Um Clarão nas Trevas

I watched this movie out of sheer "desperation" -- I couldn't find any current movies on that I wanted to see or that I hadn't seen before, so I just ended up on the channel this film was on. It was fate!! What a fun, suspenseful film!!

If you have not seen Audrey Hepburn in a movie, see this and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and you will *really* appreciate her talent and beauty. Also of mention is Alan Arkin. I read that critics didn't like his role as the heavy in this film when it was first released, but personally I think he is great in it -- intimidating and kitschy at the same time.

This film builds the suspense throughout perfectly. There is not a lull or a let-down to be found! Also, this has a twist ending and a classic suspense/horror plot element that has been done many times since, but not as well!

The Bottom Line: 4 1/2 Jiffy's Out of 5

The legendary Audrey Hepburn gives a stellar performance in WAIT UNTIL DARK. She's the seemingly vulnerable, yet strong and resourceful Suzy Hendrix. Suzy is blind, but she's also very smart. Finding herself inadvertently mixed up in a scheme involving narcotics and murder, she must use her wits in order to survive.

Led by the psychopathic mastermind, Roat (Alan Arkin), a trio of criminals attempt to gaslight Suzy because she has something in her apartment that they desperately desire. This is staged brilliantly, and Suzy gets caught up in the fake drama. That is, until she starts to smell a rat!

This is a tremendously suspenseful movie, filled with nail-biting sequences. Especially, the finale, when Suzy must face the full wrath of the unhinged Roat! Arkin deserves special mention for his portrayal of such a heartless, ruthless monster. He's not just creepy, he's terrifying! Richard Crenna and Jack Weston are also quite good as Roat's ill-fated cohorts, as is young Julie Herrod as the very helpful Gloria...

Recently blinded woman is unwittingly in possession of a doll filled with drugs. A very mean narcotics dealer concocts an elaborate scheme to trick her into handing it over to him. A great psychological thriller with a twist- the audience knows exactly what's happening but gets to watch the heroine try to figure it out. There's almost no explicit violence in this movie, yet there's an underlying current of foreboding and suspense that literally permeates the entire film. You know something very bad is going to happen.Alan Arkin gives the performance of a lifetime as the cool, calm, collected psychopath who truly enjoys hurting people. And Audrey Hepburn is incredibly beautiful. You could pluck her out of this movie, clothes and all, and stick her in the toniest 90's club in New York and she'd still be the height of fashion.

There's a great `shocking' ending that really doesn't make much sense- but it's still a really good sixties movie.

In "Wait Until Dark", I really felt sorry for Audrey Hepburn's Susy Hendrix: blind, lied to by a 'nice' guy who is actually in cahoots with a murderer, sassed by the bespectacled neighbor girl, and then--after a hellish night spent being terrorized by thugs--husband Efrem Zimbalist Jr. walks in and doesn't even give her a hand. "I'm over here, Susy", he tells her, mildly condescending. Film is based on Frederick Knott's popular play, and has an elaborate but obtuse set-up involving a missing doll filled with heroin. There's a great deal of talk about where it is, who had it last, etc. The filmmakers bide their time before getting to the showdown between Hepburn and Alan Arkin, cool and collected as a self-assured psychopath. If you can make it through the first half-hour or so, you'll find that "Wait Until Dark" gets cooking thereafter. There are some terrific jolts, and Hepburn is a great, stubborn fighter. The frosty, subdued color photography is 'realistic' and very stylish, as is Henry Mancini's spooky music. The end-credits theme song (by Mancini, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans) seems a throwaway, but is nicely sung by the uncredited Sue Raney. *** from ****

This was a great showcase for the acting talent of Audrey Hepburn. She does a great job as the vulnerable blind woman who finds the inner strength and perception to deal with a deadly situation. Alan Arkin is brilliantly menacing as the cold blooded killer. I nearly jumped out of my seat when I first saw this film when it opened.