Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Lured Blu-ray Movie Review

Or, a serial killer loves Lucy.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 21, 2016

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 would seem to be heading into noir territory in its early going, what with its rainy London setting, its deep chiaroscuro lighting regimen and the implied threats against a pretty young blonde dancer named Lucy Barnard (Tanis Chandler) who has a tendency to try to find romance by responding to personal ads. However, a quick throwaway sight gag in an early scene, and then the appearance of Lucille Ball as Barnard’s cohort Sandra Carpenter, a “been there, seen that” type who is prone to cracking wise, makes it clear that the screenplay (by noted Yiddish scholar Leo Rosten, of all people) is going to be at least a bit on the cheeky side. Perhaps ironically, then, it’s this very winking aspect that tends to undercut some of the film’s suspense.

It’s no major spoiler to announce that Barnard does indeed go missing after responding to a personal ad, which is when it’s detailed that the local police, under the command of Inspector Harley Temple (Charles Coburn), have been trying for some time to apprehend a serial killer who finds his victims through the personals and then has the audacity to mail the cops poems about his victims. In one of the least convincing plot developments in any purported crime thriller (be it humorous or not), Temple just kind of asks Sandra on the spot to go undercover to try to capture the bad guy, something she does with just as little motivation as her mentor did in asking her to do it. It’s obviously a convenient setup, but it stretches credulity to the breaking point.

Meanwhile, Sandra has been approached by a supposed talent agent at her “taxi dancing” emporium, and that in turn leads to her to the suave if arrogant Robert Fleming (George Sanders), a theatrical producer of some note. Fleming is partners with a seeming toady named Julian Wilde (Cedric Hardwicke), a kind of cool but simpering sort who is excited about Fleming’s plans for a new theatrical venue. Sandra initially doesn’t have time to pursue her actual career goals since the police have her busy answering a series of personal ads, which leads to an intentionally funny set of vignettes where she has to deal with everything from a little boy to a probably mad fashion designer named Van Druten (Boris Karloff in a fun cameo). Luckily the cops have a bodyguard named Barrett (George Zucco) assigned to her, and he does in fact intervene in a couple of precarious moments.

The film fairly wallows in red herrings, introducing a whole slew of potential murderers who traipse before Sandra’s wide eyes. An expected romance with Fleming blossoms, at which point the film finally starts to tip over into a more traditional mystery ambience, as Sandra stumbles across clues that seem to point to Fleming as the culprit. It’s notable that these developments occur quite late in the film, something that in and of itself may provide clues that all is not as it seems. In fact, the “reveal” in this film struck me as curiously similar to the one in Laura, where the real villain’s implied repression of homosexuality plays into the proceedings.

Lured is never less than entertaining, but it’s awfully lightweight and fails to generate any real tension along the way. Lucy makes for a forthright and spunky heroine, but her innate comic sensibilities also tend to diffuse any suspense. It’s hard to feel overly concerned for a damsel in distress when you’re busy laughing at her exaggerated facial expressions.

Lured Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Lured Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Lured Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jeremy Arnold


• 2016 Re-Release Trailer (1080p; 1:11)

Lured Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.