A Blueprint for Murder (1953)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writer:

Andrew L. Stone (writer)

Release Date:

September 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

What to do about a suspected murderess who can't be convicted?

Plot Keywords:

Poisoning | Strychnine | Uncle | Stepmother | Murderess

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Whitney 'Cam' Cameron
Jean Peters	...	Lynne Cameron
Gary Merrill	...	Fred Sargent
Catherine McLeod	...	Maggie Sargent
Jack Kruschen	...	Det. Chief Hal Cole
Barney Phillips	...	Det. Capt. Pringle
Freddy Ridgeway	...	Doug Cameron

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16386) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Cedars of Lebanon Hospital - 4833 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The shipboard scenes were filmed on the same sets built for Titanic (1953), which in turn were used for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and Dangerous Crossing (1953).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Whitney 'Cam' Cameron: Where is Polly Cameron's room?

If it walks like a B and talks like a B...

I mean, was this a B movie? With Joseph Cotten? I want to say it couldn't have been, but boy, it sure felt like it.

"A Blueprint for Murder" is sort of a semi-documentary, black and white suspense film starring Cotten and Jean Peters. By the '50s, Peters, after going the Fox starlet circuit, vacillated between A films and B films, often doing supporting roles in As - but in roles that called for strong acting, such as "Niagara." She has a strong role in "A Blueprint for Murder" as well. The film also features Gary Merrill, who appears to have come to a sorry end with Fox, after a success in "All About Eve." He doesn't have much to do in this.

With the exception of Catherine MacLeod, who plays Merrill's wife, the performances are fairly low key, in keeping with a documentary style. MacLeod makes up for it - she's all over the place.

The plot is somewhat interesting - did Peters kill her stepdaughter, and is she planning on killing her stepson in order to inherit their money from her late husband, Cotten's brother? It isn't very well directed, dragging in spots, and kind of blowing it at the end. It could have been a very interesting, small film, given the cast. It really comes off as something for that new medium, TV.