Only a handful of actresses were able to display vulnerability as well as AUDREY HEPBURN does in WAIT UNTIL DARK--and she's especially good here because she's playing a woman recently blinded who is learning how to cope with her handicap when the story begins.
The plot's suspense depends entirely on how she gradually (very gradually) becomes aware of the danger she's in when three intruders invade her apartment on a pretext--until finally, she learns that what they are really after is a doll stuffed with heroin that has been stored somewhere within her apartment.
It's only when the full realization of her situation becomes clear to Audrey that the story builds to the proper amount of suspense this sort of tale should generate. Before that, things get a little tedious and there's too much interplay between Hepburn and the interlopers before their devious scheme is developed.
The heroin seekers are played in rather theatrical style by ALAN ARKIN, JACK WESTON and RICHARD CRENNA and the stage origins of the original are sometimes clearly evident in the claustrophobic apartment setting.
Hepburn's blindness is well-simulated, but the tale itself is a bit too contrived to be taken very seriously. By today's standards, the gripping suspense of the final moments is somewhat tamer than when the film was originally made, diluted no doubt by the more graphic exposition of crime in today's thrillers.
Perhaps this is the fault of Terence Young's direction which lets the pace slacken too much before building to a strong climax.
The plot's suspense depends entirely on how she gradually (very gradually) becomes aware of the danger she's in when three intruders invade her apartment on a pretext--until finally, she learns that what they are really after is a doll stuffed with heroin that has been stored somewhere within her apartment.
It's only when the full realization of her situation becomes clear to Audrey that the story builds to the proper amount of suspense this sort of tale should generate. Before that, things get a little tedious and there's too much interplay between Hepburn and the interlopers before their devious scheme is developed.
The heroin seekers are played in rather theatrical style by ALAN ARKIN, JACK WESTON and RICHARD CRENNA and the stage origins of the original are sometimes clearly evident in the claustrophobic apartment setting.
Hepburn's blindness is well-simulated, but the tale itself is a bit too contrived to be taken very seriously. By today's standards, the gripping suspense of the final moments is somewhat tamer than when the film was originally made, diluted no doubt by the more graphic exposition of crime in today's thrillers.
Perhaps this is the fault of Terence Young's direction which lets the pace slacken too much before building to a strong climax.