seemed so upset all day. When Ranney shows up to check on George, Ellen is hysterical. Ranney tells her to be calm and goes up to the bedroom. Showing no apparent emotion for his dead best friend, he sees the bullet hole in the floor, finds the gun in a dresser drawer, methodically repositions George's body in the bed, and draws down the window shade. Back downstairs with Ellen, Ranney listens as she tells him what happened, saying "I did everything wrong, just like he said I would." The doorbell rings. She thinks the police have come to arrest her, but Ranney urges Ellen to open the door. When she does, it is the postman, returning the thick letter for insufficient postage. Ranney gives a sigh of relief; Ellen takes back the envelope and is overcome after closing the door. Ranney wordlessly rips the letter into narrow strips and burns these shreds in an ashtray along with a matchbook bearing the embossed names George and Ellen. Cast Loretta Young as Ellen Jones Barry Sullivan as George Z. Jones Bruce Cowling as Dr. Ranney Grahame Margalo Gillmore as aunt Clara Edwards Bradley Mora as Hoppy (Billy) Irving Bacon as Joe Carston, the postman Georgia Backus as Mrs. Warren, the neighbor Don Haggerty as Mr. Russell, the notary Art Baker as the post office superintendent Richard Anderson as the wounded sailor at a naval hospital Production Director Tay Garnett thoroughly prepared both cast and crew and the film was shot in 14 days, a rather tight schedule for the era (Young reportedly used the same pre-production technique for her TV series a few years later). André Previn wrote the score. Cause for Alarm! is among a few 1950s era MGM films which apparently lapsed into the public domain after their copyrights were not renewed in the 1970s. As with all PD MGM feature-length films produced by the studio itself (and possibly a few they merely distributed), the original film elements are now owned by Turner Entertainment, with distribution rights handled by Warner Bros. (who spoofed the title in one of their 1954 short subject cartoons, Claws for Alarm). Casting notes The film's producer Tom Lewis considered Judy Garland for the lead role before giving it to his wife Loretta Young. Irving Bacon (a character actor who appeared in over 400 films during his career) was already widely known as the weary postman