While some obviously object to classifying Cause for Alarm! as film noir, that is indeed what this is. This happens to be my favorite genre of film, so I like to think I've learned at least a little about it over the years.
A wide variety of factors compose film noir (a term, I might add, that was created retrospectively and not used at the time by the people making these movies). The heyday of film noir would be about 1945-1955, although excellent examples of the form were made both before and after this period. Unlike the western or the musical, no one ingredient of the film noir is essential, with the possible exception of black and white cinematography. It is a much broader genre than others. They are, in general, rather gritty and hard edged stories about highly imperfect characters, often dealing with mishaps of fate or of their own shortcomings. Both accident and coincidence seem to be around every corner. Crime is so frequently a theme that the private investigator is a ubiquitous presence in these films. Happy endings are not required and not always offered. There is extensive use of flashback, and the stories are very often narrated by one of the central characters recalling an event that has now passed. The stories are visually presented in a wide array of unusual and often low camera angles and making enormous symbolic use of light and shadow. The films include suspense thrillers, police and crime dramas, social message pictures, and many a romance gone awry. And while it may appear to the untrained eye the land of film noir is a place where everyone wears a trench coat and it is always night time and always raining, it ain't necessarily so.
The presence of daylight in Cause for Alarm! does not disqualify it as a subject of film noir at all. As all film noir take place on planet Earth, it is no secret that these people experience some degree of sunshine in their lives. Cause for Alarm! meets many of the noir criteria; a conflict born out of human imperfection and malice, narration by a central character, terrific use of the interplay of light and shadow in the interior scenes, the innocent fighting the wrongful accusation. I was at first bothered that the interior of the Jones' home seems infinitely smaller than is suggested by its exterior, but upon subsequent viewings I have decided this was probably a deliberate technique of the film makers to reinforce the sense of stifling oppressiveness in Helen's unhappy home. THAT is film noir.
On to review this picture specifically, I highly recommend it. I have not been particularly familiar with Loretta Young's work, but this is an excellent film. The story is quick, taunt, and engaging. Helen's husband, George, deranged by illness, has set about to frame her for murder upon his impending death. Helen, who has been selflessly devoted to George's care, is horrified to learn of this only moments before he dies, and must retrieve a letter she has just mailed for him (to the District Attorney) or she will surely be accused of murdering him and sent to prison. You feel Helen's panic, the sense of urgency, even the sweltering heat of that "Tuesday in July" (a stereotypical noir touch, by the way). We know very little of Helen and George prior to this, only brief flashbacks dealing solely with their courtship; and this in my opinion serves rather cleverly to make the characters more broadly identifiable.
There are a half dozen ancillary characters; besides the husband there is the doctor and old family friend George perceives as Helen's partner in crime, a concerned neighbor lady, a miserable snotty aunt, an amusing neighborhood boy pretending to be Hopalong Cassidy, and the world's most annoying mailman. Had I been Helen, that damn mailman would have received the thrashing of his life and lay on the sidewalk bitching about his pension plan to the grasshoppers while I walked off with the letter I had forcibly removed from his possession! Like most noir, this film is low budget and has a short running time, but is quite technically competent, well acted, and most entertaining. In our home, we like to assemble weekend "film festivals", four to six films of a similar time period, style, or star; we like to pair this one with Claudette Colbert's "Secret Fury" and a few others for a nice evening of early 1950's Americana-noir.
A wide variety of factors compose film noir (a term, I might add, that was created retrospectively and not used at the time by the people making these movies). The heyday of film noir would be about 1945-1955, although excellent examples of the form were made both before and after this period. Unlike the western or the musical, no one ingredient of the film noir is essential, with the possible exception of black and white cinematography. It is a much broader genre than others. They are, in general, rather gritty and hard edged stories about highly imperfect characters, often dealing with mishaps of fate or of their own shortcomings. Both accident and coincidence seem to be around every corner. Crime is so frequently a theme that the private investigator is a ubiquitous presence in these films. Happy endings are not required and not always offered. There is extensive use of flashback, and the stories are very often narrated by one of the central characters recalling an event that has now passed. The stories are visually presented in a wide array of unusual and often low camera angles and making enormous symbolic use of light and shadow. The films include suspense thrillers, police and crime dramas, social message pictures, and many a romance gone awry. And while it may appear to the untrained eye the land of film noir is a place where everyone wears a trench coat and it is always night time and always raining, it ain't necessarily so.
The presence of daylight in Cause for Alarm! does not disqualify it as a subject of film noir at all. As all film noir take place on planet Earth, it is no secret that these people experience some degree of sunshine in their lives. Cause for Alarm! meets many of the noir criteria; a conflict born out of human imperfection and malice, narration by a central character, terrific use of the interplay of light and shadow in the interior scenes, the innocent fighting the wrongful accusation. I was at first bothered that the interior of the Jones' home seems infinitely smaller than is suggested by its exterior, but upon subsequent viewings I have decided this was probably a deliberate technique of the film makers to reinforce the sense of stifling oppressiveness in Helen's unhappy home. THAT is film noir.
On to review this picture specifically, I highly recommend it. I have not been particularly familiar with Loretta Young's work, but this is an excellent film. The story is quick, taunt, and engaging. Helen's husband, George, deranged by illness, has set about to frame her for murder upon his impending death. Helen, who has been selflessly devoted to George's care, is horrified to learn of this only moments before he dies, and must retrieve a letter she has just mailed for him (to the District Attorney) or she will surely be accused of murdering him and sent to prison. You feel Helen's panic, the sense of urgency, even the sweltering heat of that "Tuesday in July" (a stereotypical noir touch, by the way). We know very little of Helen and George prior to this, only brief flashbacks dealing solely with their courtship; and this in my opinion serves rather cleverly to make the characters more broadly identifiable.
There are a half dozen ancillary characters; besides the husband there is the doctor and old family friend George perceives as Helen's partner in crime, a concerned neighbor lady, a miserable snotty aunt, an amusing neighborhood boy pretending to be Hopalong Cassidy, and the world's most annoying mailman. Had I been Helen, that damn mailman would have received the thrashing of his life and lay on the sidewalk bitching about his pension plan to the grasshoppers while I walked off with the letter I had forcibly removed from his possession! Like most noir, this film is low budget and has a short running time, but is quite technically competent, well acted, and most entertaining. In our home, we like to assemble weekend "film festivals", four to six films of a similar time period, style, or star; we like to pair this one with Claudette Colbert's "Secret Fury" and a few others for a nice evening of early 1950's Americana-noir.