She cannot get out of bed. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. She whispers on the phone because she suspects someone is downstairs and she does not want that person to hear her. The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sorry,_Wrong_Number&oldid=1003564033, United States National Recording Registry recordings, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2019, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, A radio adaptation of the film was broadcast January 9, 1950, on, A second live teleplay was broadcast on November 4, 1954, as the fourth episode of the, Another television version aired in 1989, starring, This page was last edited on 29 January 2021, at 16:10. Five strategies to maximize your sales kickoff; Jan. 26, 2021. He is the client that the two men discuss, the person who has asked that his wife be mercifully killed. Sources You do not have to confine yourself to the details of the play, but make your arguments believable. She is trying to call her husband, who is supposed to be working late. Samples cannot be used in chaos theory as they are in statistics. Clips from Sorry, Wrong Number were used for the 1982 comedy-mystery Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, the 1991 thriller Dead Again and the 2014 action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. This man states that he has been in contact with the client and that the murder should go ahead as planned. Engage students in your virtual … Her story has many holes in it, but she demands that the operators solve the problem. She is an active member of … Watson, Wilbur, "Death by Wire," in the New York Times, March 21, 1948, p. BR25. Van Gelder, Lawrence, "Lucille Fletcher, 88, Author of ‘Sorry, Wrong Number,’" in the New York Times, September 6, 2000, p. C24. She is torn between calling for help and keeping quiet, hoping that whoever it is will not come upstairs. He includes tips on how to write, to direct, and to provide sound. Mrs. Elbert Smythe Stevenson. Ask them to write their age and their greatest fear on a piece of paper and submit it to you anonymously. It is Mr. Stevenson that Mrs. Stevenson desperately attempts to call on the phone. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. "Lucille Fletcher," in St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, 4th ed., St. James Press, 1996. In the center is a large bed. After calling her husband for almost an hour, Mrs. Stevenson dials the operator. An undercurrent of abandonment flows through Fletcher's drama. Then there is a shot of Mrs. Stevenson's lifeless hand hanging over the side of the bed. This is where the main character, Mrs. Stevenson, will remain throughout the play. It has been busy for over an hour. She later attended Vassar College and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1933. The play was reprised seven times (on August 21, 1943, then in 1944, 1945, 1948, 1952, 1957 and 1960), each starring Moorehead. [4], Variety listed the film as one of the Top Grossers of the year, earning $2,850,000 in the domestic market alone.[5]. Leona stole then-drug-store-employee Henry from Sally, and married him against her father's wishes. Mrs. Stevenson is the main character in Fletcher's play. Fletcher was still married to Wallop when he died in 1985. She could ask Miss Phillips, who is a nurse but has stepped out for dinner. However, the receptionist who answers the phone tells Mrs. Stevenson that their nursing staff is short of people and she has been told to send out nurses only in cases of emergency. The drama, in the hands of her actress, took on the quality of a character study—a look into the mind of a desperate and helpless woman. There was the rationing of food and fuel and the constant despair for those killed in the war. After hanging up, the phone rings again. There is still a slight doubt that the victim is Mrs. Stevenson, but this doubt is removed when Mrs. Stevenson hears someone downstairs. But she only has vague hints about the location. "Obituaries; Lucille Fletcher; Wrote ‘Sorry,Wrong Number,’" in the Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2000, p. 4. He first found out when she had a heart attack after they quarreled about his attempt to get a job on his own, rather than being a do-nothing vice president in his father-in-law's business. In truth, Mrs. Stevenson does not live in a practical world. Morano, however, showed up with two thugs and intimidated Henry into signing an IOU for $200,000 for his lost profits, due in three months. Although her father died when she was 4, she received a rounded…, Sorrow-Acre (Sorg-Agre) by Isak Dinesen, 1940, Sorrells, Walter (Lynn Abercrombie, Ruth Birmingham), Sorrel, Annie (Anne Sorell, Annie M. Sorell), https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/sorry-wrong-number, In 1954, Fletcher's television adaptation of the radio play was broadcast live on the Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS) as part of the. It was during the 1940s, because of World War II, that the major powers of the world rushed to create more potent weapons. They also know who has arranged the murder, but the suspense continues until Mrs. Stevenson is actually dead. Career: Insurance clerk; 1928—first play, Journey's End, an overnig…, Beeton, Mrs (1836–65). She is convinced that she must save this anonymous woman who is about to be killed. The movie “Sorry Wrong Number” is superior compared to the story. Her husband's business line continues to be busy, so she cannot get through to him. As a genre, suspense