Sorry, Wrong Number / The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, 1948, Paramount, 89 min. Dir. Anatole Litvak. Writer Lucille Fletcher adapted her own mega-hit radio play to the big screen, with Barbara Stanwyck as the emotionally crippled, bedridden heiress who overhears a murder plot on a crossed phone connection. As she tries to get someone, anyone, to take her fears seriously, Stanwyck gradually realizes she may be the intended victim. Who could want her dead? The suspense builds to a shattering conclusion.

THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS, 1946, Paramount, 116 min. Dir. Lewis Milestone. Barbara Stanwyck portrays the title character, the cast-iron magnate of an East Coast steel town whose passion is rekindled by the return of a long-lost childhood friend (Van Heflin). This doesn't sit well with Martha's husband (Kirk Douglas), who's faithfully kept the dark secret at the core of Martha's life. Will Iverstown survive the flames of furious ‘40s melodrama?