Phone Call from a Stranger

Synopsis: On a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles via Iowa, lawyer David Trask gets to know three of his fellow passengers as one technical issue after another leads to delays and unscheduled stops along the way. Those three are physician Dr. Robert Fortness, struggling actress with the stage name Binky Gay, and loud salesman Eddie Hoke, who is both quick with a joke and quick to show off a photograph of his beautiful wife, Marie Hoke. Below the surface, the three have deeper stories, which are bringing them back to Los Angeles and which Dr. Fortness and Binky divulge to David. Dr. Fortness, an alcoholic, is returning to own up to his drunken part in the death of a friend, and his wife Claire's complicity in the matter. Binky, after being away in New York for a year, is returning to her husband, Mike Carr, hoping to take him away from his overbearing mother, former vaudeville star Sally Carr, who still basks in her former but no longer shining glory, and who is the cause of any marital problem s
Genre: Drama, Film-Noir
Director(s): Jean Negulesco
Production: Twentieth Century Fox
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.2
Year:
1952
105 min
195 Views


Airport, and hurry.

- Do you have anything on the 12:10?

- How many?

- One.

- Nothing on the 12:10, I'm afraid...

but I can put you on the Grand

Canyon Airways at 12:30...

- if you don't mind a local.

- Where's that to?

- Same place- Los Angeles.

- All right.

- Round trip?

- One way.

- Name?

- Uh, Collins.

Joseph H. Collins.

- Is it in yet?

- It's pulling in now.

- I want to make a phone call.

- On the other side of the newsstand.

Hello?

David, where are you?

I left a note there on the table...

but it occurred to me

you might-

might think I'd gone off

to do something foolish.

It's nothing like that.

It's just that I-

Well, I couldn't stand it

any longer.

I'll have to figure out another way

of living-without you. That's all.

Wh-Where are you, David?

Please.

Just tell the kids that I was

called away suddenly on a case.

I'll work out some other explanation

when I've had a chance to think things over.

Just don't let them know yet.

Where are you going?

I'll let you know when I get there.

Tell them it looked

like a rather long case.

Then they won't begin asking questions

until we've got our story set.

Will you do that?

Oh, Dave, darling, please.

Will you do it?

Of course.

But, David...

don't go away.

Please don't.

Why not? You don't think you'll be

lonely for long, do you?

Dave, Dave...

haven't you ever made

one mistake in your life?

It's no use, Janey.

I didn't call to argue the matter again...

particularly over a public phone.

Just look out for the kids.

That's all.

I'll let you hear from me

in a day or so.

Good night.

Attention, please.

Grand Canyon Airways Flight 1011...

- for Los Angeles will depart-

- Some trouble?

- Oh, no. Just in late, that's all.

- Is it the weather?

What's wrong with the weather?

How should I know what's wrong with

the weather? That's what I'm asking you.

You come in late, you go out late.

You think it's all right

to fly in all this rain?

I don't think the rain matters.

- Not even at night?

- I don't think so.

But how do they keep 'em

from bumping into each other?

I don't know exactly, but they

must have some way worked out.

You really think they

know what they're doin'?

I'm sure they do. And if there's any danger,

I'm sure they wouldn't send us out.

I hope you're right.

This'll be my first time up.

I certainly wouldn't want it

to be my last.

One.

- I'll just have a cup of coffee.

- Oh.

- You mind?

- No, not at all.

- Can I take your coat?

- Thanks.

- May I have a cup of coffee?

- Yes.

Maybe some coffee

will make me feel better.

You're not really scared, are you?

- I'd be okay if I could only figure out one thing.

- What's that?

What holds it up there.

What do you care?

That's their business.

They can't blame you,

no matter what happens.

You mean they can't sue me

even if it falls?

They can't.

And I'm a lawyer too.

What am I worried about? Let's have

a wedge of pie with that coffee, huh?

Would you people mind if these

gentlemen sat at this table too?

No. Go ahead.

