Takes itself way too seriously

Purely Joyful Movie!

Please don't spend money on this.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A fairly typical murder mystery set in the cobbled streets of London (and seemingly sharing many of the sets and cast of the Rathbone/Holmes series with it) is enlivened by the presence of a distinguished cast who breathe life into some of the more stuffier characters in this film. The brisk direction of Douglas Sirk is generally assured, although the film does get bogged down in romance in the second half and is also a tad overlong. What I liked most about this film were the unexpected plot turns: Ball manages to capture a maniac and undercover a secret woman-smuggling operation before she even begins to get close to the real killer in this film! There's certainly a wealth of plot strands which make the film well worth a look for fans of the period who know what to expect.Lucille Ball makes for a pretty, yet feisty heroine, while George Sanders is equal charm and anguish as a lover turned murder suspect. For the horror fan, the film is chiefly of note for the presence of three distinguished genre veterans, although it also skilfully succeeds in working up some atmosphere and a few chills in the gloomy streets of London where danger seemingly lurks on every corner. Firstly it is the great man himself, Boris Karloff, who makes an appearance. Karloff plays a mad clothes designer who gets Ball to model in his abandoned theatre, the only witnesses being a couple of dummies and a dog. Karloff really has lost it, and when Ball snubs him he turns murderous. Although his is only a ten minute scene, Karloff is brilliantly convincing in his role of a distinguished man who has lost his mind, and his performance is both moving and frightening. Secondly, under-rated veteran George Zucco (usually a poor man's villain of the '40s) has a fun comic turn as a policeman with a penchant for crosswords; fans will be pleased to hear that he gets to engage in a (brief) fight with Karloff too, as a bonus! Cedric Hardwicke - a veteran of half a dozen classic horrors - has a minor role as a secretary.With an intelligent script, good performances from the cast and plenty going on, LURED is a film which is rarely boring and passes the time well for those who watch. My only quibble is that the identity of the killer is rather obvious throughout, but they still manage to throw in a final twist to put us off the scent at the end. While not a memorable film in any respect, LURED fulfils what it set out to do (i.e. involve and entertain) and is worth a watch on a rainy afternoon for those looking for something different.

Film noir thriller about an American dancer (Lucille Ball) in London recruited by Scotland Yard to help nab a serial killer. The killer, who taunts the police by sending them poems about the killings, finds his victims through ads in the personal column of the newspaper. Lucy's investigation puts her in contact with several odd characters played by fine character actors. The identity of the killer is fairly obvious even if you managed to avoid being spoiled by plot descriptions or other reviews. That being said, it's still fun to watch Lucy play detective and fun to sort through the red herrings. She snaps off quite a few 'tough dame' lines as well. The cast is just fantastic. In addition to Lucy, there's George Sanders, Charles Coburn, Alan Napier, Alan Mowbray, Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, and George Zucco. What a lineup! Karloff's part is tiny but he makes the most of it. If there's a major negative with the film, it's the length. For this era, it's unusual to see an 'A' runtime given to what is essentially a 'B' movie. The cast and Douglas Sirk's direction make it an enjoyable watch but it really should have been cut down some.

Believe me, Lured is one truly preposterous "serial killer" movie (even for the 1940s). And nothing makes me cringe more than to read someone referring to this dumb-ass "Chick Flick" as being "Film Noir" - 'Cause if that's the category they place this film into, then they really don't know what the heck they're talking about.And, besides that - I'd say that Boris Karloff's over-the-top portrayal of the eccentric fashion designer, Charles van Druten, has got to be one of the absolute, most embarrassing moments ever recorded in the history of a big-budget, big-name Hollywood production.Here are a couple of things that, in my books, lost Lured some significant points - (1) Scotland Yard's laughable procedure for recruiting the gold-digging, dance-hall girl, Sandra Carpenter, as a "lure" to trap the infamous "Poet Killer" (and, yes, they even went so far as to equip her with her very own pistol).(2) The "real" identity of the killer was shamelessly given away about two-thirds of the way into the story, and yet this tale was dragged out for another 35 minutes, putting this annoyed viewer through pure hell as I foolishly stuck it out to the very end.And, finally - Speaking about Lucille Ball - Not only did I think that she was totally unconvincing and ill-suited for her part - But I sure got sick & tired of seeing this tiresome clothes-horse strut out, in scene after scene, in yet another smart and/or elegant outfit.*Trivia Note* - Even though Lured was set in London, England, it was actually filmed entirely on an indoor set in Hollywood, California.

In spite of some miscasting in key roles this mystery about a London serial killer never flags much in part to the energetic direction of Douglas Sirk. Sirk doesn't allow the viewer to rest a moment as he fills his scenes with sumptuous compositions of detail and action that give hint or distract from the murder trail. It is a work of superb craftsmanship and a very entertaining one at that.Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) is a streetwise taxi dancer at a club in London whose co- worker and friend disappears raising suspicion she may be the latest victim of a well read serial killer partial to Baudelaire who enjoys taunting the police. She brings her concerns to police inspector Temple (Charles Coburn) who hires her on the spot to work undercover to trap the killer. She then gets involved with well known cad about town and prime suspect Robert Fleming (George Sanders) which totally confuses her handlers. Fleming is eventually charged with murder but Sandra remains torn.Lured is one suspenseful fun ride of a whodunnit with Sirk and top tier cinematographer William Daniels filling each scene with fluid, pertinent detail and camera movement that doesn't waste an inch of the frame. It does get convoluted in moments but even that can be rewarding as in the scene with Sandra believing she's luring the killer (a wonderful cameo by Boris Karloff) who instead turns out to be a demented eccentric into psycho drama. George Sanders as the rake is perfectly cast. Being one of the few actors capable of playing heel or hero convincingly he extends the guessing game. Cedric Hardwicke does exactly the opposite however with a tell tale staginess. It may be unfair to single out Lucille Ball as being miscast given the fact that their is no more famous a fictional character and actual person melding in entertainment history. What Daniels did for Garbo he does for Lucy (see) and she starts strong but then goes in and out with a wide eyed naive the rest of the way that doesn't fit a noir fatlale. Then again it may well have been Sirk's intention to give the film a lighthearted spirit while still making biting observations and giving a master class in mise en scene.