Customer Reviews

Lured [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1947 Lucille Ball didn't have a studio home from which to make movies. She had just left MGM due to the lackluster treatment she had been subjected to during her stay there. So during this period of her film career she was forced to freelance in order to keep working. The lack of studio influence on who and what she played allowed her the rare opportunity to play way out of character from her standard movie roles which had been dominated by chorus girls and wise-cracking, hard-nosed secretaries.

First she starred opposite Mark Stevens in the little know film noir classic "The Dark Corner" and after recieving excellent reviews was given the lead role in "Lured" a Douglas Sirk directed murder mystery. The top-notch cast including Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwick, George Sanders and George Zucco are all excellent in supporting roles but make no mistake about it "Lured" is arguably the best film of Lucille Ball's movie career.

It's the story of a stranded American Taxi Dancer in London who helps Scotland Yard trap a serial killer who lures his victims through the personal columns. The movie features intricate plot twists, great atmospheric sets, beautiful gowns and enough red herrings to satisfy the most avid murder mystery buffs.

Finally, it is a real joy to see Lucille Ball in a quality film with a real dramatic character to play, acting like she should have been given these kinds of good roles all along. I highly recommend this gem.

Fans of Lucy will be surprised to see her in this "re-discovered" thriller as I was. I knew she had done one film noir in 1946-"The Dark Corner" where she played a private dick's secretary. She was good in it, playing it straight. But this one I had read about but it was so obscure (not even turning up on TV) that I figured I'd probably never see it. I had also read that she didn't like this film because it was so morbid. Kino has resurrected it on video then DVD and it's wonderful. Not really morbid (maybe to her it was) but it is a serial killer tale set in foggy London and she is a tough, been-around American showgirl stranded there when her show folds. While working as a taxi-dancer, her roommate disappears and is later found to have fallen prey to a madman who lures pretty girls to their deaths through the personals and then sends Scotland Yard twisted clues based on morbid poetry. Ball is excellent as the detectives use her as a decoy to trap the killer and the cast features Boris Karloff as a mad clothes designer(!) who tries to use her to model his designs for his "critics"---actually an empty room save for his dogs. Karloff is one of many strange characters she encounters answering the personals looking for the killer...great cast all around. Lucy is just wonderful.

Douglas Sirk, that magnificent master of melodrama, directed this delightful gem of a mystery almost 10 years before directing the films that would become his legacy: "Magnificent Obsession", "All that Heaven Allows", "Written on the Wind", and "Imitation of Life". But right from the beginning of "Lured" you know that you are in the hands of a major director. Each frame is composed with the eye of an artist; the suspense is carefully built and maintained; and the atmosphere is sophisticated yet full of foreboding. In fact, if you showed this movie to a beginning student of cinema, I don't think it would take much to persuade them that they were watching a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

The experienced cast is a delight to watch with George Sanders as a charming, debonair cad (as usual); Charles Coburn as the methodical but fatherly detective (a bit of miscasting there, but he pulls it off); and Lucille Ball as the shrewd, captivating heroine of our tale in one of her non-comedic roles. I enjoyed watching everyone, including Boris Karloff who plays the odd part of an insane haute couture designer to the hilt, although he is on the screen for only about 10 minutes. (Why, pray tell, is Karloff's photo on the cover of the DVD, when his role in the movie is such a minor one?) Only Sir Cedric Hardwick appears to be dispassionately walking through his part, although the story's denouement may explain why.

The print of the film is sharp and crisp for the most part, although a few short scenes appear to have been taken from an inferior source and contain some distracting artifacts. The sound varies from reel to reel, but is generally good and always acceptable. Overall, this is a fine print of an engaging film, and especially interesting because of Lucille Ball who successfully (I think) pulls off a dramatic role with balance and assurance.

This "rediscovered" classic from 1947 has one of Lucille Ball's best dramatic roles of her career. She stars as Sandra Carpenter, a feisty American dancer struggling to earn a living in London. However, a Jack-the-Ripper-like serial killer is looking for and murdering beautiful young women, and Sandra's friend is the killer's latest victim. Wanting desperately to help the police find the brutal murderer, she is hired by Scotland Yard to become a decoy for the killer, who lures his victims through newspaper advertisements. Thus, Sandra is compelled to check on every single advertisement requesting young beautiful women, and goes from one weirdo to another in search of the serial killer.

She is closely watched and followed by Officer H. R. Barrett (George Zucco) who is ordered to protect her from danger, and she periodically reports to Inspector Harley Temple (Charles Coburn) at Scotland Yard headquarters. In her search for the killer she meets a mentally unstable painter, Charles van Drute(Boris Karloff), as well as a charming playboy, Robert Fleming(George Sanders), who admits to being a cad. For a long time Robert tries in vain to earn Sandra's trust. Over time, however, Robert wins both Sandra's trust and love and they make plans to leave the country and marry. Eventually, the evidence is found that points to the killer, but nothing is at it seems in this well-crafted noirish mystery.

Like a previous reviewer I am puzzled by the photo of Boris Karloff on the dvd cover, as he is in the film for just a few minutes. George Sanders and Lucille Ball are simply fantastic together, and even when I figured out who the killer was (relatively early in the film) I still enjoyed wayching it very much. The KINO dvd seems way overpriced to me, however. There are no bonus features at all (unless you count scene selection). The picture quality is great, but the sound (at least on my dvd player) was horrible. I had to turn the tv volume up very high and I still couldn't hear all the dialogue. So although the film is a great classic, you should skip the dvd (maybe the vhs version has better sound) until a better quality version is available.

