Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Tad Pole " . . . crashes to the bottom of the sea? A good start!" happens to be one of Leader Trump's favorite jokes, according to Fox News. After the Troubles so-called feminist lawyers have recently wreaked upon Fox (forcing out founder Mr. Aisles and Factotum Billy O'Reilly, among others) it's very refreshing to see a Fox Movie which goes against the grain of such Pinko Flicks as INHERIT THE WIND and ERIN BROCKOVICH to reveal Legal "Counsels" as the True Sleaze Bags that they actually are. PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER deals with a runaway dad attorney named "David Trask." Davey gets his jollies by making the rounds of plane crash victims' surviving family members, in order to invent tall tales and wild fantasies concerning the deceased. He violates the Socratic Oath time after time, intruding upon grieving families during their Darkest Hours with frivolous anecdotes totally discordant Vis a Vis Real Life Needs. Leader Trump's Reelection Platform doubtless will include a plank to outlaw thoughtless legal beagles such as STRANGER's David Trask!

fouregycats I began watching this film because I'm a Bette Davis fan, and this was one of her films I had never seen. It turned out to be a real treat to find the supporting cast included a very young Shelley Winters, Keenan Wynn, Michael Rennie and Gary Merrill, the starring character who weaves the others' stories together into an anthology. Merrill, who plays a lawyer named David Trask, has left his wife and kids back in Iowa after she confesses to him that she had an affair.The four board a plane on a rainy night and get to know each other especially when the plane is forced to land before its destination. In the morning, the passengers re-board the aircraft only for the plane to crash before it reaches Los Angeles, its destination. Of the four travelers, only Gary Merrill's character, David Trask, survives. Trask decides to visit the surviving relatives of each of his dead traveling companions. Each visit is a vignette whose theme is always love - the pain, the joy, and the things people do for love. Davis appears in the last vignette, which is the most surprising and satisfying of all. I recommend this film highly as both a fine vintage piece showcasing several iconic actors and as an absorbing and satisfying story.

Spikeopath Phone Call from a Stranger is directed by Jean Negulesco and adapted to screenplay by Nunnally Johnson from a story by I.A.R. Wylie. It stars Shelley Winters, Gary Merrill, Michael Rennie, Keenan Wynn, Evelyn Varden, Warren Stevens, Beatrice Straight, Ted Donaldson, Craig Stevens, Helen Westcott and Bette Davis. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Milton Krasner. Lawyer David Trask (Merrill), leaving his family troubles behind, survives a plane crash and decides to call on the families of the people he made friends with during the trip... Utterly lovely drama, a film that boasts quality across the board. How great to see a picture that affords characters time to breath and impact on the story, impact that becomes four fold come the wonderfully humanistic finale. Story is structured as a two play piece, first act lets us into David Trask's pain and builds three characters around him as the so called "Four Musketeers" become friends during a troubled aeroplane journey. We get to know them and wonder what their home life is like, their secrets and tribulations, and then the walls come tumbling down and the story shifts into sombre tones to lead us down paths adorned with thoughtfulness and intelligence. There's a hint of contrivance and some moral grey areas, yet this rises well above the minor quibbles to become a film of dramatic emotional strength. Beautifully performed by the principal players, it forces us to question that things may not always be as they first appear. It also has meditations on grief, second chances and that out of pain can come good, the human interest value here extraordinarily high. Yes! This is a most under seen and under appreciated bit of classic era cinema, its rewards just waiting to be discovered by more film loving fans. Go on, seek it out, come the finale you will feel better for it. 8/10

vitaleralphlouis Early in this movie, Gary Merrill and Shelley Winters are seated together in an aircraft taking off during an intense rainstorm. When the plane levels off, he unbuckles his seat belt, reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pack of (real) Lucky Strikes. He offers one to the girl, they light up, and casually enjoy two of the best cigarettes known to man...As the movie continues, we enjoy a great story written by Nunnally Johnson, directed by Jean Negulesco, and finely acted by a team players who know how to handle their roles. Best of all the story is for and about grown-ups. I was a young teen in 1952 and the way it was with movies was that most films were for and about adults, and this helped us learn where we were going and how to get there.These days in 2012, there are virtually no movies for adults; nor are there any movies of quality. Just as Luckies were dumbed down to Lucky Strike filters (cheap tobacco stubble) movies have been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.