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(out of 5)

Terrific adaptation of the marvelous radio play by Lucille Fletcher. A bedridden woman (Barbara Stanwyck) goes to make a phone call and accidentally overhears another conversation when the lines get mixed up. The dialogue she hears is two men plotting a murder, motivating her to contact the authorities before it’s too late and the innocent victim is killed. Unfortunately, her further investigation into the matter reveals that it might be her husband (Burt Lancaster) who is arranging to have her rubbed out. Marvelous work by Stanwyck and an ever-tightening plot that boils to a fantastic and terrifying climax!

Hal Wallis Productions

USA, 1948

Directed by Anatole Litvak

Screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, based on her radio play

Cinematography by Sol Polito

Produced by Anatole Litvak, Hal B. Wallis

Music by Franz Waxman

Production Design by Hans Dreier, A. Earl Hedrick

Costume Design by Edith Head

Film Editing by Warren Low

Academy Awards 1948