Cry Wolf (1947 film)

Cry Wolf is a 1947 American mystery film directed by Peter Godfrey and featuring Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck, based on the novel of the same name by Marjorie Carleton.[4]

Cry Wolf
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Godfrey
Produced byHenry Blanke
Screenplay byCatherine Turney
Based onCry Wolf
1945 novel
by Marjorie Carleton
StarringErrol Flynn
Barbara Stanwyck
Music byFranz Waxman
CinematographyCarl E. Guthrie
Edited byFolmar Blangsted
Production
company
Thomson Production
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
18 July 1947[1]
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,461,000[2]
Box office$2 million (US rentals)[3] or $2,690,000[2]

Plot

Hearing that her husband is dead, Sandra Marshall arrives at his prominent family's remote estate to claim her inheritance. She receives a cold reception, especially from the husband's uncle, research scientist Mark Caldwell, who had not known about her. He even accuses her of being a schemer. But he allows her to stay in the mansion while details are worked out.

Caldwell's teenage niece, Julie, welcomes Sandra. But what the girl says is troubling. She claims her uncle is holding her prisoner on the property, that strange things are going on in a sealed-off area of the mansion, and that the older family members and their servants may not be telling the truth about the recent death. Though Caldwell insists that Julie simply has an overactive imagination, Sandra begins to wonder what to believe and whom to trust. She wants to find out for herself.

Cast

Production

Original novel

The novel was published in January 1945. The New York Times said "the plot has pace; the manse is traditionally eerie, the heroine is charming. Situations and dialogue, however, are often clumsily handled."[5] The Chicago Tribune called it "a spicy piece".[6]

Development

In April 1945 Warner Bros bought the film rights as a vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck.[7] Catherine Turney was assigned to do the script and Dennis Morgan announced as co star.[8]

The film took a while to be made. In March 1946, Errol Flynn was announced as co star and Peter Godfrey as director.[9] The movie was a "Thomson Production", i.e. made through Flynn's company at Warner Bros.[10]

Two of the supporting cast were from the New York stage, Geraldine Brooks and Richard Basehart, and had just been put under contract by Warner Bros. (Basehart had given an acclaimed stage performance in The Hasty Heart.)[11][12]

Shooting

Filming started in May 1946 and took place to August 1946.[13][14]

Reception

The film was not released until July 1947.

Critical

The Wall Street Journal said the film was "often as dull as it is frightening because its melodramatic story is full of cliches... without tommy gun or sword, Mr Flynn seems unhappily wooden."[15] The Christian Science Monitor said it "grips the attention and holds it right through...the result is something well above average."[16]

"Its melodramatic antics are rather fun", said the Washington Post.[17]

The|work=Los Angeles Times called the film "murky" and "fairly opaque" although it felt audiences "are likely to be impressed by the performance of Flynn."[18]

The New York Times said "its final explanation of the mystery is ridiculous and banal."[19]

Filmink magazine wrote "a weaker/younger/more clearly neurotic actor" than Stanwyck "may have added to the tension...because Stanwyck can clearly handle herself – even poking around a locked lab at one in the morning you don’t feel too worried for her" adding that "Errol is very effective in an atypical role – slightly aloof, cold, sinister… I can’t help imagine that maybe he was channeling his father, or some other patriarchal family member."[20]

Box Office

The film was moderately successful at the box office, Variety estimating its rentals in the US and Canada at $2 million.[3]

According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $1,842,000 domestically and $848,000 foreign.[2]

References
  1. "RUSSELL TO STAR IN 'VELVET TOUCH': Sidney Greenstreet to Share Top Honors in Independent Artists' Production". New York Times. July 18, 1947. p. 21.
  2. Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 27 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  3. "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63
  4. Cry Wolf at the American Film Institute Catalog.
  5. "Other Items on the Fiction List". New York Times. Jan 28, 1945. p. BR10.
  6. Guilfoil, Kelsey. (Jan 14, 1945). "'Cry Wolf' Is Spicy Piece of Horrors". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. E9.
  7. "SCREEN NEWS: TO AID ACTORS FUND". New York Times. Apr 19, 1945. p. 22.
  8. Hopper, Hedda (Aug 9, 1945). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  9. Hopper, Hedda (May 7, 1946). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 18.
  10. Hedda Hopper (Mar 25, 1946). "LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD". Los Angeles Times. p. A6.
  11. Schallert, Edwin (May 8, 1946). "Stage Mimicry Leads Girl to Cinema Career". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
  12. "TONY MARTIN SET FOR M-G-M MUSICAL: Named Co-Star With Kathryn Grayson in 'Kissing Bandit' --3 Arrivals Due Today Of Local Origin". May 8, 1946. p. 43.
  13. "Errol Flynn to Wolf". Variety. 24 April 1946. p. 16.
  14. Schallert, Edwin (Apr 22, 1947). "DRAMA AND FILM: Carter, Wynn Teaming in 'Century' Talked Up". Los Angeles Times. p. A3.
  15. "The Theatre: Murder in a Laboratory". Wall Street Journal. July 21, 1947. p. 10.
  16. D.M.D.M. (Aug 8, 1947). "David Niven As Doctor In 'Other Love': 'Cry Wolf'". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 5.
  17. Richard L. Coe (Aug 8, 1947). "Melodramatic Antics: 'Cry Wolf' Mixes Stanwyck, Flynn". The Washington Post. p. 23.
  18. Schallert, Edwin (Aug 9, 1947). "'CRY WOLF' ERRATIC". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
  19. BOSLEY CROWTHER. (July 19, 1947). "Cry Wolf,' a Warner Mystery 'Offering Flynn, Stanwyck and Geraldine Brooks, at Strand -- British Film Bill at Rialto". New York Times. p. 10.
  20. Vagg, Stephen (November 24, 2019). "The Films of Errol Flynn: Part 4 – Going to Seed". Filmink.

Other references
  1. Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer * Clifford McCarty, The Films of Errol Flynn, Citadel Press, 1969 p 147.
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