So much average

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

" . . . crashes to the bottom of the sea? A good start!" happens to be one of Leader Trump's favorite jokes, according to Fox News. After the Troubles so-called feminist lawyers have recently wreaked upon Fox (forcing out founder Mr. Aisles and Factotum Billy O'Reilly, among others) it's very refreshing to see a Fox Movie which goes against the grain of such Pinko Flicks as INHERIT THE WIND and ERIN BROCKOVICH to reveal Legal "Counsels" as the True Sleaze Bags that they actually are. PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER deals with a runaway dad attorney named "David Trask." Davey gets his jollies by making the rounds of plane crash victims' surviving family members, in order to invent tall tales and wild fantasies concerning the deceased. He violates the Socratic Oath time after time, intruding upon grieving families during their Darkest Hours with frivolous anecdotes totally discordant Vis a Vis Real Life Needs. Leader Trump's Reelection Platform doubtless will include a plank to outlaw thoughtless legal beagles such as STRANGER's David Trask!

I'm at a loss to understand the favorable reviews of this turkey. Gary Merrill (why?), after an overlong prologue, survives a plane crash and decides to call on the families of the three people he got to know during a stopover. The whole thing has a dreary, self-consciously solemn tone as Merrill and the survivors, nearly all of them prim and stiff, exchange homilies. The only point I can see to this movie is that it serves as a series of revenge fantasies. Spouses who misbehave are punished with death, infirmity, and/or humiliation. A nasty mother- in-law is also humiliated (though only a little, and in private--after all, she is a mother, and it is the Fifties). Bette Davis, in her star cameo, is excruciating, using her special, toe-curling wise-woman voice. Aside from one terribly acted and directed comic fantasy scene, this movie is very heavy going.

Bette Davis & Gary Merrill had done another film in between ALL ABOUT EVE and PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER...it was a British noir called ANOTHER MAN'S POISON, which airs from time to time, and it's not bad. One thing I read is that Davis' career was floundering again after EVE, and she realized her leading lady days (in the conventional sense) were now behind her. When Merrill brought the script home for PHONE CALL, she read it and decided she could have fun (and draw good notices) playing the character role of Marie. Personally, I think it's her best performance, better than Jezebel and Margo Channing and Baby Jane.Other items: this film seems to be one of those productions that pushes the boundaries of the production code. The crash of the aircraft is quite violent. In previous films like FIVE CAME BACK or DIVE BOMBER, the crashes may be fatal but they are not as explicit and most of the deadly impact takes place off screen...but in PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER, we're shown a very harrowing collision. I do like the fact that it does not occur immediately. We get to see Merrill bonding with the casualties for some length of screen time before they're killed off. The one thing that I don't like about this film is that every person has a somewhat overdramatic set of problems they are dealing with...it would have been a refreshing change of pace if one of them was struggling with a more mundane existence, like not living up to his or her potential, which would not be too flashy or extreme, but still realistic. Not every person we are seated next to on a plane has a ton of drama in his or her life.

"Phone call from a stranger" is an unique movie.However much I search my memory,I cannot find a movie like this one,with the exception of Peter Weir's remarkable (and overlooked ,people liking weepies such as "dead poets society" best)"Fearless"(1993) where James Bridge,being a survivor from a plane crash ,calls his life into question.Exactly what Gary Merill does in "Phone call" :there's no doubt about it,Negulesco's work was ahead of its time .Using "subjective "flashbacks (the over possessive mother remembering her daughter-in-law in an almost eerie scene),a disturbing atmosphere in the first part -in spite of a good share of humor- on the plane or in the airport,a complex screenplay including an unexpected last scene - The photograph of Bette Davis wearing a swimsuit is a stroke of genius-,Negulesco made a sleeper which young generations will discover (no remake needed ,please).When we meet the hero,he is not that nice .By changing the others' life (the last picture of Beatrice Straight and Ted Donaldson is deeply moving ,and at the same time avoids pathos which mars melodrama so badly with any lesser talent)he will learn sympathy for the others,compassion and above all forgiving.That will be his last call for tonight :words of pardon;when you see broken families,all you've got to do is thank God to have yours.As Christ said: He who never sinned ......