Taglines: Her gaudy past came back to threaten all that mattered to her now.
Because of You movie storyline. A sexy blonde, still a little fresh off the farm, Christine Carroll (Loretta Young) is preparing to marry her handsome boyfriend. She finds out too late that her fiancé Mike (Alex Nicol) is a gangster and, once he slips stolen merchandise into her purse, she becomes his unwitting accessory. Though she goes to jail, she is innocent of the crime.
Through the kindness of prison psychiatrist Dr. Breen (Alexander Scourby), Christine turns her life around in prison, becoming a nurse’s aide in the infirmary. Upon her release, Christine gets a job at a respectable hospital, where she falls in love with wounded combat pilot Steve Kimberly (Jeff Chandler), an architect from good family. Will she ever be able to reveal her sordid past without sending the emotionally fragile Steve off the deep end?
When it’s clear that Steve has fallen hard, she faces the dilemma of what and when to tell him. Christine’s probation officer encourages her to tell him the truth. But his wounded psyche makes her decide to keep her past a secret. They marry and Christine is a downright sexy newlywed on her honeymoon.
Her decision has melodramatic consequences… but not at first. As long as her old boyfriend is locked up in prison, and with her name change, Christine believes she is safe. She and Steve have a happy marriage, and soon announce the birth of a child, though Steve shows he isn’t completely well, a little reluctant at first to share Christine even with a child. But after the new addition, a lovely daughter, he seems more stable and happy.
Christine devotes herself to her husband and daughter. All is wonderful until her old gangster boyfriend Mike, fresh out of prison, shows up one day, holding her daughter and letting her play with his gun. Christine pleads with him to release the child – she has no money but offers him all she has if Mike will just leave.
He is willing to let bygones be bygones as long as she drives him down south of the border into Mexico. He promises if she will do that, he will never bother her again. Trapped, she agrees. But nothing turns out as he promises. After another robbery, there is a high-speed chase and a crash. Mike is killed instantly. Christine and daughter survive the wreck physically, but there are plenty of emotional problems as a result.
An enraged Steve accuses Christine (while still in the hospital recuperating from the wreck) of being a tramp and immediately files for divorce, gaining full custody of the child. He refuses to listen to her side of the story, only taking her prison record, the fact that she was with her old gangster boyfriend and fact that she put his daughter in danger.
Because of You is a 1952 American film noir drama romance film distributed by Universal International, which was directed by Joseph Pevney and starred Loretta Young and Jeff Chandler. This film was surprising in that it showed a provocative “sexy side” of Ms. Young, quite different from her usual dignified brunette “nice girl” part.
Because of You (1952)
Directed by: Joseph Pevney
Starring: Loretta Young, Jeff Chandler, Alex Nicol, Frances Dee, Alexander Scourby, Lynne Roberts, Mae Clarke, Helen Wallace, Morris Ankrum, Harry Mendoza, Vici Raaf, Betty Reilly
Screenplay by: Ketti Frings, Thelma Robinson
Production Design by: Jack Gertsman
Cinematography by: Russell Metty
Film Editing by: Virgil W. Vogel
Costume Design by: Bill Thomas
Set Decoration by: John P. Austin, Russell A. Gausman
Art Direction by: Robert Clatworthy, Bernard Herzbrun
Music by: Frank Skinner
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal-International
Release Date: December 4, 1952 (United States)
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