Beware, My Lovely

Beware, My Lovely is a 1952 American crime film noir directed by Harry Horner starring Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan and Taylor Holmes. The film is based on the 1950 play The Man by Mel Dinelli, who also wrote the screenplay.

Beware, My Lovely
Movie poster
Directed by	Harry Horner
Written by	Mel Dinelli
Based on	The Man by Mel Dinelli
Produced by	Collier Young for The Filmakers[1]
Starring	Ida Lupino Robert Ryan Taylor Holmes
Cinematography	George E. Diskant
Edited by	Paul Weatherwax
Music by	Leith Stevens
Production company	The Filmakers
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	September 12, 1952 (1952-09-12) (United States)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

A widow named Helen Gordon impulsively hires handyman Howard Wilton to help her with house repairs and cleaning, but she quickly discovers that he is dangerous, paranoid and unstable. Howard keeps Helen inside the house for the entire day and she cannot summon help or escape.

Cast

• Ida Lupino as Helen Gordon
• Robert Ryan as Howard Wilton
• Taylor Holmes as Walter Armstrong
• Barbara Whiting as Ruth Williams
• James Willmas as Mr. Stevens
• O. Z. Whitehead as Mr. Franks

Production

The play on which the film is based, The Man, was originally a short story written by Mel Dinelli, who also adapted the story for the stage.^[2] It debuted on Broadway in January 1950 with Dorothy Gish in the starring role.^[3] The story was also featured on the CBS radio show Suspense as "To Find Help" on January 18, 1945 with Frank Sinatra and Agnes Moorehead. It was dramatized again as an episode of Suspense with Gene Kelly and Ethel Barrymore on January 6, 1949.^[4]

The film was shot over an 18-day period in 1951 for Collier Young and Ida Lupino's production company the Filmakers. RKO Pictures head Howard Hughes withheld the film from release for a year. Robert Ryan later said that he felt that Hughes had tried to "bury" the film because Ryan was active in left-wing politics.^[5]

Earlier in 1952, Lupino and Ryan had costarred in On Dangerous Ground, a film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by John Houseman.

The story was the basis for a 1960 episode of the TV anthology Startime, with Audie Murphy and Thelma Ritter.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "It is a straight tour-de-force situation, clearly contrived and designed for no other positive purpose than to send shivers chasing up and down the spine. And in that respectable endeavor, its success will depend entirely upon how susceptible you are to illogic and little tricks of looming shadows and clutching hands."^[1]