Wait Until Dark - 1967

 I don't have very many movie friends unfortunately.  People who have informed opinions, who are critical in approach and yet at the same time are like me:  They want to like a movie every time.  I don't go in with a chip on my shoulder, I don't let thoughts about actors or directors shape my perception of the film.

My friend Reiss let me know he was going to watch this movie, apropos of nothing.  I looked it up.  Thriller, suspense, 1967, starring Audrey Hepburn.  Very low chance that my library would have it.  To my surprise they did, on DVD.  I rented it, and then last night me and Reiss both watched it, texting a couple times about the spectacle that we were witnessing.

Wait Until Dark also stars Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Jack Weston.  It is based on a play, and for me that's always a great sign.  We begin the film witnessing a criminal undertaking, as a mystery doll is slipped into an unsuspecting woman's suitcase.  Then we follow her home.  She is Susy, a blind woman played by Audrey Hepburn.  Her husband Sam leaves her alone for the night, and at that point the criminals launch an all out assault on her and her home to recover their doll.

Holy shit was this a film.  I don't know where else to begin but to say that.  We are mostly in Susy's sub-street level apartment, and we follow the criminals interaction with her.  Richard Crenna pretends to be one of her husband's old war buddies, trying to get the doll to prove Sam's innocence in the death of a missing girl.  Jack Weston pretends to be a police Sargent, coming by to accuse Sam of the death and to promise help if the doll turns up.  Alan Arkin pretends to be three people, the main one being the husband of the dead girl, convincing Hepburn they were having an affair behind her back.

While they take on these roles, they use her blindness to their advantage, mouthing things and signaling things behind her back.  The front door can be opened silently, and they sneak here and there, they tie things to the wall, they open the blinds of the window to signal each other.  There is also a phone booth, which they use advantageously, they call or they have her call the booth instead of whatever place she's trying to call, so that one of their teammates can answer and falsify information.

Later, when we get to the climax of the film, we see a few other ways where they would have really used the fact this was performed on a stage to it's full benefit.  This would be one of the best utilizations of a stage I can imagine, where the audience can really be a part of what's going on without it being contrived conveniences.  It's also extremely simple, and likely all in real time.  

The climax of this movie is incredible, and it delivers.  The movie reminded me of one of those Rube Goldberg devices.  This leading to that, doing something weird, spinning this top, slamming this to open that.  The way that things lead to unexpected places and then have the character react to them, and we get the full glory of witnessing them thinking on their feet, while Susy is left literally in the dark, and is thus convincing as to how she is left out of the reality of the scene.

I'd never heard of Wait Until Dark before, but I will be recommending it to all my movie buddies who would give a shit.  Speaking of last entry and the Criterion Edition, where is the Criterion Edition of this movie?  It really deserves it.  I give it 5 stars.