One Step Ahead: Sorry, Wrong Number (2024)

FAQs

What is the solution in the story of Sorry, Wrong Number? ›

Stevenson realizes that she is the intended victim and is murdered. Falling Action : Sergeant Duffy answers Mrs. Stevenson's final phone call. Resolution : The murder says, "Sorry, wrong number" and hang up the phone.

Who is the killer in "Sorry, Wrong Number?" The murderer is a fellow named George. Though Mrs. Stevenson doesn't realize it, she heard her own murder planned shortly before it happened.

The moral of the story "Sorry, Wrong Number" is to stay calm in a chaotic situation so that our minds and decision-making are clear, and to always remind ourselves not to engage in anything with a stranger or someone we do not know or trust deeply.

One of the primary themes in Sorry, Wrong Number is the importance of communication in relationships, and the dangers of miscommunication. The telephone in the play acts as a symbol for this theme, and Mrs. Stevenson's relationship with the phone soon proves to represent her relationship with Elbert.

However, she doesn't make it in time. We learn that Mr. Stevenson, her husband, was a part of the murder and he killed his wife only for the money, which he regrets.

Due to a telephone glitch, Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), a controlling heiress confined to a wheelchair, overhears a conversation about a plan to kill a woman. Unable to leave her home or reach her husband (Burt Lancaster), and written off by the police, Leona struggles to uncover the truth through a series of phone calls that only lead her deeper into a mystery, which may involve her college rival, Sally (Ann Richards), and a scheme to sell pharmaceuticals on the black market.

Sorry, Wrong Number / Film synopsis

She hears an unnamed intruder sneaking inside the house, and tells Henry that she is the victim of the murder plot. Henry tells Leona to leave the house, but she is killed by the intruder and the phone line goes dead.

The suspense and frustration build to a frenzied climax as Leona discovers that she herself is the intended target of the murder and that her husband is the mastermind of the plot.

As Lucille once explained in an interview, Sorry, Wrong Number was partially inspired by an incident from someone else's life. While Herrmann was sick at home, Lucille went down to the corner drug store for medicine.

It's ironic (opposite of what one would think or expect in a situation) in that Mrs. Stevenson originally believes she has called a wrong number and overhears the murder plot in which she is the victim for whom she tries to get help.

What is the climax of the Sorry, Wrong Number? ›

In "Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher, the climax occurs when Mrs. Stevenson, the protagonist, unravels the details of the emergency call, realizing the imminent danger faced by her husband. This revelation intensifies the suspense and marks the pivotal moment of the story.

Described by Orson Welles as 'the greatest single radio script ever written', Sorry, Wrong Number is a whip-smart radio thriller set in 1940s New York. Tony Award winner Marie Mullen leads the cast playing a woman who overhears a murder plot on the telephone.

Explanation: Stevenson hears an intruder in her house; Falling Action: Mrs. Stevenson is killed by George, the intruder who was hired by Mr. Stevenson; Resolution: George hangs up the phone and exits.

Mrs. Stevenson never leaves the house, and the only people she sees are her husband, Elbert, and her maid, Eloise. The play takes place in 1940's New York City over the course of a single night, and most of the action occurs in Mrs.

Mrs.

Stevenson is an anxious woman whose health does not permit her to leave her luxurious yet lonely bedroom. The first stage direction to describe her notes that she is a “querulous, self-centered woman” (7), and she proves this to be true as the play unfolds.

A train goes by and Mrs. Stevenson screams. The falling action of sorry wrong number is when Mrs. Stevenson asks the operator to call the police department.

Internal conflict-Mrs. Stevenson overhears a murder plot between two men and thinks that she should not get involved with the investigation. Internal conflict- Sergeant Duffy argues with Mrs. Stevenson about the murder plot she overhears between two men.