Stanwyck’s Fatal Phone Call: ‘Sorry, Wrong Number’ 1948

Barbara Stanwyck, A+ in an atypical role, as a weak, wealthy woman, who overhears
a plan for murder, in 1948's film noir suspense film, "Sorry, Wrong Number."

*Spoiler alerts ahead*

The 1948 movie version of Sorry, Wrong Number caused some criticism with some critics and film fans at the time—and even thereafter. It was adapted from an instant classic radio play by Lucille Fletcher. The star was Agnes Moorehead as a rich hypochondriac who overhears a phone conversation of a plot to commit murder that very night. It then turns out she is to be the victim! The radio play was a one-character show, offering a tour de force for Moorehead. 

When Paramount and Hal Wallis snapped up the film rights, casting a star name was standard to carry a movie. I think a number of mature actresses could have been great in the role, but Hal picked one of his favorites, Barbara Stanwyck.

The gradual unraveling of Leona Stevenson when she realizes that she is to be a
 murder victim is superbly played by Barbara Stanwyck in "Sorry, Wrong Number."

Since then, there’s been a bit of a bias against the movie version, favoring the radio play. It goes something like this: Hollywood buys the rights of the half hour play, casts a big movie star and pads it out to 90 minutes. But the play is far superior, in less time, don’t you know. This is why I never bothered to see the film version of Sorry, Wrong Number until recently.

Agnes Moorehead, who originated the role of Leona Stevenson
for radio, in "Sorry, Wrong Number."

I get the criticism, but I still prefer the film. I'm not of the school that Agnes Moorehead was robbed and that the movie version was watered down because it was fleshed out to 90 minutes. (Playwright Fletcher also wrote the movie screenplay). Aggie was a great actress, but listening to her become increasingly hysterical, with her naturally querulous voice escalating, was more grating than great, for me. Agnes won much praise for her supporting scenes as a nympho neurotic in Dark Passage the year before, but Moorehead’s few scenes were plenty for me. I can’t imagine 90 minutes of Agnes’ overstated shrillness front and center. I much preferred Barbara Stanwyck’s contrasting understatement. The back story brought Sorry, Wrong Number to just shy of 90 minutes, which was just right, typical for a noir thriller.

Barbara Stanwyck was a no-nonsense woman who usually played strong characters, is quite good in the role of an unsympathetic, spoiled daddy's girl. Stanwyck's innate likability makes Leona Stevenson more empathetic, despite the fact the character is basically a royal pain. Stanwyck was one of the acting greats of her era and goes from imperious to insecure to incoherent with fear and helplessness, all without overacting. 

By the finale of 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number," Barbara Stanwyck's spoiled
rich matron is at the end of her tether--and soon, her life!

The movie is filled out with flashbacks of Leona and her bought and paid for husband Henry's relationship. There, the tough side of Stanwyck as Leona fits Barbara like a glove. Their courtship and relationship is skillfully depicted, especially as the marriage deteriorates. Henry wants to make his own way, working for her father, while the father and daughter both want a docile pet. This causes Henry to eventually take drastic action, as he gets mixed up with unsavory characters that end up calling in to collect on their favors to him. Henry has to take drastic action, putting a hit out on his wife.

A flashback scene of the woman used to getting what she wants is more familiar
 Barbara Stanwyck territory, in 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number."

The scenes of Barbara’s deluxe lifestyle is intermingled with her father’s crude depiction of wealth and the drug dealing criminals husband Henry gets mixed up with, which is depicted in jarring film noir style.

The cast is terrific, from Stanwyck, down to Ed Begley, Sr. playing her tough dad, to William Conrad as a chilling baddie, and Ann Richards as Henry's good-hearted former girlfriend. Burt Lancaster is well-cast, since he could be strong or shady, though this isn’t the kind of role that makes for a great leading man. A bit like when Kirk Douglas played Barbara Stanwyck’s even weaker bought husband in 1946’s The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. Both Burt and Kirk soon got away from supporting film divas as weasels and driving in their own movie vehicles.

Burt Lancaster, in one of his early roles, as the trophy husband for rich girl
Barbara Stanwyck in 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number."

The film version of Sorry, Wrong Number is extremely stylish, right from the opening credits, and you are sucked right in. At the end, as the noisy city train roars by, when Leona is killed in her luxury apartment, is another statement of lifestyles juxtaposed against one another.

The 1948 film version of "Sorry, Wrong Number" is stylish suspense right from
the opening credits!