has been particularly popular in drama that is designed to be broadcast—in the early twenty-first century via television and film and, before their advent, via radio—most likely because it strongly involves the audience and therefore has a wide appeal. Her only defense is her voice. What clues might you have discovered to prove Mr. Stevenson's guilt? Today: Telephone operators no longer play a critical role in communication technology. The voices on the telephone were to be the play's main focus. But every time she dials the number, she receives a busy signal. "Sorry, Wrong Number This growth continued and reached its peak in the 1940s, which is often called the Golden Age of Radio. When the intruder enters her bedroom, she begs for her life, then screams. She does not know the number that was dialed, though she insists that the operator redial it. Mrs. Stevenson's first reaction is about herself and what has happened to her. Nationality: British. She later adapted the radio play into a screenplay, which was produced in 1948. The war changed the listening habits of radio audiences as they tuned in to hear the news, wanting to know how the war was progressing. She also demands that a nurse come to her home, not because she is sick but because she is nervous. She is quick to find fault with the answers people give her. When Mrs. Stevenson continues to insist that this operator call the wrong number that the previous operator had dialed, the operator decides to turn Mrs. Stevenson over to her manager, referred to as the Chief Operator. These aspects of her personality are displayed when she wants the police to find the men for whom she has no names and no addresses. Today: Radio stations focus on music and news to attract audiences. The receptionist at the hospital that Mrs. Stevenson telephones explains to Mrs. Stevenson that she is under orders not to send out any nurses to private homes unless that request has been made by a doctor. The operator does not know how to do this and Mrs. Stevenson is turned over to the chief operator. Characters He has been so attentive to her all these years. To the contrary, it is coupled with an unbecoming arrogance and sense of self-righteousness. Mrs. Stevenson is all alone and extremely vulnerable. From her remarks and the resultant frustration, the audience can tell that this situation is new for Mrs. Stevenson. Whereas throughout most of the play, the audience and Mrs. Stevenson experience suspense by trying to figure out who is about to be murdered, even as the victim is named, the suspense does not ease. The author suggests that Mrs. Stevenson is "overcome for a few seconds.". But no one answers at the other end of the line. Feb. 3, 2021. He takes his orders from the first man, who remains anonymous. Though he never makes an appearance in this play, he is a pivotal character. She does not know the names of the men she has overheard. Author Biography How could Mr. Stevenson be so cruel? George is the second man in the telephone conversation that Mrs. Stevenson has overheard. It is not until the end of the play that she realizes that she is the victim of the murder plot she has overheard. When reviewers discuss Fletcher's play, they often refer to the fear of the unknown. Mrs. Stevenson's responses to the operator's questions do not improve the situation. Dramas are rarely presented on radio. In a 1947 New York Times article, Howard Taubman refers to Fletcher's play Sorry, Wrong Number as a "a melodramatic tour de force in radio terms." Topics For Further Study Seeing that it is only minutes from 11:15, he pleads with her to go to the balcony and scream for help, but she protests that she cannot, though she can hear somebody downstairs. In other versions, a single actor might deliver a popular monologue from a play in which he or she was staring at the time. She calls the telephone company and the police, but with few concrete details, they can do nothing. George makes an appearance at the end of the play as a shadowy figure who enters Mrs. Stevenson's bedroom and wrestles with her before killing her. Duffy says that since her husband is so devoted, Mrs. Stevenson has nothing to worry about, and she should just relax and let the police handle the situation. The solution to the pro…, Emma In order to have a nurse come to Mrs. Stevenson's house, she would have to have a doctor's permission. The house, according to a "no trespassing" sign, belongs to a Waldo Evans, a chemist working for her father. The one redeeming aspect of this character is that in the beginning Mrs. Stevenson believes that she is taking all these efforts to save some other anonymous woman who is about to be killed. Neither Mrs. Stevenson nor the audience knows the men who are plotting this crime and they do not have much concrete knowledge of who the victim is. Ask your classmates to help you make these distinctions from the data. [3], Hollywood's Production Code Administration initially objected to elements of Fletcher's screenplay, including its depiction of drug trafficking, and the script was significantly revised to win approval. Fletcher lived much of her younger years in New York. The audience experiences compassion, but no real or immediate fear. ", Sorry, Wrong Number conforms to many of the conventions of film noir. She was living in Pennsylvania when she died of a stroke on August 31, 2000. Her most notable play is Sorry, Wrong Number, which first aired in 1943. Oh—no—I hardly think so. Everyone knows it is not her husband. Instead, it reinforces her isolation, as