Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)
Nunnally Johnson (The Three Faces of Eve, The Dirty Dozen) produced and co-wrote this film about the survivor of a plane crash who visits the relatives of three passengers he got to know on the flight.
Gary Merrill (David Trask) is the man who alone of the "Four Musketeers", as one character dubs them, survives the crash. When the film begins he is leaving his wife, finding himself unable to forgive or forget the affair she had, although she regrets what happened. Shelley Winters plays the singer/stripper (Binky Gay) whose dream it is to become a success as a singer, and earn the respect of her husband and shrewish mother-in-law. Keenan Wynn is the loud and somewhat irritating travelling salesman Eddie Hoke, who proudly shows the others a photo of his wife, played by Bette Davis. He alone seems to be happy. Michael Rennie is the alcoholic doctor responsible for a car crash which claimed the life of a friend and separated him from his family. Dr Fortness escaped prosecution by convincing authorities that his friend was behind the wheel, a lie corroborated by his wife. Now he is on his way to come clean with the authorities. Since Trask is an attorney, Fortness engages his services.
spoilers below!
After the crash Trask finds himself making phonecalls to strangers - the relatives of the people he met. Binky Gay was on her way home after failing in her quest for respectability. She had an audition for Rodgers and Hammerstein but only got a "thank you"; that's the closest she came to her dream. Trask finds himself telling her mother-in-law, Sallie Carr (Evelyn Varden), that not only did Binky get the part, she actually recommended Mrs Carr for one too. How's that for rubbing it in - since Mrs Carr had finally managed to convince her son to divorce Binky, and spends some time bad-mouthing her to Trask before he gets a word in.
Trask arrives at the home of Mrs Fortness in the midst of a family crisis. She informs him that her son had just run away, blaming his mother for driving his father away. Trask manages to catch up with the son and brings him home, where he informs them that Fortness had engaged him as his attorney and what he intended to do. The son finally understands what caused the separation between his parents, and has the satisfaction of knowing that his father's last wish was to make things right.
Last on the list is the widow of the travelling salesman. Marie Hoke is an invalid, apparently paralysed from the waist down. In a flashback we see what happened. Mrs Hoke eloped with Marty Nelson (Warren Stevens), and became paralysed after a swimming accident. As her condition worsened and her paralysis was confirmed Nelson left her, obviously not having bargained on becoming saddled with an invalid. Her husband proved to be made of better stuff, and took her back. True love. From her older and wiser perspective on matters of life and love Mrs Hoke's story brings Trask to the point where he calls his wife, finally able to forgive and go back to her.
I really enjoyed the film. I recommend it to any fan of Bette Davis (who's very good), Shelley Winters and Michael Rennie. It doesn't drag and the script is good. A real old feel-good movie.
For notes, a cast and crew overview and relevant links go to the next page.
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