beware my lovely originate from a play write by mel dinelli who apparently like write about frighten woman . his first and best effort be the screenplay for the spiral staircase . he also do a loretta young suspense thriller cause for alarm a couple of year earlier . the play dinelli write be originally entitle the man and it run for 92 performance on broadway during the 1950 season . it be dinelli only effort on broadway and it star dorothy gish and richard boone . the role that gish and boone play be take by ida lupino and robert ryan . for whatever reason rko think to eliminate the age difference . dinelli himself rewrite his play for the screen so i be wonder what he think about that . certainly the frailty issue be eliminate completely from the story . that wasn not the only thing that be eliminate . the people be all wearing period clothing from around world war i yet there no reference at all to the time this story take place in . i think that strange and later on when the telephone company repairman come to ida lupino residence and i notice his truck be a vintage one of the same era . the film be almost entirely set within ida lupino home where she hire an itinerant stranger in robert ryan a a handyman . the film be a great object lesson in not hire stranger without reference . it turn out that ryan be a schizophrenic who imprison lupino in her home for about a day . both the lead do fine job even with the change make . film like beware my lovely be the stuff that a small studio like rko do best . if this be do at mgm or paramount the glossy trapping would have overwhelm a solid story .