Beware, My Lovely

Great play performed by two very good actors who are somewhat miscast. Ryan is great at being terrifying, and pretty good at being conflicted, but he doesn't sell the calm docile part of his character very well despite a solid effort. Lupino also does a good job with the role, but I expect a Lupino character to be stronger. There are some fantastic shots, a lot of great tension and use of the confined space, and the two performances are well worth watching, just not as great as they could be.

Works because of Robert Ryan's performance. He manages to be both terrifying and kinda sad in a way that makes you feel bad for the character, which makes all of the events that happen just that much harder to handle. Beyond that, it's got some exciting moments, but a lot of unnecessary shit too.

The two leads are great in archetypal roles for them (especially Ryan's).

I've never seen Robert Ryan do batshit crazy before, but he's very good at it. Unfortunately, Ida Lupino is mostly wasted, and has little to do except act scared. The film has some gripping moments, but also gets mired down in repetitiveness. It makes a very short movie feel longer than it should. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why this was set in 1918. There's nothing about the story that wouldn't make sense in 1952. But it does have some moments. I really liked the ending.

There’s something psychologically titillating about the apparent sickness of Ryan’s character, which he plays well. With more development and a clearer sense of direction, there would have been potential for a low-key classic.