Beware, My Lovely (1952)

A psychopath takes a job as a handyman at the house of a lonely widow.

Director:

Harry Horner

Writers:

Mel Dinelli (screenplay), Mel Dinelli (story),

Stars:

Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ida Lupino	...	Mrs. Helen Gordon
Robert Ryan	...	Howard Wilton
Taylor Holmes	...	Mr. Walter Armstrong
Barbara Whiting	...	Ruth Williams
James Willmas	...	Mr. Stevens
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Mr. Franks
Dee Pollock	...	Doug, Grocery Boy (as Dee Pollack)
Brad Morrow	...	Boy
Jimmy Mobley	...	Jimmy, Boy
Shelly Lynn Anderson	...	Boy
Ronnie Patterson	...	Boy
Jeanne Eggenweiler	...	Jeanne, Girl

Storyline

Helen Gordon hires Howard Wilton as a handyman to do chores around her house. She doesn't know what she's let herself in for. Insecure and paranoid, Wilton thinks everyone, including Helen, is against him. He suffers from memory lapses and extreme mood swings. She's soon a prisoner in her own house after Wilton locks the doors and tears out the telephone. His mood swings from violence to complacency but after Helen gets a message to the police via a telephone repairman, she finds he is still in the house.

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Plot Keywords:

psychopath | handyman | widow | psycho thriller | captive | 

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Taglines:

Trapped by a man beyond control!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Attention, mon amour

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmakers, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This story was originally done on the CBS radio show Suspense as "To Find Help" on 18 January 1945 with Frank Sinatra as Howard and Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Gillis (Mrs. Gordon in the film). This was Sinatra's "dramatic debut" on radio. It was done again on Suspense with Gene Kelly and Ethel Barrymore on 6 January 1949.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, the first shot through the window of Howard Wilton installing the screen shows a list of chores in the foreground with seven items on it, beginning with "sweep porch, water flowers" etc. In the closeup of Howard that follows, the list has changed, it now has a title ("Things To Do") and has only four items, starting with "rake yard, clean windows" etc.

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Connections

Referenced in American Grindhouse (2010)

User Reviews

The Man, The Play & The Actor.

We are in a small town, a homely widow (Ida Lupino) hires a handyman (Robert Ryan) to look after her house. She soon starts to regret it as Ryan grows erratic by the hour, it appears that she is host to a dangerous schizophrenic, and now she is unable to escape her house.

Beware, My Lovely is adapted from Mel Dinelli's {The Spiral Staircase} story and play called "The Man". Pretty much a one set movie and a two character driven piece, the film boasts two great central performances and offers up an interesting take on mental illness. One however shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is a violent and nerve shredding picture, because it isn't. It's clear from the get go that Ryan's Howard Wilton is a dangerously troubled man, but this is a different sort of "peril" movie. One that throws up another slant on psychosis and thus makes it difficult to hate our dangerous protagonist.

Ryan and Lupino are a great combination, they had also done the excellent, and far better, On Dangerous Ground this same year. So with both actors clearly comfortable together, it brings out a finely tuned character story all based in the confines of one house, re: prison. Ryan is particularly strong as his character flits in and out of madness, with some scenes powerful and at times inducing fear and at others garnering deep sympathy. The direction from Harry Horner is safe {he in truth doesn't have to do much other than let his actors run with it} and George E. Diskant's cinematography contains some smart and impacting visual touches. With one involving Christmas tree baubles immensely memorable. Falling some where in between being average and great, Beware, My Lovely has enough about it to make it a recommendation to fans of borderline and easy to follow Film-Noir. For fans of Robert Ryan tho, it's something of an essential viewing, oh yes, and then some. 7/10