SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (1948)
Label: Imprint Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: English PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Full Frame (1.33:1)
Director: Anatole Litvak
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Ed Begley
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) is a noir-thriller directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, adapted from a 1943 radio play by Lucille Fletcher. In it Stanwyck (The Thorn Birds) plays Leona Stevenson the ailing bedridden daughter of self-made pharmaceutical tycoon James Cotterell (Ed Begley, The Dunwhich Horror), whom is home alone awaiting her husband Henry J. Stevenson (Burt Lancaster, The Swimmer) to return from work. When he's running later she attempts to call him but the operator connects her to what seems to be the wrong telephone line, during which she overhears men plotting to murder a woman in cold blood that same night. Shaken by the experience she reports this to the operator and then to the authorities, but as she has no detailed information to offer it proves un-useful to them and they do not act on it.
As the movie moves along we learn more details through flashback, with the bedridden Leona communicating via her only connection to the outside world, the telephone, with the phone operator, the authorities, her husband, and even her husbands ex-gal Susan (Ann Richards, Breakdown), the latter of whom explains to her that there's more to Henry than she is aware of. We learn that Henry and Leona come from very different backgrounds, she a pampered daughter of privilege while he was a working class stiff who lucked into the good life after meeting Leona, but he's not comfortable with his high-earning though title-only job at her father's company, which set in motion him doing some shady stuff with shady guys, with his invalid wife coming to realize that perhaps that cross-connected phone call hits closer to home than she may have realized.
Sorry, Wrong Number is a tight, fast-paced thriller, bathed in noir atmosphere and a roaming camera that feels appropriately
voyeuristic, with Stanwyck giving an Oscar-nominated performance as the bedridden woman in a frightful spot, she's fantastic. At times the oft-used device of the telephone began to wear on me, there are more phone conversations in this film than there are request to "close the door!" in The Thing from Another World (1951), but as it's based on a radio play centered around a woman on a telephone that can hardly be helped, and you might have to explain to the younger kids what the hell a telephone is anyway.
It does start to get a bit convoluted with all the phone calls and flashbacks - sometimes we get a flashback within flashbacks - but it all comes together so deliciously clever at the end. It still gets my pulse racing when I watch it, the final few moments are as suspenseful as anything I have ever seen, making this a memorable and thrilling slice of noir cinema.
Audio/Video: Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) makes it worldwide Blu-ray debut from Imprint Films, an arm of Via Vision Entertainment, licensed from Paramount Pictures. We get a 1080p HD presentation framed in the original full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio. It looks to have come from a older HD master with some baked in issues, we get some funky looking grain and some inconsistent softness throughout, which negatively affects clarity and fine detail. At times the image has pleasing clarity and contrast, but quality tends to wax and wane throughout, the lack of consistency that a new scan of the elements would have provided is unfortunate. While it's still an upgrade over my nearly 20-year old Paramount DVD, it also fails to impress.
Audio comes by way of English LPCM Dual-Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is delivered with pleasing directness overall, though a few bits of dialogue were a bit undefined, but that was rare, and the dramatic score from Franz Waxman (Bride of Frankenstein) sounds terrific.
Extras begin with a new and exclusive audio commentary from noir expert Alan K. Rode, plus a previously unseen 2-min intro from Eddie Muller, and an also previously unseen 30-min 'Hold The Phone: The Making Of “Sorry Wrong Number”', which was fantastic. Nifty bonuses also come by way of the 60-min 1950 Lux Radio Theater radio play with both Stanwyck and Lancaster, plus a filmed 2009 radio play, you can see them voice acting the entire radio play on stage, which was pretty cool. None of these extras were present on the 2002 Paramount DVD, so they were all new to me, and they all added a lot to my re-watch of the film.
Special Features:
- NEW Audio commentary by Noir Expert/Film Noir Foundation board member Alan K. Rode
- Eddie Muller Introduction (Previously Unreleased)(2 min)
- Hold The Phone: The Making Of “Sorry Wrong Number” (Previously Unreleased) (31 min)
- 2009 “Sorry Wrong Number” A Radio Play by Lucille Fletcher Radio Play - Filmed Performance at Shadowland Theater Ellenville USA (Recorded March 14th 2009) (29 min)
- “Sorry Wrong Number” Lux Radio Theater with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster (Broadcast January 5th 1950) (60 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- Gallery (3 min)
- Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies
Sorry, Wrong Number (1945) still ratchets up the tension with the best of the noir-thrillers, with a wonderful performance from Stanwyck as the privileged woman in peril, that the simplistic story still holds sway is a testament to Lucille Fletcher's original story, and to the skill of director Anatole Litvak. I am pleased to see this finally get a Blu-ray, though I wish it's been afforded a new scan and restoration to spit-shine it for it's worldwide debut on the format, it definitely deserves it. That said, it's a handsomely packaged release and the extras are plentiful, adding some heft to this releases desirability.
More Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
Extras:
