Wait Until Dark
by Terence Young
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Arkin, Audrey Hepburn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Richard CrennaDirector: Terence Young
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Wait Until Dark
DVD Review: Kill The Lights...
Summary: 5 Stars
WAIT UNTIL DARK was one of my favorite thrillers growing up. It always made me spill my snacks during late-night viewings. Susy Hendrix (the enchanting Audrey Hepburn) seems like the perfect prey for the utterly wicked Harry Roat (Alan Arkin). After all, she is a tiny woman, and she is blind. Roat has concocted a brilliant scheme to retrieve a heroin-filled doll that was slipped to Susy's husband, Sam (Efrem Zimbalist, jr.) by its terrified courier. Roat arranges for Sam to leave town and hires two ex-cons (Richard Crenna and Jack Weston) to pull off the scam by acting like an old friend, a police officer, etc. Susy is taken in at first, but ultimately "sees" through the whole charade. This leads to the showdown final?. I remember being scared $#!tless of Roat when I was a kid! And for good reason. He is one of the coldest, craziest, and most ruthless killers ever portrayed on film. Arkin oozes w/ menace, making every word or movement of Roat feel dangerous. He is a coiled viper. A seemingly serene shell containing only death. The climactic battle between Roat and Susy is one of the classics! Don't worry too much about her though, as she proves to be far more than Mr. Roat bargained for... DVD Review: The Absolutely Best Thriller Of All Time, Bar None: Experience The Fear--Watch It In The Dark!
Summary: 5 Stars
While there are many excellent reviews for "Wait Until Dark," now that I own the DVD, I feel compelled to reiterate for others my deep appreciation and "thrill" for this absolutely wonderful film.
As a teenager I was never a fan of Audrey Hepburn--until I saw "Wait Until Dark!" Like many teenagers of the time, one of my favorite genres was "horror/thriller" movies like "Psycho" (1960), "The Birds" (1963), "Comedy of Terror" (1964), and "Rosemary's Baby" (1968). While "Jaws" (1975), "Alien" (1979), "The Shining" (1980), and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) would follow as audience favorites, for my money "Wait Until Dark" is the zenith of this genre. While I can remember other films, I will never forget "Wait Until Dark." It is literally the only film that I have ever "jumped" in surprise while watching it. I will never forget the "darkness" of the theater, the tension of the crowd, the sounds and screams, the audience on the edge of their seats--many ducking down or closing their eyes in fear--and the shear excitement of the experience of "waiting" and watching "Wait Until Dark."
While watching "Wait Until Dark" on a television set is nothing like experiencing it at the theater, making the room as dark as possible and using headphones can make a close approximation. I have sworn for 41 years that I would never watch "Wait Until Dark" again because I thought I could only truly experience it one time; but when the DVD went on sale I could not resist the temptation--and I am glad I did. I was totally wrong. It still thrills me, even though I know what is going to happen. The only complaints I have are that the DVD "extras" are lacking, and the old cardboard storage box is a disgrace.
"Wait Until Dark," for those who don't know, was originally a Broadway production, directed by Arthur Penn, which opened on February 2, 1966. Warner Brothers-Seven Arts purchased the rights shortly after, and quickly brought the production to the "big screen." The script was adapted by Robert Howard-Carrington and Terence Young directed the film. Warner Brothers assembled an incredible cast that included outstanding performances by Audrey Hepburn, Richard Crenna, Alan Arkin, and Jack Weston. Most theaters went along with the productions intriguing concept: "In an effort to duplicate the suspense on screen, movie theaters dimmed their lights to their legal limits, then turned off one by one until each light on-screen was shattered, resulting in the theater being plunged into complete darkness." And it worked like a charm!
Of interest to me, from the "extras" was learning that a Broadway revival directed by Leonard Foglia, which opened on April 5, 1998 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, amassed a nearly equally amazing cast that included Marisa Tomei, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen Lang in the lead roles. I have never really been one for stage productions, but this certainly would have been once I would have liked to have seen.
If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.