she is unable to make meaningful connections to the outside world. ." The weapon, therefore, became more of a threat than something of practical use in warfare. Fletcher has Mrs. Stevenson's emotions evolve subtly at first, but as the play builds toward the climax, Mrs. Stevenson's mental state quickly and dramatically deteriorates. Mrs. Stevenson would like to help this woman by preventing the murder, but at this point there is no danger for her. She wants someone to come over to soothe her nerves and, later, to protect her from the man who is coming to her bedroom. With the train roaring by outside her bedroom window, the tension is closer to a full pitch. She is supposedly out eating dinner. The pertinent details are the time that the guard who patrols the neighborhood leaves his post to get a drink, which is at eleven in the evening. Deb Miller (PhD, Art History) is the Senior Correspondent and Editor for New York City, where she grew up seeing every show on Broadway. The details fit. He tells George exactly where the jewelry is located, then explains that this will make the act look like a robbery. He writes that he has been trying to call her, but her line was constantly busy. Sorry, Wrong Number is a play that shows the distortion of humor as well as the unaware accepts of homicide. The people and the country were still struggling to get out of the Great Depression as the decade began and then fell right into World War II. Mrs. Stevenson seems to realize this possibility when she exclaims, "No—no—it isn't true! Instead, everyone brushes her off in one way or the other, including Mrs. Stevenson's husband. In complete terror by the end of the play, Mrs. Stevenson makes one last call to an operator. From the war age to the atomic age, great changes were taking place. One of the great contemporary American playwrights is. Why did Mrs. Stevenson have to die? The third operator is described as young and sweet. on the phone was her own . Her radio-, screen-, and teleplays attracted some of the most outstanding actors of her generation, including Orson Wells, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Ida Lupino, and Elizabeth Taylor. Mrs. Stevenson's reliance on this technology, which is meant to enable communication, ironically becomes an obstacle to her ability to communicate meaningfully. Miss Phillips never makes an appearance in the play. Mrs. Stevenson is desperate. Sally arranged to meet Henry for lunch, but before she could warn him, he left the table and did not return. Taubman was writing about the play because Decca, a record producing company, had just announced that they were selling a recorded version of Sorry, Wrong Number, due to its immense popularity. At this point, the audience likewise has little feeling of tension. They needed a worthwhile and entertaining escape. With thousands of men sent overseas to fight in the war, jobs in the United States were left unfilled. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Wrong number.". The other characters, who appear only briefly and play minor roles, will be seen on either side of the bed in the separated sections. When the operator is successful, Mrs. Stevenson does not recognize the man who answers. A shadowy figure has entered Mrs. Stevenson's bedroom. Fletcher's Sorry, Wrong Number begins with directions for the one and only act and scene of the play. This story by Lucille Fletcher went on to be considered one of the greatest radio drama episodes. Later, as the phone conversation between Duffy and Mrs. Stevenson is ending, the boy reappears with the correct pastry, which makes Duffy forget all about the phone call with Mrs. Stevenson. As she makes a number of phone calls trying to locate Henry, Leona inadvertently begins to piece together the mystery in flashbacks. Compare & Contr…, MALAPROPISM [Named after Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), from the French mal á propos inappropriate]. Write and deliver your closing remarks to your class. How might you persuade the jury? Who would want to kill her? She becomes haughty. Hicks, Neill D., Writing the Thriller Film: The Terror Within, Michael Wiese Productions, 2002. The audience sees how uninvolved the police officer is in dealing with Mrs. Stevenson. Programs such as Bell Telephone Hour, Author's Playhouse, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Mystery Theater, and Murder at Midnight provided many of the dramas and thrillers during this decade. 13 pages at 300 words per page) ", In an obituary for the Washington Post, Adam Bernstein refers to Fletcher's play as the "venerable 1940s radio suspense drama." Then immediately afterward, she dials the operator and communicates her slight concern and frustration at not being able to reach her husband. The major source of home entertainment comes from video and computer games, television, and movies on DVD. She is put off by this inconvenience, which is just that—a slight setback in her desire to talk to her husband. This operator is also efficient. Though sympathy for her may arise at the end of the play when she is murdered, up until that point, audiences may have trouble empathizing with her. Evans, however, has escaped. Word Count: 960. When the fear has been fully realized and, like Mrs. Stevenson, the audience can hardly breathe, the playwright ends the story. In 1989, Ann Louise Bardach adapted Fletcher's play for television. Miss Phillips is the nurse who the hospital receptionist suggests to Mrs. Stevenson as a possible candidate for coming to her house. The first man tells