Cause for Alarm

Since there are several reviews already listing the outline of the plot I'll just mention a few key points that I feel were handled very skillfully.First of all, I find the handling of George's (the husband's) character very elegant. The first time I saw the movie I bought it completely--the whole bit about him being wonderful until illness and despair drove him into psychosis. Upon my second viewing I realized a few things that give his character a whole different slant.We see from the very beginning, in Ellen's flashback to their meeting and courtship, that although he is quite dashing he is also sly, self-serving, manipulative, and somewhat malicious. This is shown by the way he tricks her and takes advantage in the hospital room and then laughs at her. We also see in the beach and airport scenes that he relishes taking her away from his own best friend. Anyone with a real heart--get the symbolism there--would feel a little regret about that.Later, after he is established as an invalid, the isolation and anxiety caused by his cardiac condition are becoming evident as he intersperses perfectly rational conversation with sudden flights of mania and flashes of paranoia. His delusions seem ridiculous compared to Ellen's obvious devotion and worry, but we do wonder if perhaps he isn't right, after all, about the involvement of the doctor (his best friend of old). Maybe the poor doctor really is guilty of secretly wishing George would hurry up and die, leaving the way clear for him to pursue Ellen once more; maybe he's too noble to ever think such a thing at all. Regardless, George believes it.There is a lovely scene before he dies where we see precisely what his relationship is to these people and what he has planned for them. He describes for Ellen his childhood toy, the ship in a bottle, and the neighbor boy who touched it when his back was turned and whom he savagely attacks in return. Before his mother can force him to give up the ship in apology he purposely dashes the bottle to the floor, destroying it completely.The parallel between the ship and Ellen is obvious--something lovely and fragile and completely captive. He has contained Ellen within their house without allowing her to form friendships or outside interests and he expects her to exist solely for him, just as he wanted no one else to touch or look at his ship. And now he believes his friend is secretly planning against him, or maybe he's making that up as a form of justification for what he is about to do. Since he's already convinced he's dying, he's furious that it now appears he's also giving up his wife to the other fellow in rather the way he was expected to reward the covetous neighbor boy. Just like the scene in his youth, he acts to damage his perceived rival and ruin the prize. The only difference is that now with maturity he is able to plot and scheme rather than strike out impulsively. I am left wondering if he truly is paranoid about their "plot" or if this is his crafty, nasty way of shattering the ship all over again.The moments with Aunt Clara only reinforce the impression that George never was quite normal. She seems to have no trouble believing the lie about George turning against her, thus she immediately retaliates with a remark that leaves no doubt of a long familial history overlooking his cruel tendencies. I thought it was very nicely done, and all the more effective because Clara isn't a sympathetic character. We certainly see a resemblance to George in her utter self-absorption.One wonders how a nice, intelligent being like Ellen could be taken in by George, but they say love is blind. This is evinced by the scenes where she always just misses seeing him at the window. Others notice him, or she detects the swaying drapery, but she never quite sees the whole picture of him sitting spiderlike among webs of curtain lace.The film does a fine job of ratcheting up the suspense by using the most mundane scenarios. The almost ridiculous nature of the obstacles in her path contrast with just how sinister George's plan is. He must know that an investigation into his death would be inconclusive at best (even given the large life insurance policy as a motive). But a close review of Ellen's activities that day would cast new light on the details in his letter. We see Ellen driven by panic and pent-up stress into behaving less and less rationally and appearing more and more guilty. She certainly seems doomed, and this could only be brought about by the revelation from George. I feel this is further evidence that he has contrived the plot out of malice rather than paranoia or a desire for posthumous justice. He knows exactly how her innocent, beleaguered heart will react to the news. In fact, he is counting on it, he has carefully cultivated this moment.I don't believe for one second that he ever intends to shoot her. Notice he never points the gun directly at her. I think he means to shoot the woodwork and cement the impression that he was trying to defend himself. He wants it to look like she was forcing him to take more drugs. He knows the overdose he took earlier will only add weight to the accusation, he just doesn't expect it to finish him off right at that moment.The irony of her shooting the floor herself later on makes me think I'm right about that. It serves as a tidy little bookend moment.I also love the ironic, abrupt ending that simply poleaxes Ellen and halts her in her steps. It's wonderful how the relentless, pounding pace of her mounting hysteria is like heart palpitations bounding out of control when suddenly it all just...stops. (Rather like George). Another great bookend moment. Delicious.

