Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

SnoopyStyle Seattle university student Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) mans the phone at the Crisis Clinic. Inga Dyson (Anne Bancroft) calls claiming to have taken a lot of pills to commit suicide. She had a fight with her husband Mark Dyson (Steven Hill). The phone company traces the number. Dr. Joe Coburn (Telly Savalas) is the supervisor of the help phone. Det. Judd Ridley (Edward Asner) joins in the race to find Inga.This was done at the dawn of the phone help line. That may excuse the bad work done by Alan. The concept does prevent Poitier and Bancroft to have face to face interactions. That is always a disadvantage of phone acting and this one isn't intense. The tracking down of Inga provides a little bit of kinetic energy but it's not compelling. The concept is forward thinking but it doesn't always make for a good movie.

lisa_toucher I came in late on this movie this morning on TCM, and then suspected it was a Sydney Pollack film when I heard the line, "Do you think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?" spoken by Steven Hill to Anne Bancroft. This line is, remarkably, in two other Sydney Pollack films that I know of -- Three Days of the Condor, and most recently in The Interpreter. While it is a great line and distills an idea very well, the self-referential aspect of it is a little odd. However, it is a well-shot film and reminded me of the work of John Frankenheimer. There are some fantastic shots in Seattle locations, and Anne Bancroft looks so beautiful and sad.

Lee Eisenberg I believe that this was Sydney Pollack's directorial debut. If so, then he certainly gave an interesting insight into his future work. Seattle college student Alan Newell (Sidney Poitier) is working at a crisis hotline center when he gets a call from housewife Inge Dyson (Anne Bancroft), who is reaching the breaking point. Because they can't see each other, it gives the movie a real sense of tension, as implied by the title - even if it drags a little bit at times.A previous reviewer said that Poitier plays his usual role: a morally superior black man in a white-dominated society. That's partly true, but here, he has a job that anyone could have, and his race doesn't really matter (although as the reviewer noted, they could have been subtly talking about race). As for Anne Bancroft, her death six months ago brings her filmography to mind. This may have not been her most famous role, but I would recommend it.

Ripshin This film has stuck in my mind since seeing in the early 70s, when I was a child. This is only my second viewing, and while I still find the movie quite effective, the overacting of Poitier makes it a little less enjoyable. Bancroft is wonderful, and quite sympathetic, in the lead. As stated in a previous post, this is Pollack's first feature - what an excellent start. The Seattle location filming is beautiful, and it's nice to see the 64 World's Fair site on celluloid. (Of course, for more detailed coverage, there's Elvis's "It Happened at the World's Fair" from 1964.)Just for the sake of curiosity, I wonder if the hotel where she is found, is still standing today. It was a Hyatt at that time.