George that their client has told him that "the coast is clear for tonight." Hart is an author and freelance writer. That is why she dials the operator and asks for help. "Sorry, Wrong Number She just wants a professional to come to her house. Sally is now the wife of Fred Lord, a lawyer in the district attorney's office. Introduction. Style Is there a pattern based on age? Introduction But war-weary listeners also turned to the radio to be distracted from the war. [2] It tells the story of a woman who overhears a murder plot. He has taken care of her and never left her alone until this one night. The first man gives George directions on how the murder will be acted out, giving him the best time to act and telling George how to kill his victim. All her arrogance is gone. By Lucille Fletcher As Lucille once explained in an interview, Sorry, Wrong Numberwas partially inspired by an incident from someone else's life. Plot Summary Mrs. Stevenson is caught off guard. Is this a possibility? She does not consider her own mortality; someone else must be the intended victim. How did teenagers help the war effort? That Touch of Mink DVD $14.96 The Ghost And Mrs. Muir DVD $11.21 Forbidden Hollywood: The Pre-Code Era (1930-1934): When Sin Ruled the Movies Book $22.95 The telephone also makes Mrs. Stevenson privy to a conversation she was not meant to hear—that of the very men planning her murder. It is implied that she is deficient in worldly experience. Tally your findings and place them in a graph tracking both type of fear and age of the respondent. On October 17, 1948, Stanwyck did a parody of Sorry, Wrong Number on The Jack Benny Program.[12]. However, when her play was performed, the playwright realized that the drama had even more potential. Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She begins to look down on everyone she talks to. This new attitude of Mrs. Stevenson's grows. Taubman states that Fletcher's play "has everything a good thriller should have, all of it managed with compression and tension. Pretend you are the prosecuting attorney making your final appeal to the jury. The receptionist tells her that they are short-staffed and she can only have a nurse if the doctor feels it is an emergency. This is when comedies grew in popularity, as with comedians like Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, who made people laugh throughout the entire decade with their routines. She also wants the telephone operators to first re-dial a number she does not know and then to trace a phone call that has already ended. How awful!" Up until that very last moment, the audience might still be wondering if she will be saved. She is taken aback. The operator explains that is impossible. ‘Sorry, wrong number: statistics and chaos’ investigates the challenges posed by chaos to statistical estimation. The house on Staten Island has burned down, and three men, including one named Morano have been arrested. Mrs. Stevenson is more unsettled than ever. He is disappointed when a delivery boy gives him the wrong type of pastry. The campaign was successful as over six million women signed up for and maintained jobs such as in the manufacturing of weapons and military equipment. American audiences, in particular, are accustomed to a resolution or explanation of events. After marrying Wollop, she moved with her husband to the Washington, D.C. area. Or maybe Mrs. Stevenson does put the clues together, at least on a subconscious level, because she becomes much more nervous. Stanwyck was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Rather she just thinks that something is wrong with the phone. When Mrs. Stevenson more fully explains her situation, the receptionist attempts to help her, telling Mrs. Stevenson that there is one possibility. Although the tension is heightened, it is still at a relatively low level. The subway train signals the time has come for the meeting of the murderer and his victim. Each month, new titles are added to the collection, featuring new transfers, exclusive special features and more, and the first 1500 units come with a beautifully designed slipcase. Many of the visual effects of a radio play are left to the imaginations of the listeners. 7 benefits of working from home; Jan. 26, 2021. She is slightly annoyed but not much else. The audience knows by then that Mr. Stevenson has no plans of seeing her again. This time it is a Western Union operator with a telegram for her. What were the popular pastimes? ). When the chief operator discovers that Mrs. Stevenson has no official police or government title, that she is just an ordinary private citizen, she tells Mrs. Stevenson that she should call the police first. During this sequence of conversations, the tension that was building in the audience has been dissipated. Leona then receives a message from Henry stating he has gone out of town on business he had forgotten about and will not be back until Sunday. Sally became so concerned that she followed her husband and two associates to a mysterious meeting in a seemingly abandoned house on Staten Island. From overheard conversations, she learned that her husband was close to resolving an investigation that involves Henry somehow. It affects both Mrs. Stevenson and the audience. The final broadcast was on February 14, 1960. SHERRIFF, R. C. Writer. Duffy is on duty when Mrs. Stevenson calls. Once Mrs. Stevenson tells him the few vague details, Duffy turns his full attention back to his stomach. Many of the published scripts for Fletcher's play provide stage