Wait Until Dark
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Wait Until Dark is a play by Frederick Knott.
The mystery thriller's heroine is Susy Hendrix, a blind Greenwich Village housewife who becomes the target of three thugs searching for the heroin hidden in a doll, which her husband transported from Canada as a favor to a woman who since has been murdered. The trio tries to convince Susy her spouse has been implicated in the crime and the only way to protect him is to surrender the doll. More murder and mayhem ensue when she refuses, with the stage lights turned off for the final scene when Suzy levels the playing field by plunging her apartment into total darkness.
After seven previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Penn, opened on February 2, 1966 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Within the next eleven months, it transferred to the Shubert, the George Abbott, and the Music Box Theatres before it ended its run of 374 performances. The cast included Lee Remick, Robert Duvall, and Mitchell Ryan. Remick was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
The West End production with Honor Blackman was far more successful, running nearly two years.
After eleven previews, a revival directed by Leonard Foglia opened on April 5, 1998 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran for 97 performances. The cast included Marisa Tomei, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen Lang.
A 2003 London revival, followed by a UK tour, featured Susie Amy, Derren Nesbitt, and Michael Melia. The setting was changed to Notting Hill.
[edit] Film adaptation
| Wait Until Dark | |
|---|---|
 1967 Film Poster |
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| Directed by | Terence Young |
| Written by | Robert Howard-Carrington |
| Starring | Audrey Hepburn Alan Arkin Richard Crenna |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
| Release date(s) | October 26, 1967 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
In 1966 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased the rights to Frederick Knott's play and in 1967 made the most famous film adaptation. The script was written by Robert Howard-Carrington and directed by Terence Young. It starred Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Jack Weston.
In an effort to duplicate the suspense on screen, movie theaters dimmed their lights to their legal limits, then turned off one by one until each light on-screen was shattered, resulting in the theater, being plunged into complete darkness.
Hepburn was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress, and Zimbalist was nominated for a Globe in the supporting category.
The film ranked tenth on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for its riveting climax.
A 1982 HBO television movie starred Katharine Ross and Stacy Keach.
