Phone Call from a Stranger
- 1952
- 1h 45m
While awaiting a delayed flight, a lawyer who has left his unfaithful wife, befriends three fellow passengers. After the plane crashes and he is among the few to survive, he feels compelled ... Read allWhile awaiting a delayed flight, a lawyer who has left his unfaithful wife, befriends three fellow passengers. After the plane crashes and he is among the few to survive, he feels compelled to contact the families of his dead friends.While awaiting a delayed flight, a lawyer who has left his unfaithful wife, befriends three fellow passengers. After the plane crashes and he is among the few to survive, he feels compelled to contact the families of his dead friends.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Dr. Tim Brooks
- (uncredited)
- Mrs. Fletcher
- (uncredited)
- Restaurant Patron
- (uncredited)
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
- Airplane Passenger
- (uncredited)
- Restaurant Patron
- (uncredited)
- Mrs. Brooks
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was the third and final on-screen pairing of real life husband and wife Gary Merrill and Bette Davis. The other two pictures are All About Eve (1950) and Another Man's Poison (1951).
- GoofsBehind the opening credits, the taxi that's taking Trask to the airport passes two movie theaters at least three times, as if the rear projection of stock footage was on a continuous loop. The movies playing at these theaters are "Homestretch" and "The Two Mrs. Carrolls," (at the McVickers), both released five years before this film. The McVickers was a well known Chicago theatrical site, but the taxi arrives at the MIDLAND CITY, IOWA airport, and a flight FROM Chicago is among those listed on the arrival schedule.
- Quotes
Marie Hoke: Dull, foolish, vulgar to some but not to me. To me he was a man like a rock. Nothing could shake him. Nothing could shake his love. It was from him that I learned what love really was. Not a frail little fancy to be smashed and broken by pride and vanity and self pity. That's for children. That's for high school kids. But a rock as strong as life itself indestructible and eternal.
- ConnectionsReferences The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
- SoundtracksThe Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
(uncredited)
Music by Gaston Lyle
Lyrics by George Leybourne
Sung by the passengers on the airplane
Michael Rennie was a prominent doctor who became a whole lot less prominent after he got out of a vehicular homicide charge by throwing the blame on the other man in the car. Merrill calls on wife Beatrice Straight and son Ted Donaldson who've been living with an alcoholic for many years.
Shelley Winters had left her husband Craig Stevens and his domineering mother Evelyn Varden to seek some fame and fortune on the stage. She was returning home in defeat. Varden is one truly hateful woman, a kind of Sophie Tucker like entertainer on steroids. Merrill conceives it his duty to give Varden a temporary comeuppance of sorts.
The most poignant tale is that of Keenan Wynn. Wynn is a traveling salesman, one of those characters who is constantly 'on'. Keenan borrowed a bit from his borscht belt comedian character from The Hucksters for this role. He carries a picture of his wife Bette Davis from her pinup girl days in a Betty Grable poise in a bathing suit. The Davis that Merrill meets is quite a bit different than what Wynn showed the others. In fact Davis when she recites her own story paints a picture of Wynn as a person of real character that you would never suspect in meeting him casually. This role may have been Keenan Wynn's best screen performance, at least I think so.
The Davis/Wynn story is the best, but the others aren't bad either. The writing by Nunnally Johnson from an I.A.R. Wylie story is just superb and Jean Negulesco gets great performances from his cast. Phone Call From A Stranger is a soap opera, but an intelligent and moving one that may wring a tear from a few hardened hearts.
- bkoganbing
- Apr 10, 2010
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Stranac je telefonirao
- Filming locations
- 5301 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA(ambulance races past Tilford's restuarant at the corner with La Brea Ave.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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