I Saw What You Did

I Saw What You Did is a 1965 American thriller-horror released by Universal Pictures and starring Joan Crawford and John Ireland. The plot follows two teenage girls who find themselves in serious danger after making a prank phone call to a man who just murdered his wife. The screenplay by William P. McGivern was based upon the 1964 novel Out of the Dark by Ursula Curtiss. The film was produced and directed by William Castle.

Plot
When teenage friends Libby Mannering (Andi Garrett) and Kit Austin (Sara Lane) are home alone with Libby's younger sister Tess (Sharyl Locke), they amuse themselves by randomly dialing telephone numbers asking prank questions, telling whoever answers: "I saw what you did, and I know who you are." Libby places a call to Steve Marak (John Ireland), a man who had just murdered his wife Judith (Joyce Meadows) and disposed of her body in the woods. Believing he has been found out, Marak wants to track down the caller in order to silence her.

Marak's neighbor Amy (Joan Crawford), who is in love with him and had been trying to woo him away from his wife, listens in on the line while Marak is speaking with Libby. Intrigued by Marak's voice, Libby takes Tess and a frightened Kit along on a drive to Marak's address. Amy discovers Libby and chases her off, thinking that Libby is Marak's lover, inadvertently saving Libby from being murdered by Marak, who has seen her and grabbed a knife. Amy snatches the registration card from the car before Libby drives away and gives it to Marak, telling him to keep it as a souvenir of his last fling. Amy tries to blackmail him into marrying her, telling him she knows about the murder, but he stabs her to death after they have a drink. With Libby's address and phone number from the car registration, Marak calls to ask if her parents are home and then sets out to the Mannering home.

Libby's mother, 90 miles away in Santa Barbara with her husband, is frantic with worry when no one answers the home phone and has her husband call the police to check the house. A patrolman visits and finds that the three girls are safe.

Libby, afraid of losing her driving privileges, swears Kit to secrecy over their misadventure. While Kit's father is driving her home, a news report over the car's radio announces that a woman's body has been found in the woods and provides a description of a man who was seen leaving the burial site.

Marak arrives at the Mannering home and questions Libby and Tess about the call. Libby convinces him that it was just a prank. He returns her mother's identification and leaves, but waits outside. When Kit calls, she tells Libby that Marak matches the description of the killer about whom she had heard on the radio. Marak overhears and enters to silence Libby and Tess, but they evade him. Libby tries to escape but cannot start her parents' car. Marak emerges from the back seat and starts to strangle Libby, but he is shot by a police officer who had come back to the Mannering house after Kit revealed the secret to her father, who phoned the police.

Cast
 Joan Crawford as Amy Nelson
 John Ireland as Steve Marak
 Leif Erickson as Dave Mannering
 Sara Lane as Kit Austin
 Andi Garrett as Libby Mannering
 Sharyl Locke as Tess Mannering
 Patricia Breslin as Ellie Mannering
 John Archer as John Austin
 John Crawford as State Trooper
 Joyce Meadows as Judith Marak

Production notes
Advertisements for the movie read "William Castle warns you: This is a motion picture about UXORICIDE!" and, in an early trailer for the film, Castle advised the audience that a section of the theater would be installed with seat belts for audience members "who might be scared out of their seats." The advertised gimmick was abandoned before the release of the film and was never actually used. The announcer in the film's trailer says repeatedly: "DON'T ANSWER IT!!!"

Critical reviews
Howard Thompson called I Saw What You Did a "generally broad and belabored expansion of a nifty idea"; he considered redundant the "middle chapter" of the film, "involving the aroused, snarling killer" and thought the film should have "held to the impressionable viewpoint of the youngsters." Saturday Review noted "Unfortunately, there is little for the eye, ear, or mind in William Castle's egregiously low-budgeted I Saw What You Did, an attempt at terror starring Joan Crawford and John Ireland." Variety wrote "[The film] is a well-produced, well-acted entry in the suspense-terror field....[Crawford's] slightest gesture or expression...conveys vivid emotion."

David Harkin suggested that 'I Saw What You Did is 'a curious film; it swings from violent terror to situation comedy, all tied together with a bizarre music score'

Home media
I Saw What You Did was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment on VHS and Region 1 DVD on August 24, 1999. On May 23, 2014, it was re-released as an exclusive DVD-R by Universal as part of its Universal Vault Series, but in a full-frame presentation.

On May 17, 2016, Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray under its sub-label Scream Factory.

Shown on the MeTV show Svengoolie on July 10, 2021.

Remake

I Saw What You Did was remade for television in 1988 with Robert Carradine, David Carradine, Tammy Lauren and Shawnee Smith.

See also
List of American films of 1965

References

External links

 
 
 
 

1965 films
1960s horror thriller films
American black-and-white films
American teen films
American horror thriller films
American slasher films
Films about pranks
Films based on American novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films directed by William Castle
Home invasions in film
Prank calling
Films about telephony
Universal Pictures films
Uxoricide in fiction
1960s English-language films
1960s American films