Sorry, Wrong Number has had various TV versions starring such diverse actors as Mildred Natwick, Shelley Winters, and Loni Anderson! Geraldine Page would have been great as the high-strung heiress in the ‘60s or early ‘70s.

The direction by Anatole Litvak is strong, and he would direct Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit the same year. The cinematography by Sol Polito is perfect for a film noir suspense film, as stylish as his work in 1940’s The Letter with Bette Davis. The score by Franz Waxman is powerful and dramatic, elevating the suspense. Edith Head, a designer fave of Stanwyck’s, heightens the storytelling with Barbara’s gowns depicting youth and wealth in the flashback scenes, and her expensive but fussy-looking dressing gown as the bedridden matron.

Barbara Stanwyck as the younger Leona, dressed in soft ermine, against a childhood
portrait of herself, in 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number."

The main set, with Leona’s whining following all the way down the winding stairs, past the servants’ rooms, to the foyer, and the kitchen, all depicting an expensive lifestyle, but no signs of life.

In the finale, in true noir style, the married couple let their guard down during the final phone call. But it’s too late, the plan is put into action, and the chilling final line is the title of this movie!

Here’s my look at the more charming side of Barbara Stanwyck, in 1945’s holiday favorite, Christmas in Connecticut: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-in-connecticut-1945.html

 

Interesting moment in 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number," when Barbara Stanwyck's spoiled rich woman catches herself in a rare moment of seeing her actual self.

Bette & Barbara Unlikely BFFs in ‘Beaches’ 1988

Bette Midler & Barbara Hershey as besties CC & Hillary in 1988's "Beaches."

The 1985 beach read bestseller Beaches became a chick flick favorite upon its 1988 release. Beaches was buoyed at the box office with its hit soundtrack. Bette Midler was at the height of her movie star success in the last half of the ‘80s. Life was a beach for all involved with this popcorn classic.

Baby besties! Mayim Bialik & Marcie Leeds as young CC and Hillary,
from 1988's musical tearjerker "Beaches."

Beaches the film recycles a lot of old movie tropes to provide this latter day chick flick with some nostalgic nourishment. The opening, where the two young girls meet cute and bond at the beach, is a nod to the intro of Lana Turner’s version of Imitation of Life. And the ending, where superstar singer CC walks up the backstage stairs, telling stories to Hillary's orphaned little girl, is a wink to Roz Russell's fabulist Auntie Mame. Also, the story set up, of two totally different females, one brassy, the other classy, with their ensuing ups, downs, and uplift, is straight out of the Miriam Hopkins and Bette Davis ‘40s fave, Old Acquaintance.

As 1988's "Beaches" opens, Bette Midler's superstar rehearses a beautiful version of
"Under the Boardwalk." Then she gets a dire message regarding BFF Hillary!

The soundtrack to Beaches was Bette Midler's biggest hit album. The first single off Beaches was Bette's lovely version of Under the Boardwalk, which opens the film and sets up the first flashback, when CC and Hillary first meet. Surprisingly, it failed to make the 100 Billboard. When Wind Beneath My Wings was released, it soared to #1!

One of my favorite things about movie writing is finding out new things in research. Example: I always assumed that Wind Beneath My Wings was written for Bette. The tune actually was written in 1982, first recorded by Roger Whittaker, then Sheena Easton, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Perry Como, to name a few. While all fine, distinctive singers, they didn’t give it the majestic performative take of the Divine Miss M. Bette’s version won Grammys for Best Song and Record of the Year in 1990. One reviewer aptly commented that this song and others from the Beaches soundtrack invoked more genuine emotion than the actual movie. Like the later For the Boys, the soundtrack also was better than the movie.

The power ballad "Wind Beneath My Wings" is used during the final section of "Beaches," which induced tears and record sales! Barbara Hershey & Bette Midler.

The Beaches book was a bestseller by Iris Rainer Dart. The writer has said the character of brash CC Bloom was inspired by Cher. Dart was the only female writer on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and Cher's solo variety series. This is amusing as Bette appeared on Cher's first solo series episode and from then on, seemed to declare herself Cher's frenemy. The role of CC in the movie was tailored to fit Bette like a glove.

Bette Midler's CC gives a beautiful rendition of "The Glory of Love" as a tribute to
 her late friend, Hillary, played by Barbara Hershey. From 1988's "Beaches."