I beg your pardon.

Don't mind me, lady.

I'm just practicing. I'm an ex-wolf.

- Coffee for me, doll baby.

- The same for me, please.

You just come in on Flight 1011?

I'll say. Like we was

on a "rolly coaster. "

- What do you mean?

- The last 50 miles upside down.

- Is he kiddin'?

- It was a little bumpy.

A little bumpy?

Get this.

Just outside of Chicago,

we hit an air pocket.

We must've dropped a thousand feet.

Now, we're all strapped in,

see, but the hostess ain't.

Well, she hits the ceiling

with the top of her permanent.

She must've hung there

for five minutes.

I can see the papers

tomorrow already.

"Among those identified. "

You'll pardon me for asking,

but is that supposed to be funny?

- No, not very.

- Well, I'm afraid I don't think it's funny at all...

joking about people

might get killed.

This is this young lady's

first flight.

Oh, I didn't mean to scare you, lady.

I was just clownin' around a little, that's all.

Yeah, well, let's not clown about

this one till we get there.

Oh, we'll get there.

Pilot's a personal friend of mine.

This guy hates his wife so much...

he's not gonna take that airplane

two feet off the ground...

if he thinks there's any chance

of her collecting his insurance.

Telephone call for Mr. Trask.

Will Mr. David Trask...

please report to ticket counter

for telephone call?

You're a traveling salesman,

aren't you?

- How did you guess?

- I don't know.

I guess the way you kid around, maybe.

Salesmen always kid a lot.

I bet I can guess what you are too.

- What?

- A doctor?

That's right.

- Hey, what about him?

- He told me already. He's a lawyer.

You don't waste any time, huh, Jack?

- Hey, how do you do it?

- I don't know.

L- Just sort of a knack, I guess.

I like to figure out about people.

- You want to know something else?

- What?

- You're all married.

- Does it show from here?

Aren't you?

I am.

I'm good and married.

Aren't you?

- Yes.

- I knew it.

I can peg a married man

from as far as I can see him.

- Unfortunately.

- You want me to guess what you are?

I don't know whether I do or not.

You're an actress, aren't you?

Thank you, Docky.

You scared me there for a minute.

- Musical comedy?

- Musical comedy and nightclubs.

Hey, no kidding.

What do you do, sing and dance?

Both. Did any of you happen to see Let's Go?

That was a show in New York.

I saw it. About a year ago, wasn't it?

Were you in that?

- Don't you remember?

- Let me see. Uh-

Um, "Thank You So Much, Daddy"?

Pardon?

That's the name of the song I sang-

"Thank You So Much, Daddy. "

I remember it.

I saw it with Mrs. Trask...

last March at the Majestic Theatre.

- You remember my routine?

- Of course.

Let me tell you about this number.

This is the only song

I got in the show...

and out of town,

some head-shrinker wants to throw it out.

Then I got this idea. And, brother,

from then on, it was in but good.

Yeah?

What'd you do with it?

I did a strip with it.

Don't you remember?

I remember it.

And you forget

a beautiful song like that?

No, ma'am.

Not on that one either.

We've only got three more flights out of

here tonight, and there's no reservation...

in the name ofTrask on any of them.

Mm-hmm.

All right, snap it up, folks, before

they change their minds again.

Ooh! I'm terribly sorry.

- Dr. Fortness.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- Binky Gay.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh-

You mind if I hang on to you?

No, of course not,

if it'll make you feel any better.

I got a million of'em.

Babies fly nowadays,

like it was crawling...

from the dining room

into the kitchen.

Just feel my hands.

They're absolutely clammy.

Well, why do you do it

if it scares you so?

A train's too slow

for the way I feel.

I've been away for over a year now.

You know how it is

when you get that old feeling.

I can't get back to him fast enough.

Hey, we're moving.

We're rolling out to take off.

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Nunnally Johnson

Nunnally Hunter Johnson was an American filmmaker who wrote, produced, and directed motion pictures. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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