The Slender Thread
Directed by Sidney Pollock
Written by Stirling Silliphant from an article by Shana Alexander
1965/USA
Stephen Alexander Productions
First viewing/YouTube
[box] Mark Dyson: [to Inga] Do you think that not getting caught in a lie is the same as telling the truth?[/box]
Could have been better but enjoyable for the performances.
Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) is a college student who volunteers at a Crisis Hotline. He is hoping for a quiet night but almost immediately picks up a call from Inga Dyson (Anne Bancroft) who has just taken a handful of barbiturates. She just wants to talk while waiting for the drugs to take effect and refuses to give her name or address. Her breaking point came when her husband Mark discovered that the son they had been raising is not his own. Alan struggles to keep her awake and on the phone while the authorities attempt to trace the call. With Telly Savalas as Alan’s supervisor.
Poitier and Bancroft act their hearts out and there are several touching moments. The problem is the excessive amount of time focused on police procedural elements like tracking the call and on the flashbacks.
The Slender Thread was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Costume Design, Black-and-White and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White.
