hunt Lord), Wendell Corey (Dr. Alexander), Harold Vermilyea (Waldo Evans), Ed Begley (James Cotterell), Leif Erickson (Fred Lord), William Conrad (Morano), John Bromfield (Joe, detective), Jimmy Hunt (Peter Lord), Dorothy Neumann (Miss Jennings), Paul Fierro (Harpootlian).
BW-89m.

Why SORRY, WRONG NUMBER is Essential

Sorry, Wrong Number was the film version of the highly successful radio play of the same name by Lucille Fletcher that was so popular it was subsequently broadcast every year for ten years.

The slow build of terror and its reliance on framing shots in tightly enclosed spaces makes Sorry, Wrong Number one of the most effective and memorable suspense films of all time.

Barbara Stanwyck's riveting performance, which slowly builds to the brink of hysteria, was one of the best and most memorable of her career. It earned the actress her fourth Academy Award nomination.

Sorry, Wrong Number marked a sharp departure for Burt Lancaster from the virile take-charge roles he was usually identified with. The weak, hen-pecked husband he plays in Sorry, Wrong Number was a chance to show his range as an actor and it surprised everyone.

by Andrea Passafiume