It's stylish, no doubt, and the ending is a remarkably shocking nail biter for its time, but "Sorry, Wrong Number" seems like an awfully overwrought affair now. Barbara Stanwyck acts up a storm as a bed-ridden woman who inadvertently hears plans for a murder over her phone and spends the rest of the film trying to get help. It's like a melodramatic, women's picture version of "When a Stranger Calls." The film is fleshed out with a lot of back story that feels more like padding than anything else, but I guess they had to fill out the run time with something, since the basic story could have been told in 15 minutes. Stanwyck handles the film like a pro. Even when she's overacting (which is often) she keeps you thoroughly interested in this rather silly affair. She would win her last Best Actress Academy Award nomination for this film, forcing the Academy to toss her a consolation honorary award over thirty years later, one more shameful oversight in the Academy's long and unmatched history of shameful oversights.
True noir lovers take note---this is not really a film noir, not in the strictest sense of that overused phrase. But it's an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half.
Grade: B-
True noir lovers take note---this is not really a film noir, not in the strictest sense of that overused phrase. But it's an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half.
Grade: B-