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.
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.