“Cause For Alarm!” (1951) with Loretta Young and Barry Sullivan is a thriller and if you’ve never seen it, you should. Loretta plays doting housewife, Ellen Jones. Ellen married George Jones during WWII. When he returns from the war he is diagnosed with a heart condition and is relegated to the bed. He becomes temperamental and morose. He soon becomes delusional and accuses his wife of having an affair with his best friend, Dr Ranney Grahame. Unbeknownst to Ellen or Ranney, George is secretly writing a letter to the district attorney, accusing them both of plotting to kill him.
George’s moods worsen and despite this, Ellen delays in getting him any help. Poor thing was in total denial. She tries to appease him to only be treated worse than a dog by him. But she continues to try to make all things better by tending to him and isolating herself from others. He only wants her and no one else, and she complies. One morning, he pretends to feel better and asked her to prepare him lunch; she is elated just to see him feeling better and obliges him. He in turn continues his letter writing, and embellishes it with details that further incriminate Ellen. After lunch, George asks her to mail this letter, and she does, not knowing it was a letter that would put her behind bars for life.
George begins to argue with Ellen, accusing her of horrible things, and tells her what the letter had and to whom it was sent to. Ellen is aghast. He threatens to kill her and grabs a gun and Ellen pleads for her life. In the struggle, George has a heart attack and dies. Good riddens! For the rest of the movie Ellen is in a cat and mouse chase trying to intercept this incriminating letter. I won’t spoil the movie for you, so I won’t tell you the end.
The movie is a thriller. Loretta Young as the frightened and doting housewife is great. Those huge puppy dog eyes of hers want to make you cry when she does. She captured the women’s fear, and desperation like only Loretta could. Again, if you’ve not seen this one, you must.
