Synopsis
After a flight back home, Sam Hendrix returns with a doll he innocently acquired along the way. As it turns out, the doll is actually stuffed with heroin, and a group of criminals led by the ruthless Roat has followed Hendrix back to his place to retrieve it. When Hendrix leaves for business, the crooks make their move -- and find his blind wife, Susy, alone in the apartment. Soon, a life-threatening game begins between Susy and the thugs.
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Cast
- Audrey HepburnSusy Hendrix
- Alan ArkinRoat / Roat Jr. / Roat Sr.
- Richard CrennaMike Talman
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr.Sam Hendrix
- Jack WestonCarlino
- Samantha JonesLisa
- Julie HerrodGloria
- Robby BensonBoy Tossing Ball (uncredited)
- Mel FerrerFrench-Canadian Radio Speaker (voice) (uncredited)
- Gary MorganTeenage Boy on Street (uncredited)
Recommendations
- 90
Variety
Wait Until Dark emerges as an excellent suspense drama, effective in casting, scripting, direction and genuine emotional impact. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
Miss Hepburn is perhaps too simple and trusting, and Alan Arkin (as a sadistic killer) is not particularly convincing in an exaggerated performance. But there are some nice, juicy passages of terror, and after a slow start the plot does seduce you. - 88
Slant Magazine
When the lights go out at the end of the film, so did the lights in the movie theaters.Terence Young’s tense cinematic adaptation so ruthlessly tightens the screws of tension that one could be forgiven for not noticing an earthquake, much less dimmed house lights. - 80
The New York Times
Once this build-up is accomplished—once the sinister plot is launched and the young woman suddenly realizes that she has been duped and is in grave peril—the shock and suspense of the situation hit the audience with almost the same force, I'd imagine, as they evidently hit her. And from here on, the tension is terrific and the melodramatic action is wild as the blind woman uses all her courage and ingenuity to foil her assailants and save her life. - 80
The A.V. Club
Hepburn's blend of pluckiness and self-pity and Arkin's cool cunning give Wait Until Dark emotional weight, but their final tussle is what most fans of the film remember. - 80
Empire
An outstanding thriller based on a stageplay (by Frederick Knott) that fits so much better on the screen because, as well as the expansive, cinema is really good at claustrophobia. - 80
Chicago Reader
This thriller draws its effectiveness less from the intelligence of the direction (by Terence Young) than from the unbridled sadism of the concept: Audrey Hepburn is a blind woman in unknowing possession of a doll stuffed with pure heroin. Alone in her New York apartment, she's terrorized by a gang of thugs that includes slobbering psycho Alan Arkin and smooth-talking Richard Crenna. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Expertly directed by veteran British helmsman Young, Wait Until Dark is an exciting, original chiller.
