Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Blistering performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This movie used to turn up a lot on Australian television during the 1960's, but now seems quite rare with the DVD fetching a high price if Amazon is any guide.It's a serial killer movie before the term was actually coined. The film is set in Hollywood London with plenty of fog, sumptuous interiors, loads of atmosphere and a terrific cast.Lucille Ball, a few years before "I love Lucy", plays Sandra Carpenter an American working as a taxi dancer. When a friend of hers becomes a victim of The Poet Killer, she is hired by Inspector Temple (Charles Coburn) of Scotland Yard as a temporary undercover policewoman to act as bait.Although the way the police put the clues together with early attempts at psychological profiling is interesting, credulity is stretched when Temple enlists Sandra after a few questions and asking her to lift her dress to check the shape of her legs – he also gives her a pistol. However Charles Couburn brings plenty of gravitas to his character, which makes up for the odd lapse in logic.The murder plot is woven around wanted ads in the paper and messages based on the poems of Baudelaire, "One of the most fantastic madmen who ever lived", according to Inspector Temple. Sandra also becomes involved with Robert Fleming (George Sanders) and his business partner Julian Wilde (Cedric Hardwick) who together run a string of popular nightclubs. Both men are drawn into the mystery, which keeps the whole plot pretty close to home.The film is full of red herrings including a bizarre sequence starring Boris Karloff.The reason why the film works so well is the brilliant mood that is established from the start, a clever script and the smooth direction by Douglas Sirk – the film has a light touch without losing suspense. Then there are the stars; a very pretty Lucille Ball exudes feistiness and confidence, while George Sanders delivers that unique quality of unflappable sophistication and superiority, and he plays a nicer guy here than his Addison Dewitt in "All About Eve" – he was a brilliant screen presence that was never replaced.Although a suspension of disbelief helps, this movie has something. I love the ending, but I wouldn't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. It's one of those films I can always watch again.

A homicidal maniac is loose in London, murdering young women he meets through newspaper personal ads. When Lucy Barnard goes missing, her friend Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) agrees to help Scotland Yard catch a killer. Along the way, however, she falls in love with number one suspect Robert Fleming (George Sanders). Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he can't be the killer, can he?Despite all the flaws in Lured, it's just too much fun not to give it a positive rating. The cast is strong. I really enjoyed watching several of them play against character. Sanders usually played men in charge of their environment. It was interesting to watch him play a character who has lost control of his situation. Lucy is obviously best know for her work in comedy. While she a few funny moments in Lured, I was really impressed with her efforts in the more dramatic parts. George Zucco, an actor I know best playing Egyptian priests or mad scientists, gets a chance to do comedy. He's more than up to the task. Throw into the mix the talents of Boris Karloff, Charles Coburn, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Alan Mowbray, and Alan Napier and you've got one impressive cast. Beyond the cast, other positives I found in Lured, include: fabulous costumes, nice cinematography, a witty script, and plenty of atmosphere. But as I said, Lured has it's share of flaws. Chief among them is that there's really not much of a mystery. I found it way too easy to spot the killer. And his motives are a bit muddled. If he did it because he loved Sandra, then why kill all the other women? If he did it because he loved Fleming (as some suspect), then why frame him? There's a lot of plot inconsistency. Finally, as much as I enjoyed watching Lucy and Karloff in their scenes together, it doesn't really fit with the rest of the movie. It almost felt like this part came from another film. These scenes really do nothing to advance the plot.Even with the multiple problems, like I said, Lured is a fun movie. A 6/10 from me.

What a pity. Douglas Sirk, such a fine director, must have preferred not to remember this particular film noir which he made, or should I say tried to make. The casting of Lucille Ball in the lead doomed the project from the start. She was purely a comedienne, and with the greatest of effort in this supposedly serious film, she simply could not pull it off and ends up looking stupid. And I hope I do not say that with benefit of hindsight, since I mentally erased I LOVE LUCY from my mind, or tried to do so. Many comedians have done a wonderful job in straight roles, as a result of inspired casting against type. But Lucille Ball is not among that number. The screenplay of this film by Leo Rosten is also very poor. Sirk's direction is not bad, it is the film which is bad. George Sanders goes way over the top with his sinister and lecherous leerings. But then the script suddenly calls for this creep to turn into a prince charming whom Lucille Ball loves, and wants to marry. No continuity comes into this, it is just mandated by the script. Sir Cedric Hardwicke gives probably the best performance in the film, and almost manages to make his scenes work. The film is ostensibly set in London, with the Scotland Yard chief being absurdly played by the 'down home' American actor Charles Coburn, of all things! The film opens with some interesting stock night shots of Piccadilly Circus, with the prominent sign for the Trocadero displayed, but by and large this film is strictly a studio job. The scenes with Boris Karloff enacting insane fantasies are so ridiculous that one wonders whether this whole film was intended as some kind of joke. Don't bother with this one, even if you are a Douglas Sirk fan.

It's kind of fun, an example of an early serial killer, just as tricky as all the more modern ones. This madman advertises for pretty girls then murders them because he's too shy to reveal his love. (It's murky, but then the whole plot is a little turbid.) It's more amusing than suspenseful. Lucille Ball, doing a fine job, is swept up in the police effort to nail the murderer. She's used as bait.Of course, the agony columns carry lots of advertisements for pretty girls available for promising jobs, and Ball has to answer the most suspicious-looking adverts. (This is in London.) One of them is Boris Karloff, more menacing than ever, who has her wear a formal gown of his own design and displays her before an audience of dogs and mannequins in his shabby loft. He goes berserk and begins to chase her around with a sabre. He is, however, more of a red herring than a monster.The real killer is strongly hinted at, about two thirds of the way through the movie, as the movie grows less comic and somewhat darker.The cast is exceptionally good. George Sanders is always a splendid cad, and he has a sort of above-it-all character here, minus the sneer but with that built-in superiority. He's also believable as a male romantic lead. Lucille Ball is not nearly as dumb as Lucy and gets to stretch her acting chops a little. She has no esplaineen to do regarding her performance. But then everyone is quite all right. Interesting to see Sir Cedric Hardwicke as a villain. He's certainly convincing. What a marvelous voice. Joseph Calleia is so overcooked as another villain that his eyes pop out like the thermometer button that comes with the Thanksgiving turkey. George Zucco, for a change, is a lower-class cop, on the side of the angels.It's a good example of the kind of films that used to be put out in the 30s and 40s. It's overscored. The music tells us exactly what sensations we should feel, just in case we're confused. Loose ends lie all over the place. It's unpretentious but it includes poems from Baudelaire and Schubert's Eighth Symphony without any apology or judgment.You'll probably like it.