Vashti Blue is an out-of-work actress who we watch make a series of prank calls throughout the night, that causes a chain of events. She is eventually revealed as being medically unstable, as a telephone contractor turns up to her home to confiscate the handset due to arrears with her phone bill. It is revealed that her telephone line was disconnected some time ago, much to her denial. As he struggles to take the handset, she strikes him in the head and stabs him with a knife.
The Telephone was produced by Hawkeye, a company formed by screenwriter Terry Southern and singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. According to Southern, "We had this idea about an out-of-work actor who gets so into hallucinatory-type improvisations that he even makes up phone calls to himself." Nilsson and Southern wrote the screenplay with Robin Williams in mind for the main character, and attempted to get the comedian a copy of the script, but Williams' manager did not want him to make the film. After viewing Whoopi Goldberg's standup performances, Nilsson and Southern thought that she would be right for the part. After seeing Rip Torn's direction of stage plays, the writers felt that Torn would be ideal to direct the film.
Filming
The film's producers persuaded Goldberg to ignore the film's script and improvise, leading to arguments with Torn, who preferred to direct the film as scripted.
Post-production
Whoopi Goldberg states that she was given approval over the film's final cut. The film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in a version edited by Rip Torn. Unhappy with Torn's editing of the film, Goldberg filed a $5 million lawsuit against New World Pictures and Torn to prevent its release. Following arbitration, the jury found in favor of New World.
Reception
When the film was screened in New York, audiences allegedly cried out "I want my money back!" and "I hope the film breaks!" Grossing $54,811 during its opening weekend, the film went on to become a box office flop with a total domestic gross of $99,978. The movie was poorly received by critics, with The New York Times stating that the quotes mentioned in this section were "the truest, most sanely existential lines spoken during the film night," as the Los Angeles Times wrote "Sorry, but is a wrong number." Leonard Maltin wrote that "Goldberg may have hit rock bottom with this clinker". For her role in the film, Goldberg was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. According to Southern, "I was ambivalent about it. I was too close to the film to be objective, but a number of people ended up liking the released film. is still selling well as a cassette at my local drug store." Obsessed With Film named The Telephone as the 10th best "One Man Band" film, in a list of films with only one or very few characters.
