Lured (1947)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.0/10   

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Escritores:

Jacques Companéez (story)
Simon Gantillon (story)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

5 septiembre 1947 (USA)

Género:

Crimen | Cine Negro | Misterio | Suspenso

Plot:

A serial killer in London is murdering young women whom he meets through the personal columns of newspapers;...

Plot Keywords:

Personals Column | Serial Killer | Poetry | Dance Hall | Taxi Dancer

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Split Personality

Reparto

George Sanders	...	Robert Fleming
Lucille Ball	...	Sandra Carpenter
Charles Coburn	...	Inspector Harley Temple
Boris Karloff	...	Charles van Druten - the Artist
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Julian Wilde (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Joseph Calleia	...	Dr. Nicholas Moryani
Alan Mowbray	...	Lyle Maxwell alias Maxim Duval
George Zucco	...	Officer H. R. Barrett
Robert Coote	...	Detective - Temple's 2d asst.
Alan Napier	...	Detective Gordon - Temple's 1st asst.
Tanis Chandler	...	Lucy Barnard

También conocida como:

Personal Column (UK)
El asesino poeta (Spain) [es]

Duración:

102 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12267)

Compañía:

Hunt Stromberg Productions

Trivialidades:

The title was changed to "Personal Column" midway through the original U.S. theatrical release because staff at the Production Code Administration thought the word "lured" sounded too much like "lurid". Director Douglas Sirk felt the title change confused potential audiences and led to the film's box-office failure.

Errores:

Sin sincronía de Audio o Visual: When Sandra goes to visit Julian towards the end of the movie, they have a conversation, and when Julian says, "That's why he chose death," you can see that Sandra is saying something we don't hear.

Conexiones de Película:

Version of Pièges (1939)

Banda de Sonido:

All for Love

Split Personality

A killer lures lonely young women via the "personals" column in a London newspaper. A friend of one of the victims, an attractive dancer named Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball), acts as bait to catch the killer, under direction of Police Inspector Temple (Charles Coburn). One of the suspects is Robert Fleming (George Sanders) who may, or may not, be the killer. Fleming, suave and sophisticated, charms Carpenter into romantic complications.

The whodunit element of "Lured" gets off to a strong start, with good direction, some spooky lighting at the beginning, and an assortment of interesting suspects. But, as the film progresses, the whodunit element gets undercut by the developing romance between Carpenter and Fleming. The upbeat "All For Love" musical score, combined with elegant costumes, reinforce the romantic theme. The whodunit element sputters out about two-thirds through the film.

My impression is that the screenplay for this film was adapted from "Pieges", a 1939 French film (which I have not seen), billed as a romantic thriller. In "Lured", we certainly have a romantic theme; thrills maybe, depending on how you define "thrills". You get the feeling that the film's director (Douglas Sirk) started with the intention of making a whodunit, but later changed his mind and decided to make a romantic melodrama. The film's split personality may also be the result of the casting of two strong lead actors (Ball and Sanders), whom we do not usually associate with murder mysteries.

"Lured" certainly has entertainment value. I love Lucy no matter what role she plays. Coburn and Sanders are nearly always engaging. The film has good B&W cinematography. The dialogue is crisp. And the film provides some great nostalgia, via 1940's clothes, hairstyles, and music. Overall, "Lured" has a great cast and some wonderful atmosphere. But, when I want to watch a murder mystery from the 30's or 40's, I will be more inclined to watch a film whose sole aim is to present a whodunit puzzle, such as, for example, a good old fashion Charlie Chan film with Sidney Toler ... romance be damned.