Cornell Woolrich Filmography

Rear Window

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Christopher Reeve, Daryl Hannah, Robert Forster, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Anne Twomey

Synopsis: This remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic tale of suspense stars Christopher Reeve as a wheelchair-bound shut-in with a proclivity for watching the world through binoculars and making up stories about the lives of the people he observes. Trouble comes when he fabricates a murder that just may have Read More

Mrs. Winterbourne

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake, Brendan Fraser, Miguel Sandoval, Loren Dean

Synopsis: A poor woman is the beneficiary of a case of mistaken identity in this comedy. Luckless Connie (Ricki Lake) leaves home to move to New York, only to find herself stuck with no job, no money, and a louse of a boyfriend (Loren Dean) who gets her pregnant and abandons her. Despondently taking a train Read More

A Dime a Dance

Crew: Book Author

Fallen Angels, Vol. 1

Crew: Short Story Author

Synopsis: This film noir style, made-for-TV movie contains three parts, each based on stories by three different authors (Jim Thompson, Cornell Woolrich, and James Elroy). It looks as if a con-artist (Peter Gallagher) has finally met someone who can pull the wool over his eyes in "The Frightening Frammis." Read More

I'm Dangerous Tonight

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Mädchen Amick, Anthony Perkins

Synopsis: A made-for-TV effort from horror director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), this supernatural thriller is ostensibly based on the novella of the same name by Cornell Woolrich -- but the title is pretty much where the similarity ends. The plot involves a possessed Aztec ceremonial cloak Read More

Cloak and Dagger

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Michael Murphy, Christina Nigra, John McIntire

Synopsis: Juvenile actor Henry Thomas, late of E.T., is the star of Cloak and Dagger. Given to telling whoppers, Thomas finds himself in a boy-who-cried-wolf dilemma when he overhears two spies plotting to smuggle valuable info out of the US. When he can't get his own father Dabney Coleman to believe him, Thomas Read More

Union City

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Dennis Lipscomb, Deborah Harry, Irina Maleeva, Everett McGill, Sam McMurray, Terina Lewis

Synopsis: Mark Reichart wrote and directed this disturbing tale of mounting paranoia, based on a story by Cornell Woolrich. Harlan (Dennis Lipscomb) is a New Jersey businessman who becomes obsessed with trying to catch the person who has been stealing sips from the milk bottle delivered to his doorstep Read More

Mississippi Mermaid

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Bouquet, Nelly Borgeaud

Synopsis: A rare mid-career flop for director François Truffaut when it was released, Mississippi Mermaid has become a cult favorite, thanks in part to the availability of the original French version, which added 13 minutes to the U.S. release running time. Adapted from a story by William Irish, it's a Read More

The Bride Wore Black

Crew: Book Author, Screenwriter

Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Claude Rich, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet, Michel Lonsdale

Synopsis: This Francois Truffaut thriller is based ona novel by William Irish (aka Cornell Woolrich), whose books had been adapted by Alfred Hitchcock on many previous occasions. Jeanne Moreau stars as a woman whose fiancé is nastily murdered by five men. Utilizing a series of disguises, the cool-customer Read More

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Black Curtain

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: After suffering a blow on the head, Phil Townsend (Richard Basehart) awakens to discover that he has long been suffering from amnesia. Realizing that he's slated to be married, Phil rushes to the house of his fiancée, only to discover that he is three years late. Soon afterward, he finds out that Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Post Mortem

Crew: Screen Story

Synopsis: After the death of her first husband, Judy (Joanna Moore) marries Steve (Steve Forrest), the man who sold her the insurance policy on her late hubby's life. When Judy and Steve quickly run out of money, Judy pins her hopes on a sweepstakes ticket that husband number one purchased just before his Read More

Playhouse 90: Rendezvous in Black

Crew: Short Story Author

Synopsis: Cornell Woolrich, whose written works have served as the basis for many an Alfred Hitchcock production, was the author of this Playhouse 90 drama. After arranging to meet his fiancee at a busy downtown street corner, a young man arrives at the appointed destination--only to find that the girl is Read More

Nightmare

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell, Virginia Christine, Rhys Williams

