Most of the adaptations of "Sorry, Wrong Number" that we've found and posted here are from the United States, but we've also come across ones from Canada, the Phillipines and the United Arab Emirates. Now, we have a stage adaptation from Spain.
According to their website, the Madrid Players are an amateur English-language theater group that was founded in Madrid forty years ago. Here they are performing "Sorry, Wrong Number" on a tiny stage with a group of black-clad operators and a British Mrs. Stevenson. Good stuff!
We've posted student stage plays, short films, and trailers of "Sorry, Wrong Number," but haven't yet seen a remake for television...until now!
According to the person who posted these videos on Youtube, the actress playing Mrs. Stevenson, Sonya McAdam, was a production assistant, who saved this class project by taking over the role when the original actress was fired.
As our faithful readers know, we enjoy posting new adaptations of Suspense's "Sorry, Wrong Number."
In the past, we have posted videos of stage productions and student films, but this time, we are posting a new audio adaptation that has just been released by FinalRune Productions. The quality is excellent and the acting is fantastic.
Here is a recent stage presentation of "Sorry, Wrong Number" starring 16 year old Sha'Monique "Shae" Wynter in the role of Mrs. Stevenson. The name of the theatre group and the location were not given, but given the age of the lead actress, we'll assume that this is a high school production.
With a primarily African-American cast, this production is one of several examples we've seen which demonstrate that language, race, and gender can easily be reworked to accommodate modern interpretations of this classic radio play.
Here is part two. I think the audience gets a little too giggly but Sha"Monique doesn't appear to miss a beat despite the distraction.
Here at Escape and Suspense!, we keep an eye out for new versions of Lucille Fletcher's classic radio play, and we are pleased when we find one that challenges the traditional presentation.
Below is a short film based on "Sorry Wrong Number" that changes the lead role to that of a young man. This version has many layers of humor to it, but the final scenes are definitely suspenseful. Be sure to watch this eight minute film all the way to end!
Below is an impressive three minute adaptation of "Sorry Wrong Number" from an aspiring director in the United Arab Emirates. Don't worry about not understanding the language, we all know what is going to happen. Yet, the suspense is pretty good!
Here also is an extremely dramatic "unofficial trailer" for the 1948 film Sorry Wrong Number. You will be exhausted after watching all of the dramatic expression packed into this little preview.
"Sorry, Wrong Number" was the Suspense radio play that not only gave the series its biggest success, but it also became "radio's most famous play." This story was presented eight times between 1943 and 1960, and it created a phenomenon of its own by provoking tremendous listener response. The radio play was written by Lucille Fletcher and, aside from "The Hitchhiker," it is her best known work. "Sorry, Wrong Number" was the only Suspense story to be made into a film.
In the sixty or so years since "Sorry, Wrong Number" was first presented on radio, it has made the transition to film, television, novel, and play. In recent years, it has made its way on to the internet via old time radio websites and YouTube videos.
However, to fully appreciate Fletcher's unique style of conjuring up suspense, one must listen to the story as it was presented on radio.
All eight versions of "Sorry, Wrong Number" starred Agnes Moorehead in the lead role of Mrs. Elbert Stevenson.
The first time this story was presented was on May 25, 1943. In the East Coast version, there was a flubbed line at the end that made the end of the story confusing. The performance done for the West Coast has the correct ending. William Spier directed.
The sixth version of this episode was presented on September 15, 1952, but there is no known recording of that episode at this time.
In 1957, William N. Robson brought "Sorry, Wrong Number" back to Suspense. As he states in his introduction, he felt that great radio plays, like great stage plays, should be revived from time to time.
In the 1948 film Sorry, Wrong Number, the role of Mrs. Stevenson was played by Barbra Stanwyck, for which she later received an Academy Award nomination. Stanwyck performed the role of Mrs. Stevenson once on radio, along with her costar Burt Lancaster, in an hour long adaptation of the film for Lux Radio Theater. This episode aired on January 9, 1950.
Here also, is the movie trailer for Sorry, Wrong Number. It mentions Suspense and how the craze over the radio version brought the story to the big screen.
Ever wonder what a modern remake of Sorry, Wrong Number might look like? Well, below is a trailer/drama project from Dark Ocean Films that gives us an idea.
I couldn't help but post this nine-minute YouTube video of a high school production of Lucille Fletcher's classic Suspense radio play, "Sorry, Wrong Number."
This video picks up after the first few minutes of the play. (We don't see the part where Mrs. Stevenson overhears the phone call about a murder.) It begins at the point where she asks for the chief operator.
Enjoy this performance by the students of Harwich High School in Massachusetts. Kate Heemsoth played Mrs. Stevenson. (November, 2006)
For more information about this video visit YouTube.com
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