 sorry, wrong number is a 1948 american suspense film noir directed by anatole litvak and starring barbara stanwyck and burt lancaster. it tells the story of a woman who overhears a murder plot. the film was adapted by lucille fletcher from her 1943 radio play. it is one of the few pre-1950 paramount pictures films that remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by universal).. ==plot== leona stevenson (barbara stanwyck) is the spoiled, bedridden daughter of wealthy businessman james cotterell (ed begley). one day, while listening to what seems to be a crossed telephone connection, she hears two men planning a woman's murder. the call cuts off without leona learning very much other than it is scheduled for 11:15, when a passing train will hide any sounds. she calls the telephone company and the police, but with few concrete details, they can do nothing. complicating matters, her husband henry (burt lancaster) is overdue and their servants have the night off, leaving her all alone in a manhattan apartment. as she makes a number of phone calls trying to locate henry, leona inadvertently begins to piece together the mystery. the story is told mostly in flashbacks. when leona reaches henry's secretary, elizabeth jennings (dorothy neumann), she learns that he took an attractive mrs. lord to lunch and did not return to the office. mrs. lord turns out to be the former sally hunt (ann richards). leona stole then-drug store employee henry from sally, and married him against her father's wishes. sally is now the wife of fred lord (leif erickson), a lawyer in the district attorney's office. from overheard conversations, she learned that her husband was close to resolving an investigation that involves henry somehow. sally became so concerned that she followed her husband and two associates to a mysterious meeting in a seemingly abandoned house on staten island. the house, according to a "no trespassing" sign, belongs to a w. evans. sally arranged to meet henry for lunch, but before she could warn him, he left the table and did not return. later, sally calls leo
1940s_thriller_films 1948_films American_films American_thriller_films Black-and-white_films English-language_films Film_noir Films_based_on_radio_series Films_directed_by_Anatole_Litvak Films_set_in_New_York_City Paramount_Pictures_films Psychological_thriller_films Suspense_films Telephony_in_popular_culture