- Wait Until Dark (1967). Directed by Terence Young (known for his James Bond films Dr. No and From Russia with Love), and based off of the stage play of the same name, this story follows a blind woman named Susy Hendrix, played by Audrey Hepburn, who lives in a basement apartment with her husband Sam. Unbeknownst to either one of them, Sam was given a doll by a woman that he met at an airport that contains bags of heroin in it, intended on being delivered to Harry Roat, played by Alan Arkin. When Roat learns of the dolls disappearance, he recruits two other criminals, Mike and Carlino. While the husband is away, these criminals must manipulate Susy into revealing the location of the doll. I am not too familiar with Terence Young; I am not a huge Bond fan, so all the James Bond films hes made, I have not seen nor am I familiar with them. What brought this movie to my attention was really what the story was about. It sounded like the setup of an Alfred Hitchcock film, and truly enough, this movie is Hitchcock inspired. The way Young is able to frame the scenes adds to the movies building tension, and I do find it brilliant that he was able to stage this movie in many ways as a stage play (appropriate considering its based off of a stage play). But what would a movie like this be without its leading lady, Audrey Hepburn. I might embarrass myself (being a huge movie buff), but I am not all familiar with Audrey Hepburn. I have not seen, really, any of her films, primarily due to the fact that most of her films are pre-70s, and its usually tough for me to watch a movie that old. But I think she does an amazing job here. I believe her plight as a blind woman, learning that she wasnt always blind, but was involved in an auto accident that took her sight. She does an excellent job convincing the audience that she is blind. Although I do find a few of her scenes at the beginning of the movie to be a bit laborious, I largely love her performance, and grow to really care about the character when shes put in danger. On the other side of the table, we also have an excellent villain. Alan Arkin is also another actor I am not too familiar with (he had roles in Edward Scissorhands and Argo, but I cant remember him in them), but he is real menacing figure in this movie. Right from his very first scene, you get that he is a dangerous man that you dont want to mess with. It is rare when a movie can give you a great protagonist and antagonist that you love to watch equally. The other two that work for Roat are somewhat interesting themselves, Mike being more well developed than Carlino, but Im not too convinced of their menace, primarily because I know they would never harm our main characters. Although this movie isnt technically horror (being more on the side of suspense) this movie does have some great tension that puts you on edge, especially in the last moments of the film. Its not quite Hitchcock, I think Hitchcock is better at his suspense than Young is able to pull off, but it is Hitchcock inspired, and Young is able to give us a great piece of filmmaking. Strong recommend. https://youtube/watch?v=EYXb-kwYXj4
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 03:50:23 +0000
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