"Sorry, Wrong Number" with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster (1948)

I caught this movie on television the other night by accident. Well, maybe it wasn’t such an accident because I was clicking around looking for something to watch; which is always easier said than done. And, as often happens to me, I was hit with a black and white screen; bringing an instant halt to my clicking. Black and white really grabs me.

I was only 15 minutes into the 1948 film noir classic “Sorry, Wrong Number” with Barbara Stanwyk and Burt Lancaster. They play the ill-fated couple Henry and Leona Stevenson; she as the hypochondriac bed ridden wife, and he as the henpecked husband driven to despair by his wife’s imagined illness, as well as being a victim of his own demons.

Henry Stevenson is a man with secrets. He lives sort of a double life; caring for his stricken wife; and also as a philandering and a thief. But all of his secrets come tumbling out one night when his wife; who is addicted to her phone, as it is her only link to the outside world; hears 2 men on the line plotting a murder.

At first she tries to contact the police, but since there is no identity to the men she refers to there is little that they can do. During her attempts to trace the call and find the intended victim she becomes privy to her husband’s secret life; including his infidelity with Sally Hunt Lord; played by Ann Richards. She also learns that he has stolen some money and must make good or face some serious consequences.

During the flashbacks, as she recounts her life with her husband, she realizes that there were many clues she chose to ignore. And when she finds out about the money she is ready to forgive him instantly; she really does love him. But by this time it’s too late to stop a series of events already in motion, set to happen at 11:15 PM.

As the film closes; with Henry talking on the phone to a frantic Leona; all of the pieces fall neatly into place and leave you wondering how both of them could have been so stupid so as not to see the beauty in the lives they had; trading them for a guaranteed appointment with a hell of their own making.

Outstanding performances by both Burt Lancaster and Barbara Stanwyck, and superb direction by Anatole Litvak, combined with a screenplay by the original author of the play, Lucille Fletcher, make this a classic you don’t want to overlook.

TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Volume 3

This video collection should be called the William Wellman Edition. It is 3 discs with 2 films on each one. All the films are directed by William Wellman and have social statements to make concerning the Great Depression.

The films are all Pre-Production Code (1933 or older) and none shy away from volatile topics, such as morphine addiction in "Heroes for Sale", which deals with a wounded World War One Veteran and his stuggle to regain a normal life. Just as they do today, the returning Veteran needed help. And just like today, he didn't get it.

Barbara Stanwayck gets more than she bargained for, but gives more than she thought herself capable of, in "The Purchase Price" which explores the still ongoing practice of mail order brides and women as a commodity.

Another one of these outstanding films deals with the subject of unwed motherhood in "Frisco Jenny." This is the story of a woman who, through a series of circumstances, loses custody of her son. He is raised to be a fine upstanding citizen and becomes Head District Attorney in San Francisco. He lands a big case involving a Prostitution Ring and murderess. The woman charged in the crime, for which he has asked the death penalty, is his mother. He can save her if she will cooperate - but if she does and reveals herself as his mother then his life will be ruined. She is a woman forced to make the ultimate choice.

But the real gem of the whole collection is "Wild Boys of the Road." This one deals with the issue of child runaways during the Depression. They would form whole communities, usually around railroad yards. They actually had elected officials and routine job assigments such as collecting trash and keeping the area clean. They were places of refuge for families displaced economically. In "Wild Boys of The Road" these scenes are beautifully and realistically recreated. And when the police are ordered to tear gas and kick them out of their makeshift homes, it gives you a fair idea of the injustices being heaped upon the average displaced American of the Depression Era. Just think of the Vetran's Bonus Army and their March on Washington. It happened in the same year that this film was released.

William Wellman was a maverick director who said on film what was in his heart. The films are a subtle form of leftist propaganda, to be sure. But the heart and soul of William Wellman will live on in his films for centuries. They portray hope for the Human Condition. They are testaments to "man's better angels". And besides that, they're damn good films.