Cause for Alarm

Play trailer

Cause for Alarm

Released Feb 2, 1951

1h 14m

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

Tomatometer

3 Reviews

30%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

As the delusional George Jones (Barry Sullivan) struggles to recover from a crippling heart attack, he begins to believe his wife, Ellen (Loretta Young), and friend, Dr. Grahame (Bruce Cowling), are planning to kill him in order to be together. George decides to write the authorities about his wife's supposed murder plot. But when he really does die, of health complications, the innocent Ellen realizes that she must stop the letter before she's accused of killing her husband.

Francois Truffaut

Arts (France)

The solidity of the scenario is sacrificed to effect. But all those effects hit home, perfectly timed, and isn’t that what counts?

May 6, 2022

Full Review

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Strange, static thriller has interesting flashback.

Nov 30, 2015

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The film looked more like a 1950s TV show than a feature film.

Rated: C-

Feb 11, 2002

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Low budget noir, atypical from MGM. Suspense-less yarn about a sick and paranoid husband who thinks his doctor and wife are trying to kill him. Made as a "dry run" for Loretta' TV career.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Plays like an episode of the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents instead of one of Hitchcock's theatrical films.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

william k

Interesting daytime Noir thriller neatly dials up the dread factor, until the plot is resolved in a surprising and humorous twist.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

deke p

Saw long parts of it on TV, in 2000 teens

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's all Loretta Young is this fast-moving thriller.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

bill t

A bit of a ridiculous over-the-top melodrama that has Patricia Neal as a housewife whose husband dies of a heart condition, but not before he writes a letter to the D;A; implicating her trying to escalate his death! She mails it for him before he dies, not knowing the contents. But soon he dies, and she now knows what's in the letter, she tries like the dickens to try to get the letter back! A bit soap operish, and hard to believe, What, you believe everything you read?

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Tay Garnett

Director

Loretta Young

Ellen Jones

Barry Sullivan

George Z. Jones

Bruce Cowling

Dr. Ranney Grahame

Margalo Gillmore

Mrs. Edwards

Brad Morrow

Hoppy

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

View more photos

Synopsis

As the delusional George Jones (Barry Sullivan) struggles to recover from a crippling heart attack, he begins to believe his wife, Ellen (Loretta Young), and friend, Dr. Grahame (Bruce Cowling), are planning to kill him in order to be together. George decides to write the authorities about his wife's supposed murder plot. But when he really does die, of health complications, the innocent Ellen realizes that she must stop the letter before she's accused of killing her husband.

Director: Tay Garnett
Producer: Tom Lewis
Screenwriter: Mel Dinelli, Tom Lewis
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 1951, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 16, 2016
Runtime: 1h 14m

Most Popular at Home Now