Blind and Alone

Wait Until Dark is a terrifying scenario to imagine. A home invasion with a blind woman as the victim. Although I rarely hear about the movie now, Wait Until Dark was as high as #10 on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments list. After seeing it, I completely understand why. Wait Until Dark is based on a play by Dial M for Murder playwright Frederick Knott. The movie is directed by 3 time Bond director Terrence Young. Audrey Hepburn is the last person you might expect in a psychological thriller. Yet Hepburn is so convincing as a blind person that she earned her final Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Susy Hendrix is first shown to be helpless, but her husband pushes her to be self-reliant. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was also nominated for a Golden Globe despite Sam leaving for a photography job. Most of the movie takes place in Susy’s New York apartment where she encounters three criminals. Sam unknowingly ends up with a doll filled with heroin that was smuggled from Montreal by Lisa. A young Alan Arkin plays the sadistic beatnik criminal Roat who pulls two more con men into an elaborate game of deception. Richard Crenna appears to be a trusting army buddy named Mike Talman.

Jack Weston is his associate Carlino who pretends to be a police Sergeant. The tension never stops when Susy is convinced they’re telling the truth. Her only pair of eyes belong to the neighbor girl Gloria who helps her when she grows suspicious. The climax is pure suspense when Susy has the clever idea to use darkness against the criminals. Theaters in 1967 actually turned off the lights completely just to create the full effect and the Henry Mancini score does the rest. Wait Until Dark is just as scary now as it’s ever been.

Susy lights a match