Customer Reviews

Wait Until Dark

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Wait Until Dark (1967) is based on a popular play by Frederick Knott and directed by Terrance Young who also did the 007 classic Thunderball (1965). The lovely Audrey Hepburn plays Susy Hendrix, a woman left recently blind by a car accident, who is learning to adjust and cope with her new perspective on life. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is Sam Hendrix, Susy's photographer husband, with whom she shares a basement apartment in New York. Also starring is Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, and character actor Jack Weston.

The story involves illegal substances being smuggled into the United States within a doll, and then the doll being passed along to Susy's husband at the airport under curious but strictly coincidental circumstances. Alan Arkin plays Roat, a seedy character who was supposed to be the intended recipient of the doll/drugs, and Richard Crenna and Jack Weston are two thuggish types who get roped into helping Roat try to retrieve the doll.

Hepburn plays her role wonderfully, never once giving the viewer the impression that she isn't blind. A number of subtle points are made to allude to the strengthening of her other senses, hearing, smell, etc., that one finds common with the loss of sight. As the criminals construct their elaborate plans to liberate their illicit merchandise, Hepburn's character, being somewhat naive in the beginning, soon realizes the true sense of the danger she's in, and reacts perfectly within the nature of her character. Arkin plays his character(s) with the smooth cunning of a predator hunting its' prey, maliciously savoring the moments before the figurative kill. His beatnik appearance and demeanor mask his true form, which is revealed later on within the unfolding of the plot. This film is very suspenseful for those with the patience to follow it through to the end. It may not have the out and out scares the title might imply, but the gradual building of tension and suspense is delicious as the viewer is 'in the know' while the main character is left to struggle with the situations. Although an exceptionally strong supporting cast helps, Hepburn really makes this film, and was awarded with an Oscar nomination for her performance. She even went so far as to attend a school for the visually impaired and learn to read Braille to better understand her character.

The print on this disc looks very nice and is in wide screen anamorphic format. Special features include a featurette on the film, an essay about transferring the play to the silver screen, and trailers for the movie. This is truly a taut thriller worthy being released on DVD, and I am appreciative of Warner Brothers for putting it out, even if I find their plastic and cardboard packaging to be cheap and annoying.

Cookieman108

I learned about this movie when my mom was telling me about the scary movies of her day, and she went on about how it was one of the scariest movies she ever saw, and when she and her kid sister left the theatre, her sister was crying great crocodile tears, claiming she'd never let herself see another movie again.

While my aunt will never live that down, my mom is still haunted by this movie, and I can tell why. I saw it on AMC in August at midnight, and that was a mistake. This movie scared me beyond my expectations. Audrey Hepburn was fantastic as Susie Hendrix, the recently blinded woman persued by Alan Arkin, a narcotics dealer who will stop at nothing to get to a stash that is in Susie's apartment.

Many claim this movie isn't scary, but coming from a generation that grew up on Scream, Halloween, Nightmare on Elmstreet and other cheap movie's that use gore and `don't-turn-that-bend' suprises for scares, it doesn't mean much.

`Wait Until Dark' is so much more than the typical slasher flick, it is a psychological thriller that takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride to hell and doesn't stop turning and tossing until the last frame of film fades to black. On second viewing, if you feel the *sparkle* is fading, just position yourself in Susie's shoes, and you're in for a whole new experience.

Praise `Wait Until Dark' - and trust me, if you wait until dark to watch this, you'll be rewarded greatly with a heart-stopping finale!

"Wait Until Dark" is a suspense film in the finest traditions of Alfred Hitchcock. The direction by Terence Young ("Dr. No" and "From Russia With Love") masterfully blends a stellar cast with mood, music, and atmosphere to create a compelling psychological thriller. The story involves a blind woman (Audrey Hepburn), who has unknowingly come into the possession of a child's doll filled with heroin. Three con men (Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, and Jack Weston) create an elaborate scheme to locate the doll in her apartment without arousing her suspicions.

Like Hitchcock, director Young reveals the identity and intent of the con men right from the beginning of the movie. He lets the audience in on their secret. It is left to the blind and isolated victim to decipher their intent and her own personal danger over the course of the film. Hepburn is engaging in the role of a woman who is at once vulnerable yet possesses unfolding inner strength. She knows she is alone and ultimately responsibility for her own fate. The suspense grows as her suspicions are slowly aroused until all is revealed to her in one terrifying moment of confrontation with the cunning and evil Arkin. The stark confines of the apartment and the dramatic musical score by Henry Mancini accentuate the dark and foreboding atmosphere. This is a film you will not soon forget...

Lock the front door, turn down the lights and don't forget that tub of popcorn! Here is a thriller sure to make the hair on the back of your neck stand upright. Susie Hendrix, played by the wonderful Audrey Hepburn, is a blind woman being spied and terrorized upon in her own apartment. When Susie's husband Sam is asked to hold an antique doll for a woman who mysteriously disappears, little does he know the horror that will unfold. Unknown to Susie, the drug-filled doll is in their home and a psychopath, played by Alan Arkin, must retrieve it by any means necessary. Hepburn adds much suspense to this movie; she may be blind, but she's not stupid and she quickly unravels the mind games of Arkin. For those of you who thought blind people were defenseless, think again!

In her last Oscar nominated role, Audrey Hepburn brings her role as Susie Hendrix to life in this thrilling film brought together by Hitchcock influence.

Susie is learning to adapt to her blindness, which resulted from a recent auto accident, she recieves help from Gloria, a girl who lives in the upstairs appartment & her loving photographer husband, Sam. Sam who does a great deal of traveling in his line of business, excepts a doll as a favor to a young woman, on his way home from Canada. He takes it home deciding to give it to a child in the hospital only to have it dissapear.