directions, but the original production of Sorry, Wrong Number was written for the radio. Watch the two films and compare the effects that the written play, the movie adaptation, and the contemporary film have on you. All alone, Mrs. Stevenson has just placed a call trying to get a hold of her husband. Sgt. ... I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong number, but he does work here. Last Updated on February 19, 2020, by eNotes Editorial. Then he plans his alibi by sending a telegram, which would leave a paper trail, unlike a simple call home. [citation needed]. She wants someone to be with her. Later, they settled in Oxford, Maryland, where she lived for thirty years. They held other manufacturing jobs as well. She had no idea it was so late. Just before Duffy answers the phone, he has ordered a snack. We get a previously unseen 2.5 minute introduction by the 'Czar of Noir' himself, Eddie Muller. An anonymous writer for London's Economist states that Sorry, Wrong Number was first produced on radio in 1943 "and, in one form or another, in some part of the world, has been running almost continuously ever since. ." She became convinced during this time that she could write radio dramas at least as good as the plays she was typing. She commands "imperiously" that the operator trace the previous call. Later, Sally calls Leona with more news. Wrong number.". He delivers the last line in the play when he picks up Mrs. Stevenson's phone after he has killed her and tells Sgt.Duffy, "Sorry. It is one of the few pre-1950 Paramount Pictures films that remained in the studio's library (the rest are currently owned by NBCUniversal). Wallop was made famous by his 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, upon which the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees was based. However, when her play was performed, the playwright realized that the drama had even more potential. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Stevenson's helplessness does not humble her in any way, however. Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Fletcher also wrote novels, beginning with The Daughter of Jasper Clay, published in 1958. Duffy is the police officer on duty when Mrs. Stevenson calls the local precinct to get help in preventing the murder plan she has overheard on the telephone. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/sorry-wrong-number, "Sorry, Wrong Number Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Toward the end of the play, it becomes evident that not only is he leaving her, but he is planning to permanently get rid of her. If you dial the wrong number it can be confusing and embarrassing. In 1943 Sorry, Wrong Number first aired on the Suspense radio program. People were going through critical changes, pulling away from the Great Depression, going into the war, and then landing in one of the greatest economic booms in the country. Most literature, whether novel, short story, or play, includes some element of suspense. If the police could do something to prevent them, they would. When Leona reaches Henry's secretary, Elizabeth Jennings, she learns that he took an attractive woman, Sally Lord, to lunch and did not return to the office. Fletcher is best known for the thrillers she would go on to write for radio. She feels he has abandoned her. Fear has been stirred again. Mrs. Stevenson provides all the details she has overheard. Start studying Sorry wrong number. show: sorry, wrong number ( a second transcript) date: aug 21 1943 cast: the man in black mrs. stevenson operator 1st man george chief operator sergeant martin 3rd man information woman announcer music: bernard herrmann's suspense theme Hitch-Hiker was adapted as a television drama. This book can also be used to understand the psychology behind thriller movies and why they make movie-goers feel tense. Could the client that the men spoke about be Mr. Stevenson? This is when it is revealed to the reader about Mrs. Stevenson's ill condition. She yells at the woman on the phone and tells her about the murder plan she has overheard. This adaptation was directed by Tony Wharmby. His so-called urgent business in Boston will ultimately provide him with an alibi when his wife is murdered. Murder is, of course, a serious threat. She whispers into the receiver. The delivery boy appears when Mrs. Stevenson telephones Sgt. Many models contain unknown parameters. $4.52. At the mention of a murder, Duffy forgets about the food and gives Mrs. Stevenson his full attention. She is a sickly woman who tends to blame those around her for her frustrations. 12 Jan. 2021 . Orson Welles called Sorry, Wrong Number "the greatest single radio script ever written".[6]. Kaledin provides a deep exploration into two very important decades. The film was adapted by Lucille Fletcher from her 1943 radio play. Examining the progression of Fletcher's dramatic tension reveals the critical role of the audience in giving the events meaning. Not unlike Mrs. Stevenson in Fletcher's play, most middle- and upper-class women in the United States before the 1940s stayed home and took care of the house and children while their husbands went to work. The couple had two daughters before they were divorced in 1948. Leona next gets in touch with Dr. Phillip Alexander, a specialist she had come to New York to see regarding her lifelong heart troubles. Either no one believes her or no one cares enough to investigate further. Her only method of communicating with the outside world is through technology, specifically the telephone.