The Slender Thread

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The Slender Thread

1965

1h 38m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

6 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

As a volunteer at a crisis center, Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) is working the late shift when he hears from a desperate woman named Inge Dyson (Anne Bancroft) who has attempted to overdose on sleeping pills. As Alan tries to keep Inge on the line, Detective Judd Ridley (Edward Asner) and Dr. Joe Coburn (Telly Savalas), a psychiatrist, both become involved in the increasingly tense situation. While they try to determine Inge's location in order to save her, time is quickly running out.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Dec 20, 2007

Supercharged with emotion and dramatic overtones.

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A.H. Weiler

New York Times

May 10, 2005

3/5

The performances of the principals and the film's naturalistic dialogue are more memorable than the story itself.

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Pauline Kael

McCall's

Sep 20, 2023

This clean, economical, well-organized production is fraudulent naturalism -- details that are carefully arranged, so that we will accept them as normal, as true, though they are drawn not from observation but from the exigencies of plot need.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Jul 23, 2021

7/10

I find the result quite moving because of the superb performances that Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft illustrate on the other end of the phone. When they talk, I feel like I hear something very relevant. [Full review in Spanish]

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Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

Apr 5, 2019

The Slender Thread is a carefully constructed study in suspense, its climaxes well sustained.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Jun 2, 2008

C

Suffers from a slight soap opera story that fails to hold together for 98 minutes.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Jul 26, 2023

Properly intense and beautifully acted.

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Feb 24, 2014

thois is director sydney pollack's film debut

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Aug 27, 2013

Catch a screening of Slender Thread at Cinemapolis in downtown Ithaca on Thursday, September 12, 2013. After the film, members of the Crisisline staff will talk about work on a modern hot line.

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Feb 23, 2011

'Bancroft conveys much of her inner turmoil through the sound of her voice.' TV Guide's Movie Guide http://movies.tvguide.com/slender-thread/review/118051

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Dec 27, 2010

In most critically acclaimed movies I hate, I at least see some of why they are acclaimed. This one, I cannot. It's silly all the way through and just stupid. It was up for two Oscars for use of black and white. Whatever. Poitier is a college student working a suicide hotline when a woman calls. She's already taken pills and he and others try and trace the call to get her help. At really no point does she ever sound like a suicidal. She seems pretty happy with a flirty voice and even tells some jokes. Poitier goes back and forth between this caring and patient guy and an angry stranger. It's just not a believable performance. The script is so obviously made to be dramatic, but it's so far from realistic that I just hated it. Even the ending is stupid. They find her in her room just minutes from death. A voice on the other end says they found her and she's still breathing. The people around Poitier celebrate, even lighting a cigar. Really? She's that close to death but merely finding her will bring her back to life? Medically stupid. And I guess we have to assume they save her even though there is no evidence to indicate such. Well I didn't. I think she dies and that's the only realistic part of this overrated movie.

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Mar 9, 2010

It is amazing what Anne Bancroft can act so passionately with just her voice, it?s a sign of a really great actress. Sidney Poitier does a fine job, but this would have made a better short film, the subject matter gets mighty tiring after awhile. It's a little too melodramatic for my taste. The cinematography is quite good, and the score is really well done.

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Sydney Pollack

Director

Sidney Poitier

Alan Newell

Anne Bancroft

Inga Dyson

Telly Savalas

Dr. Joe Coburn

Steven Hill

Mark Dyson

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Marian

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86%

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Synopsis

As a volunteer at a crisis center, Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) is working the late shift when he hears from a desperate woman named Inge Dyson (Anne Bancroft) who has attempted to overdose on sleeping pills. As Alan tries to keep Inge on the line, Detective Judd Ridley (Edward Asner) and Dr. Joe Coburn (Telly Savalas), a psychiatrist, both become involved in the increasingly tense situation. While they try to determine Inge's location in order to save her, time is quickly running out.

Director: Sydney Pollack
Producer: Stephen Alexander
Screenwriter: Stirling Silliphant
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Athene Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 1965, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 8, 2017
Runtime: 1h 38m

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