Heiress Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), bedridden by psychosomatic symptoms, hears through crossed telephone wires of a murder being planned.  She tries to alert the police, to no avail, and grows frantic as she gradually realizes she is the intended victim. Barbara Stanwyck give a tour de force performance (Oscar®-nominated) in this engrossing and densely layered extension of Lucile Flectcher’s legendary 22-minute radio drama. Too often dismissed as a gimmicky “women’s picture,” the film is a pitch-black noir, tracking an ill-fated romance that spirals into bitterness, deceit, and death. Featuring Burt Lancaster in one of his earliest roles, mesmerizing direction by Anatole Litvak, and astoundingly atmospheric camerawork by the great Sol Polito.  Famous … yet still underrated.

Presented in 35mm courtesy of Paramount.