Cry Wolf

Cry Wolf is an alright movie, nothing spectacular. It's a bit of an unusual role for Errol Flynn, as he isn't particularly dashing, and is actually a colossal jerk for much of the picture. But that's not a big deal. What bothers me is the ending.

The story is that Stanwyck is one Sandra Marshall, the widow of recently deceased Jim Demarest. A widow Flynn, as Jim's uncle Mark Caldwell, knew nothing about. We learn that Jim's (and his sister Julie's) mother wrote her will so that it was placed in a trust Mark controlled. If Jim married, control of the money transfers to Jim's wife. It's not stated, but we might guess any future husband of Julie's would gain the same privilege. Jim believed Mark will use this to marry him to some woman Mark can control, so he married Sandra, an acquaintance from college, on the sly. Jim's will hasn't turned up yet, so Sandra remains at the manor, befriending Julie, which leads to disagreements with Mark about how he runs her life, as well as trying to figure out what Mark's up to. Then Julie, who is convinced Mark's up to no good despite his insistence those screams she hears are only nightmares, dies by falling off her balcony trying to run away, and Sandra sees Mark running away from there into the house.

My issue with the ending is while the explanation for everything may seem reasonable, we only have Mark's word that it's true. The other possibility, that Mark is a conniving sleaze out to cover his butt, is still in play, but the movie seems to expect us to dismiss it because Mark and Sandra have fallen in love, which must mean he's an OK bloke. I'm going to SPOIL the ending entirely from here on out, so if you'd like to watch it without knowing the big surprises, come back after you've watched it.

Sandra finds Jim hidden on a game preserve, watched over by Laidell, a man loyal to Mark, and Jim's kept drugged into a forgetful state. Sandra breaks through, and he agrees to meet her back at the estate, where Mark grabs her and lays it all out. No, Jim isn't dead. He is, however, crazy. He killed a man while on a trip to Canada, and Mark has faked his death and is keeping him in a sedated state on an unused game preserve which borders the estate. Jim and Julie's father died in a sanitarium, and their mother (Mark's sister) fearing it runs in the family, asked Mark to watch over them. Julie committed suicide. Jim arrives, knocks Mark over the head, then chases after Sandra who no longer seems to trust him. Mark and Liadell pursue, Jim fights with Liadell on the second floor of the house, and tumbles over the balcony to his death. Sandra and Mark walk off together, hand in hand.

Let's rip this to shreds. If you don't want to read the full breakdown, here's the short version: Character depicted as manipulative, domineering and untrustworthy throughout the film is suddenly presented as being decent and trustworthy, without any incontrovertible evidence to support it. He's the closest thing to a villain until he's abruptly a misunderstood, noble soul.

Point: Mark says he has papers proving Jim's father died in a sanitarium.
Counterpoint: We (or Sandra) never see these papers. Julie tells us she was three when she last saw her father, going to a hospital. Which doesn't mean a sanitarium. He could have died in a regular hospital of dysentery.

Point: Jim will fly into rages, and killed a man in Canada over a minor disagreement. The screams that Julie really did hear after all are listed as more proof that Jim goes berserk, as Mark admits he was keeping Jim in his laboratory until the compound on the preserve was ready.
Counterpoint: Again, we have only Mark's word the murder happened. He claims he and his senator brother (who we have seen, so he does exist) used their influence to keep it out of the American papers. Again, no proof. Also, Mark admits he was keeping Jim against his will in the lab. I don't think one has to be crazy to scream and struggle when he's being imprisoned. Sandra tells us she saw no sign of Jim being crazy while they knew each other in college. Which doesn't mean he isn't crazy, but it's no less supported than anything Mark says.

Point: Julie committed suicide, and Mark had the head maid Marta prepare a suitcase, then set it next to Julie's corpse. He did so because her suicide would bring out the history of the Demarest madness, which would ruin his brother's bid to be appointed some big Senate thing.
Counterpoint: Mark is a scientist, smart enough to prescribe drugs to keep Jim sedated and unaware of himself. The maid, Angela, tells Sandra she brings Julie hot chocolate every night. Mark could drug the chocolate, enter the room, prepare a suitcase himself, then throw the drugged girl over the balcony, before bringing the suitcase downstairs to place next to the body. That would take much less time, and it'd be more likely under that circumstance Sandra would just happen to see Mark reentering the house after he leaves the body, then if he had to wait until after Julie's death to prepare a suitcase. Sandra didn't dally that long before looking out the window.

Point: Mark says he opened Julie's mail and tried to keep her away from her boyfriend because he couldn't risk her having children and passing on the madness. The same would have applied to Jim, if he'd known Jim was planning to marry Sandra.
Counterpoint: Or, Jim's theory about the clause in the will were the spouse gains control of the fortune could be true. Mark's seen how much trouble Sandra was causing with her snooping, he could have decided it was simpler to kill Julie than take a chance she got away and married someone he couldn't manipulate.

Point: Jim is totally crazy and prone to berserker moments. He cracked Mark over the head with that branch!
Counterpoint: Yes, he hit the guy who kept him a drugged prisoner, who made everyone believe he was dead, and who drove Julie to suicide. That was how Sandra described it to Jim, that Mark pushed Julie to it with his domineering ways. Only a crazy man would hit someone who'd done all that, obviously. *rolls eyes*

Point: Jim gets angry with Sandra for being concerned about Mark, accuses her of being in love with Mark, and chases after her when she flees from him.
Counterpoint: He thought Sandra was on his side. She sought him out, told him all this stuff Mark's done, and now she's worried about him? We've seen that Mark can control people. Marta, the housekeeper, locks Julie in her room at Mark's command. Liadell and his wife stay in the preserve and keep feeding Jim drugs at Mark's command. An unseen Dr. Reynolds fills the prescriptions for these drugs without question because of who's recommended them. Jim may not know all that, but he knows some of it, and probably more besides since he lived with Mark for years. He could see this as Mark having gotten to Sandra as well, turned someone he was sure was with him, against him.

Point: He tries to strangle the life out of Liadell, and got a little rough with Sandra while pursuing her.
Counterpoint: I can't really excuse the getting rough with Sandra, other than it could bother him that she's bought into the "he's crazy *moves finger in circling motion around ear*" line Mark's spouting. As for Liadell, the guy is trying to restrain him, to drag Jim back to the preserve where he'll live out his days a stupefied shell. Jim was fighting for more than his life, he was fighting for his Right to Think! Sorry, Inherit the Wind's sticking with me.

Like I said above, I can't trust Mark simply because he's Errol Flynn, when he hasn't given any reason for me to trust him. He admits he keeps Jim drugged and imprisoned, but it was all for the right reasons, don't you see? He's kept his reasons hidden until now, why should the audience trust because he deigns to explain himself? Admittedly, I can't explain who he hadn't killed Jim sooner, except that there were lots of people around. By the time the film ends, the only ones at the estate are Mark, Sandra, Jim, and Liadell. Mark was supposed to be leaving, and so was Sandra. Once she was gone, assuming she hadn't found Jim, what stops Mark from returning, telling Liadell he'll look after Jim, then eliminating him? Of changing up the prescription to something lethal? Liadell doesn't look smart enough to question Mark if he changes plans, and they're using Dr. Reynolds precisely because he doesn't ask questions of Mark.