Synopsis: Jazz musician Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) wakes up from a dream in which he has killed a man during a struggle in a bizarre mirrored room. However, thumbprints on his neck, a strange key in his pocket, and a haunting, otherworldly musical riff in his head quickly convince him that it was not Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Big Switch

Crew: Screen Story

Synopsis: Outraged over the infidelity of his girlfriend Goldie (Beverly Michaels), thuggish Sam Donleavy (George Mathews) decides to bump the dame off. Unfortunately, there is a more than somewhat stiff penalty for murder, thus Sam intends to provide himself with an airtight alibi -- and pays a huge price Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Momentum

Crew: Screen Story

Synopsis: When he takes a voluntary pay cut to help out his financially strapped boss, Dick Paine (Skip Homeier) must face the wrath of his nagging wife Beth (played by no less than Joanne Woodward). Demanding that Dick stand up for his rights, Beth tells him to go back to the office and confront his Read More

Obsession

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Michèle Morgan, Raf Vallone, Jean Gaven, Marthe Mercadier

Rear Window

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr

Synopsis: Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the Read More

Domanda di Grazia

Crew: Book Author

Synopsis: The French/Italian Obsession was based on a novel by American suspense writer William Irish (aka Cornell Woolrich). Michelle Morgan and Raf Vallone are carnival performers, touring the provinces with a successful trapeze act. Though Morgan knows that Vallone is on the lam from a murder charge, she Read More

No Man of Her Own

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, Phyllis Thaxter, Lyle Bettger, Jane Cowl

Synopsis: A woman is torn between a comfortable lie and the painful truth in this drama. After she is abandoned by her unfaithful boyfriend Stephen Morely (Lyle Bettger), Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) discovers that she's pregnant, and she has no choice but to go home to her family. Shortly after Read More

The Window

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Barbara Hale, Bobby Driscoll, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman

Synopsis: Widely regarded as a "model" B-movie thriller, The Window stars Bobby Driscoll as a young boy prone to fibs. Thus, no one believes him when he claims to have seen a murder in a neighboring apartment. No one, that is, except the killers (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman). Realizing he won't get any help Read More

The Return of the Whistler

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Lenore Aubert, Trevor Bardette, James B. Cardwell, Edgar Dearing, Ann Doran

Synopsis: This final entry in Columbia's "Whistler" series is also the first to dispense with the services of star Richard Dix. This time around, hero Ted Nichols (Michael Duane) tries to ascertain the whereabouts of his wealthy fiancee Alice Barclay (Lenore Aubert). Finally locating the girl in a mental Read More

I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Jimmy Aubrey, Stanley Blystone, Walden Boyle, Charles D. Brown

Synopsis: A Cornell Woolrich novel was the source for the variable Monogram melodrama I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes. The plot refers to the dancing shoes of young terpsichorean Tom (Don Castle). A print from one of those shoes is found at the scene of a murder, and the police don't buy Tom's story that his Read More

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell, John Lund, Virginia Bruce, William Demarest, Richard Webb

Synopsis: A man who dreams of seeing the future discovers the horrible burden that it can carry in this film noir suspense story. Suicidal Jean Courtland (Gail Russell) is prevented from killing herself by her fiancée Elliot Carson (John Lund). When they consult psychic John Triton (Edward G. Robinson Read More

Fear in the Night

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Paul Kelly, DeForest Kelley, Kay Scott, Ann Doran, Robert Emmett Keane

Synopsis: One of several low-budget mellers directed by scriptwriter Maxwell Shane, Fear in the Night was based on the short story Nightmare by William Irish (pseudonym for Cornell Woolrich). In his first starring role, DeForest Kelley plays Vince Grayson, a young man who has a terrible nightmare wherein he Read More

The Guilty

Crew: Short Story Author

Synopsis: In this murder mystery, a man goes into a bar and begins telling his story to the bartender. His tale is depicted in flashback. It all began while he was romancing a young woman. The trouble began when her twin sister was killed and stuffed into an incinerator. The three prime suspects were the Read More

Fall Guy

Crew: Short Story Author

Synopsis: Nice guys don't always finish last as can be seen in this crime drama. The story begins as a perfectly nice fellow finds himself arrested for murder. The trouble is, the man cannot remember a thing about the night of the murder. Though he insists he is innocent, all the evidence tells a different Read More

