Aug 13 2008
Wait Until Dark
WAIT UNTIL DARK
A play turned into a film brings not only great thrills but also legendary results. Based on the play by Frederic Knott (DIAL M FOR MURDER), this film, mostly takes place in an apartment (one set), where three criminals plot and scheme in order to recover a stolen child’s toy that has a very wealthy secret. Jack Weston plays the street-smart thug Carlino, Richard Creena plays the charming, confidence trickster Mike Tallman, and Alan Arkin plays the dangerous heavy Mr. Roat, in terrifying realism. But the most important star is our female lead, Audrey Hepburn. The fact that the casting of Audrey Hepburn as the defenseless blind woman was probably the most ingenious choice you could make. At that time, was probably one of the biggest stars on the screen with such hits as BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S and CHARADE, and she played the love interest with not much depth, that by casting her as a vulnerable blind heroine in a horror flick makes this film extremely, memorable. There are no real special effects in this film just great dialogue and incredibly great acting. That dynamic light on the screen as in the climax of the film, the devilish Alan Arkin comes face to face with the helpless Audrey Hepburn for some terrifying results. The film’s last scene supposedly was shown in theaters in complete darkness, where they would darken all house lights and aisle lights, and where nobody would be allowed in until the final eight minutes were up. This publicity act could have been taken from Hitchcock’s famous PSYCHO, lock out where as soon as the film started nobody was allowed in or back in. This created a genuine movie experience for everybody. Now, I don’t recall any film with that kind of rules or making any of those claims. The only thing that came close is when THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT came out; there were signs all over that warned the theatergoers of the jerky camera movement and the risk of getting vertigo. That entire aside, WAIT UNTIL DARK is an excellent film and must be seen in absolute darkness.
