Review #1380: Phone Call from a Stranger.Cast:
Gary Merrill (David Trask), Shelley Winters (Binky Gay), Michael Rennie (Dr. Robert Fortness), Keenan Wynn (Eddie Hoke), Evelyn Varden (Sally Carr), Warren Stevens (Marty Nelson), Beatrice Straight (Claire Fortness), Ted Donaldson (Jerry Fortness), Craig Stevens (Mike Carr), Bette Davis (Marie Hoke), and Helen Westcott (Jane Trask) Directed by Jean Negulesco.
Review:
Have you ever felt a connection with a human being that you didn't see coming? It happens every day, often in unexpected places all around the world, whether one is at home or not, so it only makes sense to have a film about strangers becoming fast friends at an airport, complete with name actors to try and spruce up interest for moments required to fill 105 minutes. It should figure that the responsibility to direct such name actors fell to Jean Negulesco. Although he isn't a particular household name for directors, the Romanian-born painter-turned-filmmaker directed his first feature film at the ripe age of 36. with Crash Donovan (1936). He had started in Hollywood as a sketch artist and technical advisor for The Story of Temple Drake (1933), and he would soon move up to second-unit director to associate to eventually directing shorts, which he would do for over a decade (even after moving his way to features). He had a few notable standout films, such as The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), Johnny Belinda (1948), where he received a nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards while directing his leading lady Jane Wyman to a Best Actress award, and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), the first feature to be entirely filmed in CinemaScope. In total, Negulesco directed films in five decades before his death in 1993 at the age of 93.
The film was written by journalist-turned-writer/director Nunnally Johnson and writer I. A. R. Wylie (who had thirty of her works turned into films in her lifetime). The end product is a casual yarn, appropriate for a rainy day as the random choice in the pile of drama/noir-ish movies that will prove adequate for entertainment. Merrill leads the film with a relaxed presence, one will a by-the-numbers plotline to follow with seeming like an observer in his own feature, since one will get to know the actors around him with more than a batted eye. After all, each of the main three besides him had distinguished careers, such as the bombshell-turned character actress star in Winters or the dignified British-turned-Hollywood star in Rennie or the character player-in-demand talent of Wynn, and each get a sliver for themselves to express themselves, which works out mostly for Rennie, although Wynn does deliver a clownish chuckle and Winters proves diverting. The supporting cast is headlined by Davis, who shows up in the last twenty minutes (having asked for the role since she felt it was a good part to play) and is just as sturdy a presence as she ever was, supporting role or not. One knows what they are in for after the film eliminates three of its main four it had focused on, where it now becomes a series of vignettes about each of the departed's home life before leading up to the inevitable conclusion (departing your wife and kids for an unstated reason? Take one guess of how that plays out) that will leave the crowd pleased if not shrugging their shoulders in saying how it may be average, but it's their kind of average film to go to, where you can find something in yourself with at least one of these four strangers and find yourself satisfied in the long run.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