It's the perfect neighborhood, the one we all want to live in. Sidewalks dappled with the shade of old trees. Charming, storybook cottages with beautifully kept lawns and white picket fences. Why, Andy Hardy and his pals could live here. But the gang will never put on a show in the backyard of George and Ellen Jones(Barry Sullivan and Loretta Young). Something is not right. Their picket fence looks like a row of shark's teeth. Their lawn is too evenly manicured. Even the geraniums in the window boxes are all the same height as if they didn't dare grow otherwise. Then there's the sign on the fence telling us to close the gate. Someone here is a control freak and that someone is George. Ellen informs us that George has denied her everything she wants: friends(she is truly hurt when the neighbors exclude her from their idle chatter) and what she wanted most of all, children. He won't even let her have a television. The charm that once won Ellen's heart has been replaced by George's paranoid dementia, the result of a heart condition. The once vibrant Ellen has become a drudge stuck inside a dim and gloomy house that is such a contrast to the bright sunshiny world without. A blistering heat wave is going on but, per George's orders, the house is closed up, the only relief coming from a small, barely moving fan in the kitchen. Ellen is so isolated her only outside contact is Billy, a cookie and cowboy loving little boy. So out of touch is Ellen that she has never even heard of Billy's favorite, Hopalong Cassidy, arguably the most popular pop icon of the time.George asks Ellen to mail a letter for him. When she returns he tells her with demonic glee that he knows all about the plot that she and his best friend and physician, Ranney(Bruce Cowling) has to murder him so they can be together. The letter was to the district attorney telling all. George pulls out a gun to shoot Ellen but collapses and dies. The rest of the picture revolves around Ellen's frantic attempts to retrieve the incriminating letter. Like all good noirs, the ending has a real twist."Cause for Alarm!" moves at a taut pace thanks to intense perfomances by the two leads and the direction of Tay Garnett who had a talent for making the guilty sympathetic. And Ellen's innocence IS questionable. When George dies Ellen shows no grief at all. Her only concern is getting the letter back and hiding George's death. And why is she so sure the DA will believe the letter? She is an intelligent woman and must know that DA's get letters from crackpots every day. And there is ample evidence to support George's medical condition -- or isn't there? Is Ellen reacting from guilt? Is George less paranoid than his doctor, supposedly Ellen's lover, would have us think?DVD has excellent audio and video quality. A real bargain for the price.

OK, somewhat mediocre thriller. A woman slaves over her invalid husband, who makes a lousy patient. His doctor, the wife's old suitor, realizes the husband sanity is deteriorating and tells the wife. She doesn't believe him but finds she should have. The invalid writes a letter to the town D.A., stating the wife and the doctor are having an affair and are plotting to kill him. The wife mails the letter without knowing the contents. The invalid tells the wife what he's done and menaces her with a gun. In the excitement the invalid dies and leaves the wife with the enormous problem of running around trying to rectify her situation. Not Loretta Young's best film but it is an OK time-passer. The Reel Vault DVD-R is OK quality but the picture tends to wobble pack and forth.

I love these old B thrillers. I watched them all as a kid on the old black and white 13 inch television with 3 channels and of course had no clue what was happening. Hollywood cranked out movies like this back in the day as second features to the main movie and actresses like Loretta Young could knock nonsense like this out of the park with their eyes closed. As an alleged adult I finally understand the subtexts of these films and see how screen writers and directors slipped mature subject matter past censors without missing a beat. The movie is a short, tidy, thriller that wastes no time in getting to the point and brings it home with the expected satisfying results. Watch this film because it's fun.

IT WAS TOO OLD AND OUTDATED.

Excellent.

very good old flick. love that it all takes place in a home town, and mostly in one house.