I Saw What You Did

In 1965, Universal Pictures released the horror thriller *I Saw What You Did*, starring Joan Crawford and John Ireland. The film was directed and produced by William Castle, with a script by William P. McGivern adapted from Ursula Curtiss's 1964 novel *Out of the Dark*.

Two teenage girls, Libby Mannering and Kit Austin, are home alone with Libby's younger sister Tess. To pass the time, they make random prank calls, telling each person who answers, "I saw what you did, and I know who you are." Libby dials Steve Marak, a man who has just killed his wife Judith and hidden her body in the woods. Convinced he has been discovered, Marak sets out to find and silence the caller.

Marak's neighbor Amy, who is in love with him and had hoped to win him from his wife, listens in on the call. Drawn by Marak's voice, Libby drives Tess and a reluctant Kit to his address. Amy spots Libby and, mistaking her for a romantic rival, chases her off—unwittingly saving Libby from Marak, who has seen her and grabbed a knife. Amy takes the car's registration card before Libby drives away and gives it to Marak, calling it a souvenir of his last affair. She then tries to blackmail him into marriage, claiming she knows about the murder, but he stabs her to death after sharing a drink. Using the address and phone number from the registration, Marak calls Libby's home to ask if her parents are there, then heads to the Mannering house.

Ninety miles away in Santa Barbara, Libby's mother grows frantic when no one answers the phone. She has her husband call the police, and a patrolman checks on the girls, finding them safe. Afraid of losing her driving privileges, Libby makes Kit promise to keep quiet. As Kit's father drives her home, a radio news report announces a woman's body found in the woods and describes a man seen leaving the burial site.

Marak arrives at the Mannering home and questions Libby and Tess. Libby convinces him the call was just a prank. He returns her mother's identification and leaves, but waits outside. When Kit calls to say Marak matches the radio description, Marak overhears and enters to silence the girls. They evade him, and Libby tries to start her parents' car but fails. Marak emerges from the back seat and begins strangling her, but a police officer—summoned after Kit confessed to her father—shoots him.