MovieChat Forums > Wait Until Dark (1967) Discussion > The hardest part about playing blind...

The hardest part about playing blind...

posted 10 years ago by celes-t
3 replies | jump to latest

...must be the eyes. I did occasionally notice Hepburn's gaze locking on to things, which bugged me, but it seemed to happen less and less as the film progressed. After pretty much looking straight into her eyes for the entire movie, I must say that I'm blown away by her performance.

I started wondering if she had some kind of lenses on, to actually simulate the blindness, but a few scenes seem to suggest otherwise. Granted, having never really spent time with a blind person, I don't know what the eyes actually tend to do, but I was convinced. This must be incredibly hard to pull off.

[–] SamoanJoes 10 years ago

I was looking at her eyes the whole time and I didn't notice anything. I actually think she did a good job of the amount of times she runs into things and puts her arms out in front of her to see what's ahead of her.

[–] almostfm-1 10 years ago

I used to work with someone, who, like Suzy, had become blind fairly recently. He would also occasionally "look at" things, especially if they attracted his attention. If you dropped a pen or something, he'd look right where it had hit the ground.

[–] disinterested_spectator 9 years ago

Right after watching this movie, I saw a commercial on another channel in which an actual blind woman is going down the stairs to wash her clothes. The look in her eyes was unfocused and quite distinct from that of Hepburn.

I think the commercial had something to do with her sleep disorder, in that the perpetual darkness caused her sleep cycle to drift, and they were advertising medication that helps with that.