Lured (1947) ~ Spoiler Version

It was killing me to dance around spoilers in my last post, but the film is a whodunit and respect is due to those who like figuring out the murderer on their own.

If you have viewed the movie, don't give a snit about spoilers, or just like wild film theories, please read on. 

By the way, TCM will be showing Lured again on Thursday, December 3rd at 8 pm EST as part of its George Sanders birthday tribute. You could always view it and then come back. ;-)

Lured (1947) ~ Film Noir's Taxi Dancer

Normally associated with light, fluffy comedies (Annabel series, MGM musicals, and—of course—I Love Lucy), Lucille Ball seems an unlikely candidate to traverse the dark streets of the underworld. This is exactly where she found herself, though, when her agent arranged a loan out to Twentieth Century Fox for The Dark Corner in 1946 and United Artists for Lured in 1947. In her autobiography, Love, Lucy, Ball explained that she was less than thrilled with her agent’s arrangement:

All my affairs were being handled by this agent*, and I wanted to have a serious discussion with him about what I was doing, what was going to further my career, what kinds of roles were good or bad for me. But he couldn’t be bothered, and next thing I knew, I had been loaned out to a totally strange studio without my consent or even my knowledge. (143)

*Notice how she does not mention the agent’s name—what a lady!

Ever the trouper, she made the best of the situation and put on fine performances in both thrillers. (Critics concur—see what New York Times writers Bosley Crowther and E.J.B. penned here and here about the films.)