DAILY FILM DOSE: A Daily Film Appreciation and Review Blog: PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER

Sunday 6 April 2008

PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER


Phone Call From A Stranger (1952) dir. Jean Negulesco
Starring: Gary Merrill, Shelley Winters, Michael Rennie, Keenan Wynn, Bette Davis

***

“Phone Call from a Stranger” is a fine underappreciated ensemble potboiler from the 1950’s. When a flight is delayed due to weather, a group of one-way ticketed guests, each with a hidden past, bonds to form a unique friendship. But when the plane crashes the sole survivor of the group is compelled to contact their families and finish the personal journeys of each of his friends.

David Trask (Gary Merrill) is introduced as a broken man who has run away from his family. He’s taken a one-way flight to Los Angeles under a fake name and left a seemingly loving wife and two kids. His painful past is left hidden to the audience. On the flight he meets Bianca Carr (Shelley Winters) a vivacious actress and singer who has a fear of flying and a painful and rocky relationship with her singer husband. Dr. Robert Fortness (the humble Michael Rennie) a kind doctor is also on a flight to escape his troublesome past as an alcoholic. The foursome is rounded out by Eddie Hoke (Keenan Wynn) a traveling novelty salesman who uses his wild sense of humour to mask deep-rooted pain in the homelife.

The group call themselves the four Muskateers and make a pact to revisit with each other a year after the flight. The pact becomes an omen when the plane crashes leaving Trask as the only survivor. Trask makes good on his pact though and proceeds to contact the families of each of his surrogate friends and help heal the familial conflict which divided each of the families.

Writer/producer Nunnally Johnson was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, with a great talent for creating suspenseful character-driven stories. His range across genres included fine screenplays for “The Dirty Dozen”, “Black Widow” and “Three Faces of Eve”. Johnson along with director Jean Negulesco create great tension before and during the flight by teasing the audience with hints of the backstories and characters we’ll meet later in the film. Winter, Rennie, Merrill and Wynn’s anxious performances set up the revelatory actions in the second half.

As Trask makes his phone calls and visitations he becomes a guardian angel to each of them, becoming a source of comfort and solace. It’s fun though to watch how easily the families are accepting of Trask’s intrusion into their lives. The old world hospitality toward strangers is unintentionally humorous compared to the fearful suspicion we have toward our neighbours in today’s world. At one point Trask physically restrains Fortness’s son in his own house just minutes after meeting him.

If you accept the contrivances of this Hollywood style of storytelling, “Phone Call From a Stranger” will be a fun experience. At the very least, you will rewarded with a great cameo from Bette Davis who plays the kind wife of Keenan Wynn who allows Trask himself to accept the love from his own family again. Enjoy.

“Phone Call From a Stranger” is part of the Bette Davis Collection from Fox Home Entertainment.

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