Wait Until Dark
Composite Score: 84.1
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Samantha Jones, and Julie Herrod
Director: Terence Young
Writers: Robert Carrington and Jane-Howard Hammerstein
Genres: Thriller, Crime, Drama
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $17.50 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Wait Until Dark is the film adaptation of Frederick Knott’s 1966 play of the same name about a group of thugs who terrorize a blind woman to find their smuggled drugs, which they believe unintentionally ended up in her house. The film stars Audrey Hepburn in an Oscar-nominated role as the recently blind Susy Hendrix across from Alan Arkin’s villainous “Roat” and the duo of Richard Crenna and Jack Weston as the conmen working with Roat – Mike and Carlino. The film takes place almost entirely within Susy’s apartment, making this an intense one-room thriller led by excellent performances from both Hepburn and Arkin. If you haven’t already seen it, this should make its way toward the top of your watchlist.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
As anything besides just a straightforward thriller, Wait Until Dark would be seriously lacking in substance. It doesn’t engage very deeply with the blind community beyond Susy’s mentions of her attendance at the local blind school, and her resilience never gets painted as much more than just a woman in distress turning apparent weakness into an advantage against her attackers. In the modern world, we also happen to have a duology of films about a blind person fighting back against home invaders, but it’s Stephen Lang and he’s more of the antagonist (at least of the first film). Even the drug smuggling angle in Wait Until Dark serves more as a plot device than a thematic element to be engaged with and pondered. Don’t get me wrong, the film is intense and thrilling, living up to that hype; it just doesn’t have a whole lot of anything else to say.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
The performances from Hepburn and Arkin are the pieces that allow this thriller to rise to the levels of greatness that it achieves. Hepburn earns her Oscar nomination by committing to the character of Susy wholeheartedly, endearing the audience to her as she is so often able to do, this time as the harried blind heroine. Her passion and terror combine to make a compelling thriller lead actress, reminiscent of a horror final girl, which is an archetype deserving of more recognition from the Academy. Alan Arkin delivers an early iconic performance for his career – playing the villainous Roat with a level of menace rarely seen in this type of film before the 1970s. Perhaps it is his unique take on the criminal thriller villain that kept this performance from eliciting any notable nominations at awards season that year because if you get a villainous turn like this even ten years later, I think Roat lands on a list of all-time great/iconic villains. As it stands, his performance elevates the film and will certainly be memorable for anyone who watches this film.
Alan Arkin and Audrey Hepburn provide a much-needed lift to the straightforward crime thriller that is Wait Until Dark, making it a film deserving of a spot among the Greatest Films of All Time. Its lack of “deeper” themes might keep it in the lower echelons of great thrillers, but it certainly is a great thriller, full of memorable moments and an iconic villain. This film is currently available to rent on most streaming services if you’re looking for a place to watch it.
