The Secret Night Caller
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''The Secret Night Caller'', is a 1975 American
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
directed by
Jerry Jameson Jerry Jameson (born November 26, 1934) is an American television program, television and film director, film editing, editor and film producer, producer. Biography Highly prolific, he began his career in 1964 as an editor on the episode "List ...
.


Plot

Husband, father and IRS tax agent Fred Durant, despite being a respected suburbanite, is often plagued by lewd thoughts. To satisfy his thoughts, in the evening, he anonymously calls women and releases his perverse thoughts on them. During one of these calls, Charlotte, a coworker who works in Fred's office hears these calls and is so shocked by them that she winds up hospitalized after a car accident. After this, Fred confesses his lewd desires to a psychiatrist. After being emasculated by his wife and mother, Fred empowers himself with obscene phone calls. Later, he attacks his wife and a stripper who shames him. In the final act, Fred drunkenly babbles about his regrets and his sexless marriage prior to exploding with rage.


Production

It was released in February 18, 1975 on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
.


Reception

Steven Puchalski of Shock Cinema Magazine criticized the script's psychology, stating that it was "all too simplistic" and called the finale a "mess of bad decisions and violence." However, he did praise Reed's performance as Durant, saying "Damn, I didn't think Reed had it in him!". He also stated, "you almost begin to sympathize with this disturbed schmuck." when referring to Durant's mental breakdown. Cranky Lesbian also praised Reed's performance, stating it was "wonderfully sensitive" and "tightly controlled". She criticized the film's tonal shifts, noting that although the first half was "relatively amusing," the second half became "just plain dark". Lisa Marie Bowman of The Shattered Lens noted that Durant was meant to come across as being the exact opposite of Mike Brady of ''
The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...
'', stating that "whereas Mike Brady was the perfect father, Freddy is cold, distant, and repressed". She stated that although Fred was surrounded by a "fine" supporting cast, it was "impossible not to associate Robert Reed with the show". A reporter of
The Evening News Evening News may refer to: Television news *''CBS Evening News'', an American news broadcast *''ITV Evening News'', a UK news broadcast *'' JNN Evening News'', a Japanese news broadcast *''Sumatera Utara Hari Ini'', a North Sumatra news broadcast ...
also noted the contrast, stating that the role of Durant was "offbeat casting for Reed".


References


External links

*
''The Secret Night Caller''
at
TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Night Caller, The 1975 television films Films directed by Jerry Jameson