Wait Until Dark Details

A powerful piece of theatre can often seem very flat on film because the screen distances the viewer from the immediacy and intimacy of the stage performance. Terence Young's version of Frederick Knott's Broadway hit is a magnificent exception. Oscar-nominated Audrey Hepburn is quite superb as the blind woman who keeps her wits about her when drug dealers break into her apartment to recover a doll full of heroin. Alan Arkin pulls out all the psychotic stops as the leader of the gang, and Young never lets the suspense drop.

Sharp suspenser with shock moments, from a successful play; in this case the claustrophobic atmosphere helps, though a lack of light relief makes itself felt.