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A Blueprint for Murder (1953)Whitney Cameron suspects his sister-in-law has poisoned his brother and niece, but without proof how does he prevent the murder of his nephew? Director:Andrew L. StoneWriter:Andrew L. Stone |
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Title: A Blueprint for Murder (1953)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Joseph Cotten | ... |
Whitney 'Cam' Cameron
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| Jean Peters | ... |
Lynn Cameron
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| Gary Merrill | ... |
Fred Sargent
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| Catherine McLeod | ... |
Maggie Sargent
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| Jack Kruschen | ... |
Det.ective Lt. Harold Y. Cole
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Barney Phillips | ... |
Detective Capt. Pringle
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Freddy Ridgeway | ... |
Doug Cameron
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Two orphans, Polly and Doug, live with their stepmother Lynne; Polly collapses with the same mystery symptoms that killed her father. The kids' visiting uncle, Whitney Cameron, is warned that the symptoms match strychnine poisoning, but that poisoners are seldom detected and rarely convicted. Sure enough, no case can be made against the obvious suspect; so what can Whitney do to save the next victim? Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Taglines:
EVERY INCH OF HER IS MURDER! See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
September 1953 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Assassinio premeditato See more »Filming Locations:
20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
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Blueprint for Murder is little more than a suspense-generating contraption, of which Alfred Hitchcock, applying his sadistic perversity, might have made a memorable meal. As it happens, Andrew Stone doesn't do too shabbily by it either, though it remains four-square and plot-driven. Part of his success is that he's abetted by an above-average cast which lifts it out of its mechanical origins.
Joseph Cotten returns to New York to visit his brother's second wife – and widow (Jean Peters); his timing proves inopportune, as his young niece goes into convulsions and dies in hospital. Cause of death remains a puzzler until a family attorney (Gary Merrill) reveals that Peters stands to benefit should both her stepchildren predecease her (a stepson may be next on her list). Though Cotten carries a small torch for Peters, his concern for the surviving son wins out, and an autopsy shows the girl died of strychnine poisoning. Peters ends up going to trial but is acquitted. Cotten, however, remains unconvinced, and, unbidden, joins Peters and his nephew on an ocean liner bound for Europe. He hopes to unearth the truth by means of trial by ordeal....
Surprisingly convincing, Peters takes on the role of a reserved society wife (as with most of Howard Hugues' `protegees,' she had more sides to her than the ones her Svengali wanted seen). As her housekeeper who also falls, albeit briefly, under suspicion, Mae Marsh turns up – the luminous star of D.W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia, Birth of a Nation, and Intolerance (she was donning many a lace cap as a string of maids in this Indian Summer of her stardom).
Stone keeps the movie running along at a good clip and keeps tilting the ambivalence to the very end (Is Peters a wronged woman or a murderous monster? Does Cotten have a buried agenda of his own?). To be sure, certain coincidences and turns of plot don't bear prolonged scrutiny, but they're not allowed to become incapacitating lapses of logic, either. Blueprint for Murder meets the minimal production codes for suspense.