Lured (1947)

British police are after a serial killer who lures his female victims through newspaper personal ads and sends cryptic-poem clues to the cops.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Leo Rosten (screenplay), Jacques Companéez (from a story by) (as Jacques Companeez)

Stars:

George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn

Cast

Credited cast:
George Sanders	...	Robert Fleming
Lucille Ball	...	Sandra Carpenter
Charles Coburn	...	Inspector Harley Temple
Boris Karloff	...	Charles van Druten
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Julian Wilde (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Joseph Calleia	...	Dr. Nicholas Moryani
Alan Mowbray	...	Lyle Maxwell
George Zucco	...	Officer H. R. Barrett
Robert Coote	...	Detective
Alan Napier	...	Detective Gordon
Tanis Chandler	...	Lucy Barnard
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Annette Warren	...	Blonde Nightclub Singer (singing voice)

Storyline

A serial killer in London is murdering young women he meets through the personal columns of newspapers. He announces each of his murders to the police by sending them a cryptic poem. After a dancer disappears, the police enlist an American friend of hers, Sandra Carpenter, to answer advertisements in the personal columns, and lure the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

serial murder | psychotronic film | personals column | pearl necklace | brandy | 

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Taglines:

She plays a lone hand against a lone wolf - who lured beautiful girls...to death!

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The singing voice actually belonged to Annette Warren, who later dubbed in both "Fancy Pants (1950)" and "Sorrowful Jones (1949)".

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Goofs

Despite the London setting and addresses the personal ads are all written in French.

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Quotes

Inspector Harley Temple: Miss Carpenter there will be danger... great danger. Are you afraid?
Sandra Carpenter: No, not yet!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits - a flashlight pans along the side of a building, and the credits are written on the side of the wall.

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Connections

Version of Personal Column (1939)

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Soundtracks

All for Love
(uncredited)
Music by Michel Michelet
Lyrics by Jacqueline Duffie
Sung by Ethelreda Leopold (Dubbed by Annette Warren)

User Reviews

Lured (1947) ***

An interesting curio for Lucille Ball fans as well as those who enjoy old horror and mystery films. This one is worth seeing for its cast alone, featuring (in addition to Ms. Ball): Boris Karloff, Sir Cecric Hardwicke, Alan Napier, George Zucco and George Sanders! This solid mystery/thriller stars Lucille Ball in a dramatic part before she became Lucy Ricardo. She plays a feisty American gal in England who is hired by Scotland Yard to go undercover to trap a serial killer who claimed one of her friends. Boris Karloff's role is a small one but it's absolutely wonderful, and it's an essential watch for the actors' legion of fans. George Zucco is a cop who keeps an eye out for Ball to make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. *** out of ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 September 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lured

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$700,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hunt Stromberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1