Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1952
Beware, My Lovely
Buy Beware, My Lovely now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Beware, My Lovely' is a 1952 film noir crime film directed by Harry Horner starring Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan and Taylor Holmes. The film is based on the 1950 play 'The Man' by Mel Dinelli, who also wrote the screenplay.
Plot
A widow impulsively hires a handyman to look after her house. She soon learns Ryan is dangerous, but by the time she comes to this realisation she is unable to leave the house and escape from him.
Cast
The cast includes the following:
* Ida Lupino as Mrs. Helen Gordon
* Robert Ryan as Howard Wilton
* Taylor Holmes as Mr. Walter Armstrong
* Barbara Whiting as Ruth Williams
* James Willmas as Mr. Stevens
* O. Z. Whitehead as Mr. Franks
Production notes
The play on which the film is based, 'The Man', was originally a short story by Mel Dinelli. Dinelli adapted the story for the stage. It debuted on Broadway in January 1950, starring Dorothy Gish. The story was also featured on the CBS radio show 'Suspense' as "To Find Help" on January 18, 1945, with Frank Sinatra as Howard and Agnes Moorehead as Mrs Gillis (Mrs Gordon in the film). It was dramatised again on 'Suspense' in 1949 with Gene Kelly and Ethel Barrymore on January 6, 1949.
The movie was shot over an 18-day period in 1951 for Collier Young and Ida Lupino's production company, The Filmakers. Howard Hughes, then the head of RKO Pictures, withheld the film from release for a year. Robert Ryan later said that he felt Hughes tried to "bury" the film because of the fact he was active in left-wing politics, and spoke publicly about his involvement.
The picture of the woman's late husband was actually a photograph of actor William Talman. He was then little known and was not credited.
Reception
According to Bosley Crowther, the film is a "straight tour-de-force situation, clearly contrived and designed for no other positive purpose than to send shivers chasing up and down the spine. And in that respectable endeavor, its success will depend entirely upon how susceptible you are to illogic and little tricks of looming shadows and clutching hands."
Related works
Earlier that year, Lupino and Ryan co-starred in 'On Dangerous Ground', a 'film noir' directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by John Houseman.
The story was the basis for a 1960 episode of the TV anthology 'Startime', with Audie Murphy and Thelma Ritter.
References
Buy Beware, My Lovely now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1952