But what Sam & Susie don't know is that the doll is actually filled with small packets of herion & that a murderous drug dealer (Alan Arkin) will stop at nothing to get his hands on the doll. He inlists two con-men (Richard Crenna & Jack Weston) to help him trick Susie into handing the doll over while posing as policemen & Sam's friends. The plot thickins as Susie begins to realize the truth behind the criminals & turns her weakness into a powerful strength.

Many claim that the movie is a pathetic excuse for a horror & that the movie isn't at all scary but I guess they consider films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, & Halloween scary because of the cheap scares & gore. But if your not hooked on the slasher genre you should watch this classic, & try watching it in the dark, if you don't scare easy.

This was the last film that Audrey Hepburn made before she retired at age 38, deciding to quit while she was still on top. Although she later made ROBIN AND MARIAN with Sean Connery, and made a few later appearances in later films, this was the end of her star career. Appropriately, it is one of her very greatest performances, with her skills as an actress, if anything, continuing to grow. Audrey plays a woman left alone in her apartment who is preyed on by three men attempting to recover a doll filled with narcotics her husband has accidently acquired.

The cast carries this film. Audrey Hepburn is so good that it would have succeeded regardless of what anyone else in the film had done. As a recently blinded person learning to cope with her new condition, she is utterly convincing. She manages to persuade completely the viewer that she really is quite vulnerable yet completely unwilling to give in to her situation. Alan Arkin, in one of his earliest film roles and his first since his Oscar nominated performance in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!, gives a chilling performance as Roat, the leader of the bad guys. It was interesting casting, since Arkin was primarily a comedian, one of the founders of the Second City comedy troupe. It is one of the finest performances of his career. Richard Crenna was primarily known as a TV performer at the time, having been a regular on two of the most successful shows of all time, OUR MISS BROOKS and THE REAL McCOYS. He is very effective as the con artist who comes to like and admire his would-be victim.

It is not a perfect film. If one didn't already know that it had been a stage play, any perceptive viewer would be able to tell by watching. It is a profoundly "stagey" production, and the way the various characters traipse in and out of her apartment is a bit hard to swallow at times. It feels too much like characters walking on and off stage in a theater. Still, the acting is so exceptional and the situation so compelling that it is easy to cut the film a lot of slack. I will add that the last fifteen or twenty seconds of the film are a little off putting. It functions on a symbolic level, but it unsatisfying emotionally. I wanted to scream: "Just go give the woman a hug, you jerk!"

The last thirty minutes of the film really are about as scary on a psychological level as anything Hollywood has produced. When it was originally shown in theaters, in the scene where Audrey Hepburn begins breaking all the light bulbs in her apartment, the theater would either darken or dim the lights in the house, with each bulb she would shatter. In the spirit of that, I definitely recommend watching this one in a darkened house.

If you want to see a great suspense thriller, Wait Until Dark (1967) is it. This classic stars Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Samantha Jones, Jack Weston, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Julie Herrod. Basically, the movie is about heroin that is smuggled inside a doll at a Montreal airport. When a con woman, Lisa (Samantha Jones), notices a man spying on her, she gives the doll to a total stranger named Sam Hendrix (Efrem Zimbalist). Hendrix is a photographer who has a blind wife named Susy (Audrey Hepburn). The heroin-filled doll ends up at this couple's residence in New York City. Some con men try to take advantage of the fact that Susy is blind and do everything they can think of to get the doll from her. Do they get the doll?

The music by Henry Mancini is perfect for this '60s suspense thriller about drugs. The instruments seem to be a little out of tune and the music off key. It fits the atmosphere perfectly.

I thought Audrey Hepburn played her role brilliantly. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. She was a great actress. She was pretty and cute all in one, an unbeatable combination.

This DVD is in widescreen format. The extras include a short 8-minute feature called Take A Look In The Dark, where Alan Arkin and producer Mel Ferrer (Audrey Hepburn's real life husband at the time) talk about how the movie was made. A feature called Stage Frantics describes the transformation from a stage play to a movie. You can read the "Warning" word-for-word that movie theaters posted about what was going to happen in the closing minutes of the movie. It's quite interesting and a sign of the time period this movie was made in.

I highly recommend this movie to fans of suspense thrillers and fans of Audrey Hepburn.

This is one of Audrey Hebburn's best performances. And this is one of the best suspense thrillers to ever come out of Hollywood. The all-star cast certainly helps make this movie a classic that I shall watch time and time again.

This movie is great in several ways - all Audrey hepburn fans would love it. She shows that her talent is more than just a beautiful face.
It is also a front runner, because it shows the artistry of a great filmmaker, who can build suspense and tension merely with the use of light, of staging, without resorting to the cheap tricks of excessive violence. The film's use of light and shadow is amazing. The timing of the characters exits and entrances is like watching a finely tuned play. ( this was a play actually.) This one will have you on the edge of your chair. The famous ending scene will take your breath away every time, even if you've seen it before! When Suzy's husband finally gets home and realizes what has happened, his reaction is lame - they should have rewritten that one. But that is only 2 minutes, so don't let that keep you from watching this one. Rent this movie for your teens who like suspense thrillers - they will enjoy it.

You can't miss with this movie! I showed it my daughter's Halloween party last year. Seven 12-year olds were delighted with the suspense and terror! No gore, no overly intense scenes, just enough creepiness and suspense to thrill the h--- out of them. This is one of my all time favorite movies, and Audrey is excellent as the sweet, vulnerable blind woman. I'm so excited that this is finally on DVD!