I Saw What You Did
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I Saw What You Did is a 1965 Universal Pictures horror/thriller motion picture starring Joan Crawford, John Ireland, Leif Erickson, Sara Lane, Andi Garrett, Sharyl Locke, Patricia Breslin, John Archer, and Joyce Meadows.
Directed and produced by William Castle, and co-produced by Dona Holloway, the script was by screenwriter William P. McGivern, based on the 1964 novel Out of the Dark by Ursula Curtiss. Original music was by Van Alexander, and Jerry Keller (title song).
The 2002 widescreen DVD release uses the title "I Saw What You Did" And I Know Who You Are! which was the original title of the film on 1965 movie posters.
82 mins.; English; black-and-white
[edit] Synopsis
The Mannerings, Dave (played by Erickson) and Ellie (played by Breslin), are going out of town on business. At the last minute, the baby-sitter calls and says she is sick. As they will only be gone overnight, Dave decides that teenaged Libby (played by Garrett) is old enough to take care of her little sister, Tess (played by Locke). Libby wants her friend, Kit Austin (played by Lane), to come over and stay the night. Kit's father, John (played by Archer), takes her over to visit, but will pick her up at 11:30.
With Dave and Ellie miles away and the girls alone in their big, remote farmhouse, Kit and Libby begin making prank phone calls to amuse themselves. Randomly dialing men's numbers from the phone book, they ask, "Is this Donald I. Leak?" or "Is this John Hamburger?" If a woman answers, they speak in deep tones and ask if the man is there. "Oh, this is his wife?" they ask in surprise, suggesting the husband is cheating.
After a while, the girls become bored with the routine and take it to a new level. When a hapless victim answers, they say, "I saw what you did, and I know who you are."
Most people hang up. Unfortunately, the next call is to Steve Marek (played by Ireland). He has stabbed his wife, Judith (played by Meadows), to death while "he" was in the shower. He then disposed of her body in the nearby woods.
His wealthy, amorous neighbor, Amy Nelson (played by Crawford), is in love with him. He tells her that Judith ran off and left him. She thinks having Judith out of the way is fine, as she wants Steve for herself. While she is in the process of seducing him, he receives the call.
Libby repeats the phrase, "I saw what you did, and I know who you are," and the paranoid man takes it seriously, believing she knows that he murdered his wife. He starts coming on to the girl. When he asks her name, Libby tells him that it is Suzette. He says he wants to meet her, but she refuses.
After they hang up, Libby decides she must see this man with the sexy voice. She talks Kit and precocious little Tess into going with her to his house–just to check out where he lives and hopefully get a look at him. She gets dressed up, does her hair and puts on makeup, and drives over in her parents' car.
Against Kit’s protests, Libby gets out and walks to the window of his apartment to peek inside. While she is there, he sees her and grabs a knife. Jealous Amy shows up and confronts Libby, however. She is incredibly angry, believing this teenager is a rival, and shouts, "Get out of here!" as she forces the stammering, terrified girl back into the car and slams the door. She then grabs the registration out of the car.
As the frightened girls head for home, Amy goes in and confronts Steve. She has been clued in about the murder he committed and is determined to blackmail him into marriage. He then murders Amy.
Steve now knows the address of the Mannering home from the car registration and gets into his car and heads off into the night to silence the girl forever.
To tell it all here would be a real "SPOILER." Needless to say, the girls have to deal with the threat of this psychotic murderer in order to survive. There is an intense confrontation in the swirling fog.
[edit] Trivia
- Advertisements for the movie read, "William Castle warns you: This is a motion picture about UXORICIDE!"
- Castle equipped some of the theaters where the movie was shown with seat belts.
- Although Crawford received top billing as the star, she has a supporting role with limited screen time.
