Cry Wolf (1947)

The Worst Film Ever

Fantastic!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Producer: Henry Blanke. A Thomson Production. A Warner Bros - First National Picture. Executive producer: Jack L. Warner. Copyright 16 August 1947 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 18 July 1947. U.S. release: 16 August 1947. U.K. release: 15 March 1948. Australian release: 13 May 1948. 7,605 feet. 84½ minutes.SYNOPSIS: Mysterious happenings in an old house involve a young widow, a neurotic girl and a suspicious "scientist".COMMENT: When I tell people I admire the work of Peter Godfrey, they usually look at me with pity. After a great deal of argument, they will usually admit that The Woman in White has some virtue, but they are reluctant to see the supreme joys of Hotel Berlin and The Two Mrs Carrolls, let alone the admittedly minor pleasures of He's a Cockeyed Wonder.Cry Wolf is Godfrey's masterpiece. A most unusual vehicle for Flynn (who seems to be the heavy), it is a taut thriller, atmospherically directed with lots of tingling camera movement and suspenseful lighting. Godfrey's pacing is crisp, never letting attention sag or wander, his choice of camera angles is consistently dramatic and he has drawn tight, convincing performances from his players.Barbara Stanwyck in a well-tailored role as the resourceful heroine excites plenty of audience sympathy. Also ideally cast are Richard Basehart and Geraldine Brooks in typically edgy impersonations, while Errol Flynn manages to surround his less typed part with a nice edge of menace. The character players have less to do, though Jerome Cowan scores with agreeable force as Senator Caldwell.Photography, sets and music join with the direction in making the most of the thrills the script so abundantly provides. Marjorie Carleton's novel is not known to me. Certainly it has all the ingredients of the popular Gothic romance. Although these ingredients may have been dulled by familiarity and constant over-use, they are given fresh, nervy life on the screen. It's impossible not to enjoy the film, to be completely "taken in" by its story, atmosphere and effects. The headlong pace, persuasive performances and bravura direction all see to that. And though the resolution to the mystery has been criticized in some quarters, I found it thoroughly convincing.

Recently viewed this on TCM and was captivated. What was going to happen? Why was Barbara Stanwyck sneaking about? Where was her husband? What had happened??Errol Flynn also stars, and he was good. Don't usually see him in many suspense films that I remember. Barbara S. was amazing as usual. Believable - and wouldn't want to mess with her - but she's met her match with Flynn.I thought a very good plot from which I have seen picked up in several other more recent movies. A solid "8" from this reviewer. I think you'll be entertained.

This is a very entertaining film starring two of the bigger name stars with Warner Brothers at the time, Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck. A lot of the reason to watch the film is because of their performances as opposed to the exciting but flawed plot. Barbara is looking for her missing husband, so she tracks down his family and demands to know where he is. They tell him he is dead, but somehow the story doesn't convince her---deep down Stanwyck knows something is amiss (a bit tough to believe, I know that "feelings" are that accurate in real life). Well, given her suspicions, she stays at the family estate for a few days--during which time, her suspicions seem to have some validity. Eventually, she becomes convinced that her lost husband is being held against his will somewhere on the estate. All this is tremendously interesting. The only problem with the film (beware--a spoiler is coming) is that the family should have just told Barbara the truth from the start--this is what any normal family would have done. Of course, though, this would have meant about a 10 or 15 minute movie instead of this full-length mystery! If you can suspend disbelief about this basic plot problem, then you'll likely love the movie. But, even if you can't, it's still worth seeing just for these stars acting in their prime.

Barbara Stanwyck and Errol Flynn in a Gothic mansion type thriller is not at all a bad idea. Casting Errol as the dark/brooding master of the estate, while against type, is also not a bad idea (though his performance is awful wooden -- he would do this kind of role far better in That Forsythe Woman). All the elements for a fun popcorn movie are there -- moody lighting, great sets, evocative music, and Barbara Stanwyck as the feisty lead willing to shimmy down dumb waiters and climb around the scary house's roof in her high heels to find out the truth about the death of her husband.Oh, but that script! It destroys the actor's ability to establish rational charactarizations, because everyone acts like a bunch of idiots. if you are a Barbra Stanwyck fan, you might enjoy this as an example of her ability to make something out of a rather silly role. Otherwise, skip it. You have been warned.