Wait Until Dark (1967)

“All right, all right you can have it... you can have the doll! I'll give it to you... if you'll... if you'll just go and... and...  Not hurt me.”

            I love a good thriller. If done right thrillers can send chills up your spine and make you think twice about everything and everyone in your life. Hitchcock is undoubtedly the master of thrillers since his films usually have me on edge and curled in a ball the entire time. But sometimes thrillers can fall short which is how I felt about Wait Until Dark.

            When he was in the airport Sam Hendrix was given a doll by a woman claiming that the doll was for her sick daughter but she did not want her other kid to be jealous so she wants him to take it for a while. But when the woman does not come back he goes home with the doll. When he gets home to New York to his wife Susy (Audrey Hepburn) he tells her the story.

            While both Susy and Sam are out three men get into their apartment. Mike Talman and Carlino are both men for hire. They have been summoned to the apartment by a man named Harry Roat (Alan Arkin). Roat wants the doll for the drugs that are hidden it. Roat’s plans to get the doll center around the fact that Susy is blind. This fact will make it easier to find the doll since she cannot identify them and will not know what they are doing.

            Mike tells Susy that he is a friend of Sam’s from the army. Once this happens their plan works for a while until Susy catches on by the sound of Roat’s shoes when he comes down the stairs. They terrorize her but she gets back at Roat when he comes by himself by making the entire room dark as she sees the world.

            The plot sounds intriguing and very thrilling (if I was good at explaining it) but I was not sitting on the edge of my seat like I was meant to be. First off I do not even know why I sat through this because I cannot stand Audrey Hepburn. She has just always driven me up a wall and I do not care for her acting at all. People make too big a deal about her in my opinion. The story was written for the stage by the same writer who created Dial M For Murder. Besides Audrey Hepburn being the film maybe I did not think it was a good thriller because Hitchcock did not direct it (although I believe he did want Hepburn for a film that was never realized… thank God for that). Dial M For Murder was a great story and I can see it being excellent on the stage but Wait Until Dark just lacked the former’s suspense. I will say Alan Arkin was a creepy bastard he was the only good aspect of the film.

            Wait Until Dark was alright I did like the plot but if you have seen Dial M For Murder you may know what is coming and it is pretty much the same concept just with a couple of different elements. I say just sit through it for Alan Arkin he was incredible and if you are an Audrey Hepburn fan. Skip otherwise.