Tonight I watched Wait Until Dark while I worked on some ads for the next issue of the paper.

I so love bratty Gloria....well...duhh...of course I do. Nerdy...overly sensitive...jealous of Audrey Hepburn's ultra-glamminess (even as a "cranky and irritable super blind lady" - her words not mine).

Anyway, I was sitting here in the dark (as Kelly suggested) thinking about what the audience in 1967 must of thought of the film, and how they must have reacted to seeing Ms. Hepburn so helpless and vulnerable.

The music is really disturbing at moments. That spooky blourng-bwong sound creates such uneasiness. Hell, the whole film has such an uneven emotional tone that when combined with the film's neutral color scheme -- the bleak urban landscape and that janky apartment -- you can't help but feel trapped in a world riddled with crooks, thieves and mercenary n'er-do-wells (along with a bratty 'tween upstairs neighbor).

In the special features section on the DVD, Alan Arkin comments on the cultural shift going on in the U.S. at the time. Ultimately, the urban landscape really did become as menacing as the film portrays....in strange contrast to the only-slightly-menacing urban environment that the n'er-do-well Sally Tomato occupied in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Sure he was up to no good, and he was in Sing Sing, but he was still likable and Ms. Hepburn was never in any real danger. And Manhattan was sooooo pretty in Breakfast at Tiffany's....and so stylish.....*sigh*

Thinking about it, so many of my favorite movies are from that decade: Psycho...Baby Jane.....Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ....The Manchurian Candidate....Rosemary's Baby.....To Kill a Mockingbird ....The Apartment...

Oh, my goodness....feels like a Blockbuster Night (or weekend) is gonna be comin' on long and strong.

What adoring these films says about my own emotional state of mind....well, that's between me and my therapist.