6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A serial killer in London is murdering young women whom 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 so lure the killer...
Starring: George Sanders (I), Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn (I), Boris Karloff, Cedric HardwickeFilm-Noir | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is currently available as part of
Two Films By Douglas Sirk.
Mention the name Douglas Sirk to virtually any discriminating cineaste, and chances are he or she will almost instinctively think of Sirk’s 1950s
era
melodramas like All I Desire, Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, There's Always
Tomorrow, Written on the Wind, The Tarnished Angels and Imitation of Life. While Sirk’s sudsy mid-century efforts are probably always
going
to be his best remembered contributions to the annals of American film (for better or worse), these hyperbolically emotional romances are of
course
only part of Sirk’s long and surprisingly varied filmography. Having established himself first as a stage director and then later as a film director
in
Germany, he ultimately moved to the United States not because he was Jewish (as was the case with so many European emigrés who
matriculated
to
the American film industry during this era), but because his wife at the time was. Sirk’s first American feature was Hitler’s Madman, a
film
which certainly had its own hyperbolic tendencies even if it was a supposedly historical account of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich rather
than
the roiling saga of star crossed lovers. Cohen Film Collection is now offering two relatively early Sirk films that followed in quick succession
after
Hitler’s Madman, 1946’s quasi-biography A Scandal in Paris and 1947’s quasi-noir Lured. What’s interesting about both
of
these films, especially for those who are only acquainted with the histrionics of Sirk’s fifties’ oeuvre, is how light and even comical they
often
are.
Lured is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. The "fine print" on the back of the keepcase insert states that this was "restored from 35mm nitrate and 16mm safety material." The relative fall off in quality from Lured's sibling in this release, A Scandal in Paris, is, if not huge, at least quite noticeable, with rather large fluctuations in clarity and sharpness, as well as an equally variant grain field, all of which I attribute to the two formats that provided source elements. Perhaps surprisingly, things look at least relatively homogeneous most of the time, without any huge "jumps" (either up or down) in general quality. Still, detail levels are affected at various times, with some (sometimes rather brief) scenes looking pretty soft and ill defined. There's obviously been work done here to tweak things to resemble an organic whole in terms of the overall look of the feature, but videophiles will still be able to easily spot differences in contrast, grain structure and detail levels. Actual damage in terms of dirt and things like scratches have been largely eliminated through the restoration process.
While not a blockbuster soundtrack by any stretch of the imagination, Lured's LPCM 2.0 mono track has decidedly less of the damage that A Scandal in Paris's track displays, though it, too, has a somewhat boxy and constrained sound, something that's perhaps unavoidable given the age of the stems and what seems to be less than ideal source elements. Dialogue is always rendered clearly, and Michel Michelet's score sounds bright if slightly clipped in the upper frequencies.
As a lightweight detective story, Lured offers decent entertainment value, but the film has way too many red herrings for its own good, and it can't quite overcome the fact that Lucy's inherent spunkiness means that the audience knows from the get go she'll never be seriously in harm's way. It's kind of fun to see Zucco in a comedic supporting role, and the rest of the large cast is winning, with Sanders doing his patented cad routine with expected elan. Video quality here is a little spotty at times, but there have obviously been some dedicated restorative efforts applied to this lesser known Sirk film. With caveats noted, Lured comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1949
1946
1993
Warner Archive Collection
1946
1954
1947
Reissue
1957
Arrow Academy
1946
Fox Studio Classics
1944
1942
1944
1944
Warner Archive Collection
1975
1942
1945
1962
Limited Edition of 2000
1963
1975
1953
1946