DVD Review: Wait Until Dark!! The best realistic thriller!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am buying this movie as a gift to a friend who likes it as much as me! If you like retro 60's, a great story line with good acting and of course...a thriller, this is for you!! Being an Audrey fan helps a little too! Highly recommended!!!DVD Review: Guys, listen to your mother-in-law...she knows her movies!
Summary: 4 Stars
As the title indicates, my mother-in-law highly recommended this movie, so my wife and I gave it a try. It's a mystery with one unpredictable turn after another. Starring Audrey Hepburn as the sweet, blind but intelligent and crafty Suzie Hendrix; Richard Crenna as the reluctant con artist/thief; and Alan Arkin as the sinister master of disguise Harry Roate.
The progression of the film reminds me of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film ROPE (starring Jimmy Stewart). The climactic plot twist reminded me most of M. Night Shyamalan's first three popular films (back when he made good movies). The acting is pretty good, but not what I would call Oscar-worthy (with sincere apologies to Audrey Hepburn fans). But you forget about all that when you get caught up, and eventually, totally lost in the characters and the inevitable problematic scenarios in which they find themselves.
We heartily enjoyed it and would watch it again.
DVD Review: Implausible but engrossing thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
The thrills of "Wait Until Dark" have diminished somewhat through the years. The thriller, released in late 1967, is still impressive for Audrey Hepburn's Oscar nominated performance as Suzy Hendricks, a blind woman terrorized in her apartment by a trio of thugs searching for a child's doll stuffed with heroin, as well as for Alan Arkin's snake-like Mr. Roat, the leader of the termites. But the nightmare she experiences could have been avoided if she had simply locked the door and called the police. When watching it recently, I kept asking myself, "Why doesn't she lock the door and call the police?"
Did Frederick Knott, the author of the play on which the film was based, ask that question when writing it?
Did Fred Coe, who staged the original Broadway production, ask that question before or during the show's run?
Did Mel Ferrer, who optioned the film rights when the play was still in galley form, question the character's lack of common sense in this matter while showing such courage and intelligence otherwise?
Did Audrey Hepburn, then married to Ferrer, wonder why her character never simply bolted the door to prevent the intrusion?
When viewing the film at a private screening, did Jack L. Warner ever question the implausible scenario?
Somehow or other, it still works, though less effectively than it did when I was an 11-year-old watching the creepy goings on while munching popcorn, licking my buttered fingers, and sipping a then reasonably priced Coca-Cola.
Despite the claustrophobic setting, the film avoids appearing like a filmed play. Much of the credit for that probably belongs to Terence Young, whose greatest claim to fame was, and remains, as director of three of the first four James Bond movies ("Dr. No," "From Russia With Love," and "Thunderball"). Accustomed to, and proficient at, action and adventure, he keeps the film moving.
Brian W. Fairbanks
Description of Wait Until Dark
A photographer's blind wife, trapped in her New York apartment by an evil trio who are ready to murder to retrieve a heroin-filled doll hidden in her apartment, cleverly outwits them. Music by Henry Mancini. Based on the long running Broadway play by Frederick Knott.Audrey Hepburn's last Oscar nomination was for this adaptation of Frederick Knott's famed stage thriller about a blind woman, a con man (Alan Arkin), and a doll full of heroin. Thanks to Hepburn's husband, a photographer who does a good deal of traveling, she's unknowingly come into possession of said doll, which was given to him on a plane by a comely young drug runner who winds up dead. The murderous Arkin, aided by sympathetic henchman Richard Crenna, will let nothing stand in the way of his obtaining it, even if it comes down to assaying multiple "personalities" in order to visit and terrorize Hepburn; Crenna is unwillingly enlisted to help. However, the "world's champion blind lady" (as Hepburn sardonically states) is more than up to the task of defending herself in her basement Manhattan apartment in a heart-stopping climax that to this day still defines the way horror movies with jack-in-the-box psychos are made. Despite the obvious staginess of it all (the entire action takes place in Hepburn's apartment), it still works magnificently, thanks to Hepburn's steely will and Arkin's deadly, sadistic madman. A helpful hint: turn out all the lights when you watch it; theaters back in 1967 did so, killing the guiding lights during the film's last 15 minutes. We can't tell you why, but trust us, it's worth it. --Mark Englehart
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