Sorry, Wrong Number
Sorry, Wrong Number is a 1948 American thriller film noir directed by Anatole Litvak, from a screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, based on her 1943 radio play of the same name. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. It follows a bedridden woman who overhears the plot of murder while on the telephone. She attempts to help her husband solve the mystery and 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 studios library (the rest are currently owned by NBCUniversal).
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 herself is the intended victim.
More details
| author | Lucille Fletcher |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | New York City |
| director | Anatole Litvak |
| editor | Warren Low |
| genre | crime mystery thriller |
| keywords | abandoned house arrest cardiac arrest city morgue district attorney drug store even heart trouble insurance policy iou kill learn married meet murder murder plot nothing office of chief medical examiner of the city of new york phone call plan psychosomatic secretary sneaking in spoil staten island telephone booth telephone call telephone operator warn wrong number |
| musicBy | Franz Waxman |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Actress |
| producer | Anatole Litvak Hal B. Wallis |
| productionCompany | Hal Wallis Productions |
| publisher | Paramount Pictures |
| theme | film noir noir psychological thriller trick |