Deadline at Dawn

Crew: Screenwriter, Short Story Author

Actors: Susan Hayward, Paul Lukas, Bill Williams, Joseph Calleia, Osa Massen

Synopsis: Deadline at Dawn represented not only the sole film directorial effort of Broadway's Harold Clurman, but also the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate, screenwriter Clifford Odets. While on shore leave in New York, sailor Alex (Bill Williams) is Read More

The Chase

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre, Steve Cochran, Lloyd Corrigan

Synopsis: Originally slated for release through Monogram Pictures, The Chase was ultimately distributed by United Artists. Adapted by Philip Yordan from Cornell Woolrich's The Black Path of Fear (a perennial of the radio series Suspense), the film stars Robert Cummings as Chuck, shell-shocked ex-GI. Read More

The Black Angel

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Wallace Ford

Synopsis: With an ingenious script by Roy Chanslor, this modest, but imaginative film noir is notable for the strong performance by lead actor Dan Duryea Alcoholic musician Martin Blair (Duryea) becomes the prime suspect when his cheating wife is murdered, until it is determined that he was "sleeping Read More

Phantom Lady

Crew: Book Author, Screenwriter

Actors: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Elisha Cook, Jr., Thomas Gomez

Synopsis: Engineer Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) is at a seedy midtown Manhattan bar early one evening, drowning his sorrows over a failed marriage, when he strikes up a conversation with a woman (Fay Helm). She's well dressed, with a very ornate hat topping off her ensemble, and also seems even sadder and Read More

The Leopard Man

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Dennis O'Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, James Bell

Synopsis: Adapted from the Cornell Woolrich novel Black Alibi, The Leopard Man is a lesser but still fascinating psychological-horror effort from producer Val Lewton. Someone has been killing off the citizens of a small New Mexico town, and the most likely suspect is a huge leopard, purchased for a local Read More

Street of Chance

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Sheldon Leonard, Jerome Cowan, Frieda Inescort

Synopsis: Based on Cornell Woolrich's novel The Black Curtain (later dramatized several times on the radio series Suspense), Street of Chance top-bills Burgess Meredith as an amnesia victim. He awakens in the middle of the street, with nary a clue of who he is or what he's done. Meredith comes to learn that Read More

Convicted

Crew: Short Story Author

Actors: Charles Quigley, Rita Hayworth, Marc Lawrence, George McKay, Doreen MacGregor

Synopsis: Hoping to build up contract players Charles Quigley and Rita Hayworth into a viable screen team, Columbia Pictures rushed the actors from one "B" production to another. Convicted tells the story of a diligent detective named Burns (Quigley) who is forced to arrest Chick Wheeler (Edgar Edwards) Read More

Manhattan Love Song

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Robert Armstrong, Dixie Lee, Helen Flint, Franklin Pangborn, Nydia Westman

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, Manhattan Love Song charts the misadventures of the madcap Stewart sisters, Jerry (Dixie Lee) and Carol (Helen Flint). Suddenly finding themselves broke, the girls are forced to become the servants of their former chauffeur Williams (Robert Armstrong) and maid Read More

Seven Footprints to Satan

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Louise Fazenda, Thelma Todd, Creighton Hale, Chester Conklin, Sheldon Lewis, William V. Mong, DeWitt Jennings, Dale Fuller

Synopsis: In this curious film, a knickknack collector falls in love with the daughter of a jewel collector. When a rare stone is swiped from a reception at the latter's home, the daughter and her sweetheart begin looking for it. As they drive to the police, they are taken upon a most circuitous path until Read More

Children of the Ritz

Crew: Book Author

Actors: Dorothy Mackaill, Jack Mulhall, James Ford, Richard Carlyle, Evelyn Hall

Synopsis: Children of the Ritz was based on a serialized magazine story by future suspense specialist Cornell Woolrich. Spoiled heiress Angela Pennington (Dorothy Mackaill) falls in love with impoverished chauffeur Dewey Haines (Jack Mulhall). Subsequently, their respective social standings are radically Read More