Since in today’s world the cell phone is so prevalent a part of daily life, we’re taking a look back at films where the old reliable landline telephone (most, but not all of them, of the dial variety) played a key role in the proceedings:
Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder from 1954 uses the phone as part of a homicide plot. Former tennis star Tony (Ray Milland) is married to Margot (Grace Kelly), who he knows is having an affair with Mark (Robert Cummings); I guess she really “loves that Bob!” Tony arranges for her to be killed, the key element in its execution being a phone call placed at a specific time. Charles (Anthony Dawson) is the patsy he enlists to do the actual killing. Tony leaves a key hidden for him to gain entrance to their apartment and instructs him to wait for the phone to ring at 11, which will wake Margot and bring her out to the living room to be killed. Fate had other plans.
Margot ends up killing her assailant and, with the police believing she killed him because he was blackmailing her, finds herself on trial for murder. Chief Inspector Hubbard (a marvelous John Williams) shows up to try to figure the whole thing out. This was remade as A Perfect Murder in 1998 with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow starring.
I recently watched the 1952 movie called Phone Call from a Stranger starring Gary Merrill, Shelley Winters, and Bette Davis. Some may find it old-fashioned, but it was a compelling story with fine performances all around. I never realized what a good actress Shelley Winters was. With this film, and the year before in A Place in the Sun, that lady demonstrated major acting chops. The story is as follows: four strangers meet waiting for their plane to depart and develop quick friendships during their journey. The four are Merrill, Winters, Michael Rennie, and Keenan Wynn. After (SPOILER ALERT!) The plane crashes and only Merrill survives, he is compelled to call all their spouses and tell them about their last night together. They all have compelling backstories (some might say soap opera-ish). Davis appears near the end with her own interesting tale.
Certainly 1948’s Sorry, Wrong Number fits the criteria. It stars Barbara Stanwyck as a bedridden and highly strung woman who overhears a murder plot when her telephone line gets crossed. She tries to get help from family and police by warning them of what she heard, but to no avail. Stanwyck pulls out all the stops as the manipulative rich woman with some serious mental problems. She was nominated for an Oscar for her frantic performance. Burt Lancaster, Ed Begley, and William Conrad (with a full head of hair) also star.
For some more frivolous fun with phones, check out Bye Bye Birdie, the 1963 musical comedy about an Elvis-like pop star being drafted into the Army and his mostly female fans’ reactions. The phone is featured prominently in the musical number “The Telephone Hour” that heralds the “pinning” of stars Ann-Margret and Bobby Rydell (Pinning signifying they are officially going steady). It’s one of the best musical sequences on film.
Whoopi Goldberg starred in The Telephone, an unsuccessful 1988 dramedy where the title device is front and center. She plays an out-of-work actress who uses her phone for late night calls to various people and places. But she has a secret, and it is not to be revealed here. The film was directed by Rip Torn, and John Heard and Elliott Gould are also in it.
The 1960 suspense thriller Midnight Lace, starring Doris Day and Rex Harrison, also fits the bill. Day plays Kit Preston, an heiress living in London with husband Tony (Harrison). She starts receiving threatening phone calls (from the creepiest voice you’ve ever heard) and struggles to be believed as her hysteria increases. Solid support is supplied by John Gavin, Myrna Loy, Roddy McDowall, and John Williams of Dial M for Murder fame.
1979’s When a Stranger Calls is a chiller about a babysitter (Carol Kane) being harassed by frequent phone calls asking about the children in her charge. The police get involved and make a startling discovery. No spoilers here. But it is interesting to note that cell phones today are weaponized just as land lines were years ago. Text messages can be sent anonymously, and racy pics are used as blackmail. Progress, huh?
In the 2002 horror fave The Ring, a cursed videotape, once viewed, produces a phone call with the message “seven days.” Then the receiver of the call dies in–you guessed it!–seven days. Moral of the story: let all your calls go to voicemail. Based on a Japanese novel and movie, it stars Naomi Watts and Brian Cox.
Wes Craven’s Scream, from 1996, is credited for reviving the horror genre. Once again, the dreaded phone call is a precursor to murder. The harrowing opening scene has Casey (Drew Barrymore) being quizzed on scary films by an unknown caller. A wrong answer will result in her boyfriend’s death. So much for trivia being fun! Well, she gets a question wrong, her b.f. is done in and then she becomes the caller’s prey. And that’s just the beginning. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox (excelling at bitch playing), David Arquette, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, and Lieve Schreiber star.
A prescient prank phone call propels the plot of William Castle’s 1965 thriller I Saw What You Did. Starring John Ireland and Joan Crawford, the film follows three young girls prank calling people and telling them, “I saw what you did, and I know who you are.” That’s a problem for them when they call Ireland ,who has just killed his wife. Crawford is Ireland’s neighbor with designs on him and all scenery chewing.
Curious about the man on the phone, the teens look up his address in the phone book and decide to go for a gander at the man with the engaging voice. They are then caught being Peeping Toms at Ireland’s house by an overdressed Crawford, who scares them off while managing to rip out their car registration with their address on it. Ireland uses this to track down the possible witnesses to his crime, but not before taking care of the amorous Crawford. A few scares are provided, but remember this one when you’re prank phoning. “Is your refrigerator running?” is a safer bet.
If we failed to mention your favorite phone-centric cinematic work, please don’t call us about it. Write and talk about it in the comments below instead.