Friday, July 25, 2014

Sorry, Wrong Number

Last night I watched the film noir classic Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) starring Barbara Stanwyck and my boy Burt Lancaster.
 Through a series of telephone calls, a neurotic, bedridden wife
(Stanwyck) comes to suspect her beefy-looking but weasely-souled husband (Burt) has hired someone to kill her. 


It's ridiculously overblown, so the powerfully nasty ending surprised me ...and made it all worthwhile.

Here're the two actors on the set of the film:

Sorting paper goods at the Thrift Store today, I unpacked a vintage address book, below, with a cover of some sort of plastic (?) lacquer over gold brocade fabric.

I imagine it's the sort Stanwyck's character might have used. There's not even anyplace to put e-mail addresses... So I bought it. I'm going to use it too, because my old address book is full.

Does anyone today use paper address books ? Would children even recognize the mail and telephone icons?
     That's Alfie, the wire fox terrier ^ 
I'm house sitting this weekend.

5 comments:

Michael Leddy said...

I think young people would be likely to know the icons from their phones. Whether they've seen a traditional desk phone in real life — far less likely.

I love Barbara Stanwyck. May I recommend the radio version of SWN? It stars Agnes Moorehead and it's scary as anything. (Should be findable online.)

Alex Villepique said...

I have one, but I have to admit it mostly collects dust. I switched to the electronic one and prefer to use that one since search is way easier.
About icons, it is possible that envelope symbol would be taken as email symbol.

bink said...

I still use paper. One notebook has my addresses. Another has my phone numbers, and sits by my--gasp!--land line. My cell phone does have numbers programed in, but since I rarely use that phone, that doesn't give me much benefit.

I think I will always have a paper back up for addresses and phone numbers, even if I one day go more digital. I've seen too many people who had it all on their phones, lose it all.

Love the Alfie pic.

And the movie ending. Give me a spoiler... I'm sure I've seen it before... but I can't quite remember.

Fresca said...

MICHAEL: It hadn't occurred to me to look up the original radio play--thanks!

LEXA:So nice to see you here! Hm, yeah, I suppose that phone gets used as an icon--funny how things survive.

BINK: SPOILER:
The whole thing is about this bedridden woman figuring out she is the target of a murder plot she overhears on the phone...
I figured she'd then use the phone to save herself, but she doesn't:
she gets murdered!

She's not likable, nor is her husband, who hires the murderers, but he does try to get her to save herself at the last too-late minute, as the cops are closing in on him too...
Everybody loses!

ArtSparker said...

There are some objects that just scream Barbara Stanwyck, I find in looking at vintage. She is Hollywood Regency, but also like a bottle of milk that is just about to go off (in the sense of not tasting quite right).