They say that insanity runs in the family, but this is ridiculous. A young guy marries a woman to thwart the attempts of his uncle to control money that was left to him.The uncle is played by a totally sinister looking Errol Flynn. The film takes place in a mansion where the family lives. Geraldine Brooks is a scene stealer as the niece of Flynn who seems care free but is stifled in her attempts to lead her own life by her repressive uncle.The atmosphere is eerie. Even the head maid could be an exact duplicate of Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers in 1940's "Rebecca."What was Flynn discussing with the other man? It appeared they were up to no good. How could the Flynn character turn into a good guy protecting his niece and nephew from their supposed inevitable insanity? After all, their father died in an institution for the insane.Richard Basehart literally returns from the dead, as the nephew, near the end of this misery and indeed shows that insanity runs in the family.Jerome Cowan briefly appears at the film's beginning as the brother of Flynn; he is a U.S. senator caught up in politics and goes back to Washington and is not seen again.After Basehart is exposed, Stanwyck, the nephew's widow, walks off hand in hand with her uncle by marriage, Errol Flynn. She weds her uncle by marriage? The whole concept was ludicrous.

. . . and CRY WOLF would be more aptly titled THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT. All Baby Boomers seem to pass down the story of how one of their President Kennedy's sisters was lobotomized when she started to "go bad" after puberty. That's what wealthy families usually did back in the day. Otherwise, when "bad seeds" were give free reign to mingle with Proper Society, they'd kill rich neighbor girls with golf clubs, and no more family members would get elected to the U.S. Senate. In a story ripped from his tomorrow's headlines, Errol Flynn plays a Kennedy-like fixer in a U.S. Senatorial Family, desperately trying to keep the schizophrenic Mordreds of his clan from running amok in CAMELOT. For a few brief shining moments Flynn's "Mark Caldwell" succeeds in keeping his family nut cases from cracking up. Stuff hits the fan with a mechanic bludgeoned in Canada by a wrench. Though not quite as serious as doing in Mr. Plum by Candlestick in the Library, it's plenty hard enough for Mark to keep America's political mudslingers from getting a CLUE about his NEXT GENERATION Devolving into Common Murderers. But at least Mark's horse gets to take Barbara Stanwyck for a ride here.

I think this movie is highly underrated. Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck have great chemistry and both turned in superb performances. It's too bad they didn't make more movies together. I'm not sure why so many people think this an average movie at best, unless they can't see Errol Flynn as anything but a swashbuckler. I feel he had tremendous range as an actor. Even Bette Davis who had bashed Errol Flynn's acting abilities for decades admitted later in her life that Errol was "damn good!!" I recommend this to anyone who enjoys classic old movies, especially those who enjoy scary movies. One last note of interest is that I believe this may have been the last movie where Barbara Stanwyck's hair length goes past her shoulders.

Gothic soap-opera never takes off, despite Stanwyck's strong presence. Exceedingly formulaic script, mediocre direction, and weak supporting actors. Interesting to see Flynn cast so totally against type, playing a cold, controlled, and reserved menacing presence; given his history it almost comes across as a joke - if you didn't know anything about him it would almost be believable.