In Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Barbara Stanwyck played Leona Stevenson, a bedridden, neurotic woman who overhears a murder plot on the telephone and slowly realises that she herself is the intended victim. Directed by Anatole Litvak, the film is adapted from Lucille Fletcher’s famous radio play.
Stanwyck carried almost the entire film alone, on the telephone, in a single room, and she sustained its tension for its full length. Leona is selfish and difficult, yet Stanwyck made her fear real, and the audience’s sympathy grew as the plot closed in on her.
The performance earned Stanwyck an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and Sorry, Wrong Number remains a classic of suspense — a film that proves how much a great actress can do with a voice, a telephone and a room.