Ever since Alexander Graham Bell beckoned Thomas Watson in 1876, the importance and ubiquity of the telephone has been reflected in numerous Hollywood plots. In his gripping thriller “Phone Booth” (2002), writer Larry Cohen used the titular devise as an immovable magnet for suspense. In the new film “Cellular,” Cohen steps out of the booth in a story that revolves around a man trying to rescue a woman in peril who just happened to call his cell.
With that flick ringing in our ears, we dial up some of the telephone’s most important movie moments.
“Dial M for Murder” (1954)
In this Hitchcock thriller, Ray Milland discovers he has been cuckolded and blackmails a college acquaintance to kill his wife (Grace Kelly). While the husband is at a party, he phones his wife, and when she answers, the attacker comes from behind a curtain to do the deed. As the husband calls, Hitchcock cuts to a shot of the phone’s inner workings, a great visual metaphor of the murder in action.
“Pillow Talk” (1959)
In this witty bit of ’50s fluff, Doris Day plays an ambitious interior decorator who shares a party line with a womanizing hit songwriter played by Rock Hudson. Every time Day picks up the phone to call a client, she has to hear Hudson wooing his latest woman with a new tune he just wrote especially for her. Through a series of coincidences, Hudson secretly falls for Day. However, because she finds him so odious on the phone, he pretends to be a chivalrous Texan and adds this new voice to the party line.
“When a Stranger Calls” (1979)
Talk about your close calls. Carol Kane plays a baby-sitter who gets a series of harassing calls from a man who tells her to “check the children.” Once the calls cross the line, she rings the police. The cops check the line, and what they discover is one of the all-time coolest horror-movie freakouts — the calls are being made from inside the house.
“E.T.” (1982)
It has to be one of the most well-known catchphrases in the history of cinema: “E.T. phone home.” The wobbly little alien first gets the bright idea to communicate via telephone with the brethren who left him behind after he sees a television ad for a long distance service. E.T. then proceeds to tear apart various items he finds around the house, including a blender and a Speak & Spell, to build something akin to an intergalactic cell phone.
“Girl 6” (1996)
This Spike Lee movie’s main operator is a beautiful, smart, young aspiring actress in New York named Judy (Theresa Randle). After a nasty, degrading audition, she takes a job as a phone sex operator to pay the bills and save money to go to L.A. She is a natural at the job, and her acting skills enable her to attract a lucrative series of regular callers, including one man who just wants to talk about his sick mother.
“Scream” (1996)
Wes Craven’s self-aware horror flick starts off with a cameo by Drew Barrymore, who plays Casey, a sexy high schooler home alone. She receives a crank call and ends up chatting about horror films with the caller. The guy soon throws Casey into her own horror movie, killing her with a knife and hanging her from a tree. When Casey’s parents get home they see the break-in, but when mom tries to call the police, she discovers her daughter is still on the line, albeit just barely.
“The Matrix” (1999)
The computer may be the primary machine player in this techo-savvy smash, but the telephone plays a solid supporting role. The film begins with a call in which two people discuss the identity of “the one.” Then, in the film’s first frenetic chase scene, we learn that the way in and out of the Matrix is via land line. When leather clad Trinity picks up a ringing phone just before a garbage truck slams into its booth and demolishes it, it sets the stage for a series of dramatic dashes in which a missed call could mean certain death.
“Phone Booth” (2002)
It seemed odd that a modern film would focus around something so antiquated, but once this thriller gets going, it’s perfectly clear why the static set made so much sense. An officious press agent named Stu (Collin Farrell) is walking down a Manhattan street when he hears a ring from a phone booth. After answering, he quickly realizes he is caught between the crosshairs, and hanging up is not an option.
“The Ring” (2002)
A terrifying video tape is making the rounds, and rumor has it that if you watch it you will die. After viewing the video, people receive a spooky phone call from a little girl informing them that they only have seven more days to live. After her niece falls victim to the video, a determined journalist (Naomi Watts) watches it herself and tries to solve the mystery as the clock ticks.
“Cellular” (2004)
In his second phone-focused feature, writer Larry Cohen moves the action from a claustrophobic phone booth to a wide-open world where roaming charges can really add up. When a woman (Kim Basinger) is kidnapped, she pieces together a phone smashed by her kidnapper and makes a blind call. A young guy (Chris Evans) driving along answers her on his cell and is sucked into rescuing the woman. If that weren’t intense enough, if his battery runs out, he may lose his connection to her and she may lose her life.