Fans of Lucille Ball or director Douglas Sirk are in for a treat with this one. Interesting use of genre conventions in plot (even after you've guessed the killer, still fun), nice cinematography which comes up beautifully in Kino's DVD transfer. Excellent supporting cast, with such stalwarts as Cedric Hardwick and Charles Coburn providing pleasurable backup to star turns from George Sanders and Ball. Nice to see how many subtle small touches Lucy brings to her characterization, and she looks ravishing, even in black and white. LURED is a great Saturday night popcorn movie!

Lucille Ball as the dramatic heroine of a murder mystery--who would have thought it? I'd only known her daffy "I Love Lucy" role, which I never liked much (forgive me, but I'm not a fan of slap-stick comedy). I bought this DVD for George Sanders. I had no idea Lucy could pull off a dramatic role, but she does--brilliantly.

Even if you've never been a fan of "I Love Lucy", give Lucy a chance with this DVD. You won't regret it.

Done in a film-noir style, this movie is entertaining with a neat plot twist. Lucille Ball looks lovely and does a good job as the dancer who ecomes a police decoy to catch a killer. She has great chemistry with George Sanders (it was rumored they had a real-life affair). Boris Karloff also has a small part as a crazy fashion designer. If you're a Lucy fan, you'll want to own this movie.

"Lured" is a forgotten thriller of a movie, starring Lucille Ball as an American in London who helps Scotland Yard capture a serial killer. The subtle plotting is fast-paced and satisfying. Ball sparkles with wit and sophistication and makes the movie special.

You will be kept in suspense until the very end. If you know Ball only through her most famous manifestation as zany Lucy Ricardo, this movie will reveal her ability to fulfill a dramatic/romantic role. Although the real-life chemistry that sizzled between Ball and Desi Arnaz on the tv show is missing here, the supporting cast is splendid, and the city of London as it was in the 40s provides an interesting backdrop. Highly recommended.

Lucille Ball starred in Hunt Stromberg's independent production of "Lured" in 1947, four years before she began her long and eminently successful run starring with husband Desi Arnez in the hilarious sitcom "I Love Lucy," which broke TV records for longevity. In "Lured" Lucille is cast as an undercover police decoy in London seeking to help capture a twentieth century "Jack the Ripper" serial killer of women.

On the surface it would appear highly unlikely that "Lured" would serve as a genesis or prelude to Lucy's comedy triumph which began four years later. Ironically the similarities are paramount. While the dramatic vehicle is devoid of the kind of hilarious slapstick that helped make "I Love Lucy" a big hit, one sees the same wisecracking lady in action. In "Lured" using humor and delivering the proper one-liners enable her to survive.

At the story's beginning Lucy, an actress whose London show bombed early, gets a job at a taxi dancing establishment at night to survive. When her closest friend and fellow dancer is killed, she visits detective Charles Coburn at Scotland Yard. Coburn is impressed by her native intelligence coupled with her beauty. He finds her the perfect lure to trap the brutal killer who has been terrorizing London women.

Leo Rosten, who later wrote the novel "Captain Newman," which became a successful film starring Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis, penned a rapidly moving script while German emigre Douglas Sirk, who would later direct Rock Hudson in his two major dramatic triumphs at Universal, "The Magnificent Obsession" and "Written on the Wind," directed deftly and provided the kind of moody settings of nocturnal London that makes viewers feel a part of the scene. The accomplishment is all the more remarkable in that the film was shot entirely in Hollywood on a frugal budget.

Lucy meets a fascinating band of characters before the mystery is ultimately resolved with the unmasking of the brutal killer. Boris Karloff appears early. Lucy is able to keep the emotionally disturbed Londoner at bay until help arrives. She later is able to help crack a white slavery operation headed by Alan Mowbray.

The plot thickens when the man with whom Lucy falls in love, suave and witty playboy George Sanders, emerges as a suspect, as does his lawyer, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. When Lucy finally does manage to bring the killer into the open, she is compelled to use her wiles one last time to survive before Scotland Yard detectives arrive. She is at her best using her intuition in cat-and-mouse games with dangerous men, culminating with the twentieth century Jack the Ripper.

The packaging of this delightful noirish thriller would have you believe it's a Boris Karloff film, but it's not by any means. On the back cover of the DVD box there are two photos and a poster reproduction, and George Zucco is in every one of them along with Lucille Ball, the actual star. Boris is prominently displayed on the front cover, though, thus leading to the misconception that he's one of the stars. He gets fourth billing, and that's generous. Lucy and George Sanders are the stars, with Charles Coburn, Cedric Hardwick and George Zucco getting far more screen time. A better title for the movie would be PARADE OF THE RED HERRINGS, one of which is old Boris, who has one scene as a somewhat demented dress designer who may or may not be a killer, but in any case is not the killer our heroes are searching for. Regardless, it's a stylish thriller and quite enjoyable.

Lucille Ball is known generally as wacky Lucy from TV, but prior to that she was a very glamourous, very beautiful actress in B pictures, mostly. This is one of her best roles, and it makes you wish someone had smacked her upside the head and convinced her to do more, especially as she aged beyond wacky Lucy. Had she allowed herself to mature, she could have had a whole different career. (Of course, she died a multimillionaire, so maybe I'm wrong!)

Anyway, this DVD is highly recommended. The picture quality is far superior to many 30s and 40s films making their way to DVD. I do wish, though, there were some bonus features. How about a retrospective of Lucy's pre-TV career? Or a trailer? Or...anything!