Movies - Cause for Alarm!

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Cause for Alarm! (film)

	Movies - Cause for Alarm!

::There is also an unrelated 1938 novel by Eric Ambler with the same title. See Cause for Alarm (Ambler novel).

Cause for Alarm! is a 1951 suspense film. The black-and-white film, directed by Tay Garnett, is considered to be film noir.

Plot

The film tells the story of a woman who is taking care of her bedridden husband who is suffering from a heart condition. They meet while both were in the military and the man's future wife was dating his good friend, Lt. Ranney Grahame. After breaking with Grahame, Ellen marries George and they move to the suburbs. The film flashes forward to today and George is confined to his bed and Ellen does all she can to keep him company. George's doctor is their old friend Ranney who George is becoming more and more convinced is having an affair with his wife. His paranoia grows when George writes a letter to the District Attorney telling him of a murder plot concocted by his wife and best friend. Its all in the man's head, but George tricks his wife into sending the letter. Later that afternoon, George confronts Ellen and tells her about the letter. The stress of the situation is too much, however, and George drops dead. Now Ellen has a dead husband and a letter given to the postman is accusing her and the doctor of his murder. Ellen, who acts guiltier as time passes, frantically tries to get the letter back before its read and she is accused of the crime.

Trivia

The title was spoofed by the Warner Bros. cartoon film, Claws for Alarm (1954) featuring Porky Pig.

Cast

Loretta Young
as Ellen Jones
Barry Sullivan
as George Z. Jones
Bruce Cowling
as Lt. Ranney Grahame
Margalo Gillmore
as Aunt Clara Edwards
Brad Morrow
as Billy AKA Hoppy
Irving Bacon
as Joe Carston the postman

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Cause for Alarm! (film) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Cause for Alarm! (film); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay