Producer Hunt Stromberg of Lured wanted to make very sure his audience couldn't possibly suspect whoever the elusive strangler of young women might be in post World War II London. So he gathered a cast together any one of the men could have been that strangler who gets his victims through personal ad columns in London's papers.
Lucille Ball is an American entertainer there who is raising quite a row with Scotland Yard over the disappearance of a friend. So Chief Inspector Charles Coburn decides to use her as undercover bait. A risky business, but Lucy has moxie.
So Ms. Ball has a couple of adventures and even uncovers a white slavery ring, but no strangler. One of the cast is arrested, but he's not the right guy. At the very end we learn who it is without a few harrowing moments for our leading lady.
When you've got a cast with people like George Sanders, Cedric Hardwicke, Joseph Calleia, Alan Mowbray, George Zucco, Alan Napier and Boris Karloff that could be any one of them. Stromberg and director Douglas Sirk counted on the movie going public's instinctive reactions to these people.
It works nicely too. Even Coburn has seen some villainy on the screen. Lured is a nice mystery to it. I will give you a hint, it's the most cultured character in the cast.
Lucille Ball is an American entertainer there who is raising quite a row with Scotland Yard over the disappearance of a friend. So Chief Inspector Charles Coburn decides to use her as undercover bait. A risky business, but Lucy has moxie.
So Ms. Ball has a couple of adventures and even uncovers a white slavery ring, but no strangler. One of the cast is arrested, but he's not the right guy. At the very end we learn who it is without a few harrowing moments for our leading lady.
When you've got a cast with people like George Sanders, Cedric Hardwicke, Joseph Calleia, Alan Mowbray, George Zucco, Alan Napier and Boris Karloff that could be any one of them. Stromberg and director Douglas Sirk counted on the movie going public's instinctive reactions to these people.
It works nicely too. Even Coburn has seen some villainy on the screen. Lured is a nice mystery to it. I will give you a hint, it's the most cultured character in the cast.