Main Cast: Sidney Poitier, Anne Bancroft, Telly Savalas, Steven Hill, Ed Asner
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Sidney Pollack marked his feature film directing debut with this taut suspense drama, based upon an actual incident reported in Time Magazine. Sidney Poitier stars as Alan Nuell, a student volunteer at a medical clinic in Seattle who answers the phone to find Inge Dyson (Anne Bancroft) on the other end. Inge, depressed about her life, has just taken an overdose of sleeping pills. With Inge slowly dying, Alan tries to keep her talking on the phone while the police try to trace the call and save her life. Inge tells Alan that she has decided to end it all because her husband has discovered that he is not the father of her son. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Indus Arthur - Marion; Dabney Coleman - Charlie; Robert Hoy - Patrolman Steve Peters; Greg Jarvis - Chris Dyson; Jason Wingreen - Medical Technician; Steven Marlo - Arthur Foss; Thomas Hill - Liquor Salesman; Lane Bradford - Al McCardle; Janet Dudley - Edna; John Napier - Dr. Alden Van; John Benson - Patrolman Bert Enyard; Kay Doubleday - Jinny; Allen Emerson - 2nd TV Newsman; Paul Newlan - Sgt. Harry Ward; George Savalas - Pool Player; Charlotte Stewart - Telephone Operator; H.M. Wynant - Doctor; David Harris - Nightwatchman; Jo Helton - Registration Nurse; Viola Harris - Telephone Supervisor; Archie Smith
Credit
Hal Pereira - Art Director, John S. Poplin - Art Director, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Sydney Pollack - Director, Thomas G. Stanford - Editor, Quincy Jones - Composer (Music Score), Wally Westmore - Makeup, Jack Poplin - Production Designer, Loyal Griggs - Cinematographer, Stephen Alexander - Producer, Robert R. Benton - Set Designer, Joseph Kish - Set Designer, Stirling Silliphant - Screenwriter, Shana Alexander - Short Story Author
The Slender Thread is a 1965 film starring Anne Bancroft and Sidney Poitier. It was the first feature length film directed by Academy Award-winning director, producer & actor Sydney Pollack.
Poitier's character is Alan, a Seattle college student who is volunteering at a crisis call center. Shortly after beginning his night shift, Alan receives a call from a woman named Inga (Bancroft's character) who says she has just taken a lethal dose of pills and wants to talk to someone before she dies. The story line follows the efforts of Alan, a psychiatrist (played by Telly Savalas) and a detective (played by Ed Asner) to locate the woman and her husband (played by Steven Hill of Law & Order fame).
This movie is noted for the physical tracing of the call to find Inga (Bancroft) before she dies. Throughout the movie, the call is traced by hand through several electro-mechanical telephone central office switches which leads to the hotel where Inga was staying (Red Lion) near the Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
