Lured | |
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theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Douglas Sirk |
Produced by | James Nasser |
Screenplay by | Leo Rosten |
Story by |
Jacques Companéez Simon Gantillon Ernest Neuville |
Starring |
George Sanders Lucille Ball Charles Coburn Boris Karloff |
Music by | Michel Michelet |
Cinematography | William H. Daniels |
Edited by | John M. Foley James E. Newcom |
Production
company |
Hunt Stromberg Productions
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Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $700,000 |
Lured is a 1947 film noir directed by Douglas Sirk and starring George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn, and Boris Karloff. The film is a remake of Robert Siodmak's 1939 French film Pieges (titled Personal Column in the United States).
Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) is an American who came to London to perform in a show, but now is working as a taxi dancer. She is upset to find out that friend and fellow dancer Lucy Barnard (Tanis Chandler) is missing and believed to be the latest victim of the notorious "Poet Killer," who lures victims with ads in newspapers' personal columns and sends poems to taunt the police.
Scotland Yard Inspector Harley Temple (Charles Coburn) asks if Sandra would be willing to work undercover to help find her missing friend and the killer. He sees first-hand how observant she is and gives her a temporary police identification card and a gun. Sandra is asked to answer personal ads, watched over by an officer bodyguard, H.R. Barrett (George Zucco).
By coincidence, she meets the dashing man-about-town stage revue producer Robert Fleming (George Sanders). In the meantime, Sandra answers an ad placed by Charles van Druten (Boris Karloff), a former fashion designer who is now mentally imbalanced. Barrett has to come to her rescue.
She also needs to be saved, this time by Fleming, from a mysterious figure named Mr. Moryani (Joseph Calleia). He apparently lures young women to South America by offering them a promising opportunity while, in reality, wanting to recruit them for mundane criminal purposes.
Fleming shares a stately home with Julian Wilde (Cedric Hardwicke), his business partner and friend. Fleming ultimately does win Sandra's heart, and they become engaged. Inspector Temple thanks her for her efforts and even agrees to come to their engagement party.