Bette Midler, like Cher, has only starred in a handful of movies but she’s made a lasting impression. And like Cher, Bette has a natural flair for comedy and a natural warmth and honesty in dramatic roles. When Bette Midler is good, she’s very good; but when Bette’s bad, she comes off like Ethel Merman at her most over the top. While Bette has some quietly affecting moments in the later serious scenes, the role of CC is not just larger than life, she’s over the top. The best part of Bette is some wonderful musical performances, including The Glory of Love.

Barbara Hershey's enhanced appearance in "Beaches" wouldn't even be noticed
by today's moviegoers, but it raised eyebrows in 1988. 

As for Barbara Hershey, Hillary is a mostly pallid character, but Hershey has some surprising moments as the suppressed society girl. Hershey seems to be an odd choice as Hillary as she was formerly hippie chick Barbara Seagull, seriously taking on the soul of a dead bird. Artsy Hershey seems to fly in the face of appearing in a glossy soap, but the movie biz attracts contradictory types.

Beaches is still a mildly entertaining movie, but it has not aged well. It feels like a collection of bits and shtick. From the girls’ adolescence to 40-ish women, they communicate mostly by letter, which still doesn't smooth over the movie's choppy, episodic nature. It especially shows in CC's career changes. One scene she's a hit, the next she's doing a “B” movie (without ever showing her breaking into movies), the next winning a Tony, the next she's a huge radio and concert performer—is this another nod to Cher's bumper car career? Maybe, but this movie doesn't segue well.

"Young" Bette Midler as CC Bloom, in the early scenes of 1988's "Beaches."

A big problem is that the two leads are not convincing as their younger selves, which is a big segment of Beaches. Bette turned 43 when Beaches was released. And despite some flattering lighting at the concert finale, Midler looks early-middle aged throughout, not like a showbiz newcomer. Barbara Hershey at 40 looks a bit worn and then over-made up and lipped-up as the society woman. Frankly, the women's various wigs depict the passage of time better than they do. 

CC & Hillary face off later in 1988's "Beaches." Thankfully, neither Bette Midler
nor Barbara Hershey get their wigs ripped off!

As often the case in "women's pictures" the men are either dull as dishwater or wallpaper. While John Heard and Spalding Gray are interesting actors, here they are strictly background. James Read comes off like a one-dimensional soap actor. 

The first rift between Bette Midler's CC & Barbara Hershey's Hillary is over
John Heard's artsy director, from 1988's "Beaches."

I wonder how Lainie Kazan felt about playing Bette Midler's mother. Lainie was just five years older than the Divine Miss M! Lainie has just two sequences in Beaches, at the beginning, then mid-picture, when CC goes to Florida to whine to Leona about her failing marriage. Kazan is a scene stealer and is actually quite believable as blood relation to Bette, though older sister would have been more appropriate. Why couldn't Kazan have been the big sister who wanted to be a star, who then focused her dreams on little starlet sister Bette, like Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie in The Hard Way? Hey, I can recycle movie plots, too!

Lainie Kazan's Leona gives daughter CC (Bette Midler) some tough love 
in 1988's "Beaches." 

The child actors, as young CC and Hillary, plus Hillary’s daughter, are all affecting. Mayim Bialik, of course, went on to Blossom, then Big Bang Theory, and finally Jeopardy! Marcie Leeds as young Hillary is sweet, and Grace Johnston as Hillary’s daughter, Victoria, does well in a challenging role.

A tearjerking final moment that dovetails back to young Hillary & CC's first day
 together, as instant friends, from 1988's "Beaches."

Garry Marshall was an old pro at directing/writing feel-good laughs, mixed with heart. He made a career of it on TV with Dick Van Dyke and Lucille Ball’s shows, then hitting the jackpot in the ‘70s with Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy, among others. Marshall directed some huge successes as a movie director toward the end of his long career, notably, Pretty Woman. Marshall was also great with actors.

However, Beaches bounces along in its episodic, surface way. The last act, with Hillary’s terminal illness, is truly effective, more so than the rest of the movie. This feels a bit odd, since there's no genuine connection between the two women for the majority of the movie. 

Hillary & CC (Barbara Hershey & Bette Midler) find their bond tested with
Hillary's terminal illness, in 1988's "Beaches."

This was one of Bette's last big hits as a film star. As she took increasing control of her movies, they became more like vehicles and schlocky ones at that. Stella, the '90 Stella Dallas remake was just around the corner, then For the Boys. Both were promising, but didn’t jell. The First Wives Club came eight years later, a comeback, really. A guest-starring part in Mel Gibson’s What Women Want was a hit. Hocus Pocus was a dud turned cult fave. Another no- brainer should have been as Mama Rose in Gypsy for television, but again, it was Bette overkill. On the upside, Bette had a Tony-winning Broadway hit in Hello, Dolly! And a wicked one-woman show on as brassy super agent Sue Mengers in I’ll Eat You Last. Up or down, Bette Midler is still here and mostly divine!

Bette's better acting moments are when she plays simply as the larger than life
CC Bloom in 1988's "Beaches."

Old movies can be timeless, an entertaining product of their time, or worst case scenario, just plain dated. Beaches falls in the latter category, unfortunately, but has its moments. Enjoy!

Here’s my take on Old Acquaintance, where Miriam Hopkins plays the brassy friend to classy Bette Davis, for a couple of decades of fussing and fighting: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2022/01/bette-vs-miriam-old-acquaintance-1943.html

 

Friends to the end: Barbara Hershey & Bette Midler as Hillary & CC
in 1988's comedy/tearjerker "Beaches."

Tracy & Hepburn Team in Rare Drama ‘Keeper of the Flame’ 1942

 

Spencer Tracy is a reporter & Katharine Hepburn is the widow of a wartime hero,
in MGM's 1942 suspense drama, "Keeper of the Flame."

MGM’s suspense story Keeper of the Flame is one of two straight-up dramas that Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made, from their nine films together. (The other was The Sea of Grass.) This film premiered at the end of 1942, with its political overtones, a year after the Pearl Harbor attack. FDR's administration strongly encouraged Hollywood to make movies that inspired patriotism.

MGM’s Big Daddy, L.B. Mayer, was also a big American flag waver, who had just made Mrs. Miniver, and who reportedly didn't like Keeper of the Flame. The story of a revered American hero who turns out to be a cultish fascist wasn’t exactly what FDR and Papa Mayer had in mind! I can see this dark political thriller given the green light at WB or RKO, where grittier movies were made.

Despite the MGM gloss and some diva posturing, the message of 1942's
"Keeper of the Flame" is as timely as ever. 

So, Metro’s resulting Keeper of the Flame seems a rather odd entry. The film was based on controversial I.A.R. Wylie’s novel, with a screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart, who was unapologetically political, and later blacklisted. Stewart seems inspired by the then-recent Citizen Kane in the telling of the investigation behind the death of a larger than life public figure. Cinematographer William H. Daniels noir-like photography, the extensive use of sets instead of location or exterior shooting, lots of matte work to suggest opulent mansions and scenic properties, makes this all feel like a dark fairytale. 

Some say that Keeper of the Flame was also inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst. Others have said Charles Lindbergh, which feels closer to the mark, IMO. There were certainly enough world figures with secret fascist leanings at the time. Lindbergh, who came from modest means, became a world-wide hero, then a political figure, preaching isolationist and anti-Semitic and racist theories. By the late 1930s his reputation was tarnished; by the early '40s, FDR had isolated Lindbergh! The timing makes him the likely inspiration for Keeper of the Flame.

Director George Cukor on the set of 1942;s "Keeper of the Flame," with stars
Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn.

Despite the sometimes prosaic plotting, the story’s premise, strong cast, and intelligent direction by George Cukor, all make the film worth watching. Spencer Tracy is at his best, with his solid and restrained performance as reporter Stephen O’Malley, who is an admirer of the revered public figure Richard Bennett, who has died in a mysterious car accident. Tracy is objective as the man who is intent on getting at the truth, despite surrounding suspicion that he is just a muckraker looking for scandal. Spence's interacting with Hepburn, child actor Darryl Hickman, and the array of distinctive character actors, is fascinating. Spence was truly one of the first of the naturalistic film actors.

Spencer Tracy is a rock as the principled reporter determined to get at the truth,
 regarding a dead hero and his wife, in 1942's "The Keeper of the Flame."

Katharine Hepburn, in one of her last glam leading lady roles, has the showier role as the haunted widow of the hero. Under favorite director George Cukor, Hepburn is mostly restrained, though some of that Metro diva posturing seeps through. As her character is conflicted and motivations misunderstood, Kate's Christine Bennett allows for some dramatic moments. Hepburn is undercut a bit by the over-lavish MGM production values, with her widow wafting through the mammoth mansion in Adrian gowns.  Especially in the first scene, where Kate looks like a ghost in a white gown, carrying an arm full of lilies to place before the portrait of her dead husband. At least, Kate didn't reprise her calla lily speech from Stage Door!

