Cry Wolf (1947)

John Chard

6.0

Jun 23, 2014

You may not believe it - but this was once a happy house. Cry Wolf is directed by Peter Godfrey and adapted to screenplay by Catherine Turney from the novel of the same name written by Marjorie Carleton. It stars Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, Geraldine Brooks and Richard Baseheart. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie. Effective old dark house mystery picture boasting star appeal and class from Guthrie and Waxman, Cry Wolf is an enjoyable failure. The story finds Babs Stanwyck as Sandra Marshall, who turns up at a creaky old mansion investigating the death of…

I just barely liked this, and I felt I would love it, since I adore film noir, and the work of both of the leads. To me, both Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck are very charismatic people--they should have had, regardless of which side they were acting (good or bad), smouldering chemistry if on the same side, or been extremely volatile if opposing each other. Conversely, here they were very muted, as if sleepwalking--and the fault must lie in both the direction in the script. Thus I can only give it the very faintest of recommendation. The film has harnessed the worst performance of either star…