Stanwyck was too strong to play this simpering role.
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:18
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.8/10
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: In director Anatole Litvak's superb thriller SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, Barbara Stanwyck stars as the alluring, wealthy, and irritating Leona Stevenson, a hypochondriac whose psychosomatic illness has... In director Anatole Litvak's superb thriller SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, Barbara Stanwyck stars as the alluring, wealthy, and irritating Leona Stevenson, a hypochondriac whose psychosomatic illness has her bedridden. Leona's only lifeline is the telephone, which she uses to excess. One evening, Leona impatiently tries to locate her henpecked husband Henry (Burt Lancaster), who is late in coming home. However, when phone lines cross, she overhears two thugs plotting a murder. Desperate to thwart the crime, Leona begins a series of calls--to the operator, to the police, and others--and eventually deduces the shocking identity of the victim. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Leona, Henry is having problems of his own--he's become involved in a swindle and is being blackmailed. Featuring stunning use of sound and lighting, SORRY, WRONG NUMBER follows Leona, trapped in her lush apartment, as she tries to prevent an innocent from being murdered. [More]
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Harold Vermilyea, Ed Begley, Leif Erickson, William Conrad, John Bromfield, Jimmy Hunt, Dorothy Neumann
Director: Anatole Litvak
Director: Anatole Litvak
Screenwriter: Lucille Fletcher
Producer: Anatole Litvak, Hal B. Wallis
Composer: Franz Waxman
Get This Movie
Reviews for Sorry, Wrong Number
Number derives sleek hysteria from its audaciously constraining narrative strategy.
To make a movie of Lucille Fletcher's classic radio play was really to betray its best idea: that sound, not sight, is the truly paranoid sense.
Anatole Litvak's taut, gripping, highly stylized noir, based a 22 minute radio play with Agnes Moorehead, is one of the genre's very best, with a bed-ridden Stanwyck in a tour de force performance--a case study for lover of film noir.
Stanwyck's metamorphosis from indolence to hysteria is brilliantly executed.
Perhaps if you have a special interest in foul folks and morbidities, you will thrill to this Hal Wallis picture. Frankly, we squirmed -- and not from dread.
Fletcher adapted her celebrated 22-minute, single-character radio play into an almost equally tense screenplay, still retaining many of the eerie sound effects.
It is a carefully plotted film that leads to an extraordinary ironic climax.
A good script, but it should have been filmed with the woman who made it famous on the stage, Agnes Moorehead.
Latest News for Sorry, Wrong Number
January 02, 2008:
Total Recall: Stay on the Line for Phoney Movies
This week, One Missed Call brings to US screens the story of a girl terrorized by her wickedly foreboding cell phone. In honor of this J-Horror remake, Total Recall takes a look... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Sorry, Wrong Number at Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh Links
Featured

TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic


