Sorry, Wrong Number

press release: 

SORRY, WRONG NUMBER

USA | 1948 | 35mm | 89 min.

Director: Anatole Litvak; Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey

Isolated and bedridden with a number of psychosomatic ailments, Leona (Stanwyck) is increasingly driven to hysteria after she hears the plans for her impending murder over the phone. This memorable adaptation of Lucille Fletcher’s oft-produced radio play imaginatively creates complex backstories for both Leona and her ambitious, duplicitous husband Henry (Lancaster). Sorry Wrong Number’s “flashbacks provide an exemplary case of 1940s character shading” (David Bordwell).

Sunday Cinematheque at the Chazen: Reinventing Hollywood

This lineup of great entertainments draws its inspiration from David Bordwell’s captivating new book, Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling. The book and this series focus on just some of the storytelling methods that made the 40s period exciting, in particular the outrageous and outlandish use of flashbacks and subjective viewpoints, as well as an exploration of character psychologies and neuroses. The series begins on January 28 with a special lecture from Professor Bordwell and a screening of The Chase (1946).

All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public.