Spencer Tracy's reporter first encounters Katharine Hepburn's widow as she wafts
 into the library in white, placing flowers at her late husband's portrait,
in 1942's "Keeper of the Flame."

I was struck that Kate's grieving character was a foreshadowing of Hepburn in one of her latter day triumphs, 1959's Suddenly, Last Summer. In both movies, Kate's characters are distracted over larger than life dead people and determined to protect their reputations, though for different reasons. In both Keeper and Suddenly, the loved one was in reality a sordid character. Both of Kate's characters are faced with a hero who is seeking to find out the truth. And some of Kate's speeches in Keeper are in keeping with Suddenly's Violet Venable.

Katharine Hepburn as another haunted mourner in white,
in 1959's "Suddenly, Last Summer."

,

The male secretary character, Richard Whorf’s Clive, slavishly offers reporters speeches and information over the late hero's works. Protective to the point of obsessive, Clive comes across like a male version of Rebecca's Mrs. Danvers, even to the point of starting a fire in the finale!

Spencer Tracy, as the straightforward reporter determined to write the truth of a
late hero, with the revered man's assistant looking on with distrust, played by
Richard Whorf. From 1942's wartime suspense drama, "Keeper of the Flame." 

Darryl Hickman as the child of the groundskeeper, who idolized Bennett, is a bit overwrought. This is mostly from the way his character is written, rather than performed. A young Howard da Silva is instantly recognizable by his voice as the boy’s protective father. 

Darryl Hickman plays one of the children who are devastated by their hero's death,
in 1942's political drama, "Keeper of the Flame."

Percy Kilbride is a hoot as the close-mouthed cabbie who doesn’t like snoops. Audrey Christie as the brash reporter with a crush on Tracy is such a stereotype that she comes off like a Glenda Ferrell clone. I found her performance immediately irritating. Stephen McNally has an early role as a competing reporter—he kept reminding me of Zachary Scott!

Margaret Wycherly has a field day as the hero's elderly, demented mother. Old Mrs. Bennett’s scenes give you an idea where her son got his ideas on class superiority. The mother goes off on how once she was a maid to the wealthy, and because of her son's success, SHE now lives in a big house, declaring, “Big people live in big houses!” Ironically, I had just viewed a clip of Mary Trump talking about her namesake grandmother, and how she had come from Scotland and was a maid to the Carnegie family. Later, Mrs. Trump lived in a huge home with husband Fred after he climbed up the ladder as a realtor/landlord.

Margaret Wycherly is riveting as the demented mother of the deceased "hero,"
in 1942's wartime suspense drama, "Keeper of the Flame."

On a lighter note, newcomer Forrest Tucker was borrowed by MGM to play Hepburn’s handsome cousin. Six foot, four inch Tucker was a big boy, and director Cukor was not above hiring young beefcake for more than their on-screen talent!

Forrest Tucker plays Katharine Hepburn's brooding young cousin in "Keeper of the Flame." That's Audrey Christie, annoying as the brash gal reporter!

The baroque music score is by Bronislaw Kaper—was he MGM’s answer to Bernard Herrmann? Kaper’s score is both bombastic and creepy. I always hated his intrusive score for the later BUtterfield 8, a cross between a Tom and Jerry cartoon and a horror movie!

The climactic scene, when Richard Bennett's real leanings are revealed by Hepburn’s Christine, is chilling. The speech on fascism is fascinating and how insidiously it occurs may seem familiar to some modern audiences. The widow of the “hero” speaks of people's group gullibility in worshipping false idols, for a movement that pits different groups of people against each one another, all the while seizing power. Christine tells the reporter, “Of course they didn’t call it fascism. They painted it red, white, and blue. They called it Americanism.” Today, it might be called Nationalism? Or perhaps Bennett’s plan would be Project 2025?  

Katharine Hepburn plays the keeper of the secret files,
as well as "The Keeper of the Flame!"

Cukor later said he found Keeper of the Flame artificial and he was right. Yet, there is a message that is still true, and fascinating that it was told at the height of the United States patriotic movement in finally supporting WWII.

Here’s my look at Katharine Hepburn in a similar later role where she’s grieving and glossing over the reputation of her late poet son, with Montgomery Clift as the doctor determined to get at the truth, in 1959’s Suddenly, Last Summer. My review:

 https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2018/03/suddenly-last-summer-1959.html

"Keeper of the Flame" was Tracy & Hepburn's 2nd film pairing, after their classic
 debut in "Woman of the Year." Parker Posey at times reminds me of Kate Hepburn!