Framed (1947 film)
| Framed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Wallace |
| Screenplay by | Ben Maddow |
| Story by | John Patrick |
| Produced by | Jules Schermer |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Janis Carter |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
| Edited by | Richard Fantl |
| Music by | Marlin Skiles Arthur Morton |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Framed is a 1947 American film noir directed by Richard Wallace and featuring Glenn Ford, Janis Carter, Barry Sullivan and Edgar Buchanan. The B movie is generally praised by critics as an effective crime thriller despite its low budget.[1]
Plot
Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford) takes to driving a truck when he falls on hard times. When the brakes stop working while driving through a small town, he runs into the car of Jeff Cunningham (Edgar Buchanan) and is arrested. A total stranger, barmaid Paula Craig (Janis Carter), pays his bail, and Mike is quickly drawn into a criminal plot devised by the seductive femme fatale.
Paula talks a married man, Steve (Barry Sullivan), into robbing the bank that he manages. The two then drug Mike, intending to frame him for the crime. Paula proceeds to kill Steve and take all of the stolen cash. She is able to convince Mike that he is the one who killed Steve in a drunken rage and that she has covered up for him, thereby implicating herself. She begs him to run away with her. Mike considers her offer until he learns that Jeff, who has become a friend, has been accused of the killing—and that Paula intends to pin the robbery that Steve committed on Jeff to give the police a fall guy for the crime.
Paula is tricked by Mike into opening a safe-deposit box where the stolen money is, and the police quickly place her under arrest.
Cast
- Glenn Ford as Mike Lambert
- Janis Carter as Paula Craig
- Barry Sullivan as Steve Price
- Edgar Buchanan as Jeff Cunningham
- Karen Morley as Beth
- Jim Bannon as Jack Woodworth
- Barbara Woodell as Jane Woodworth
Reception
Critical response
Critic Mark Deming called the film, "[a] superior low-budget film noir."[2] Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film and wrote, "Janis Carter gives a very sexy and dangerous performance, which plays off very well against Glenn Ford's very earnest one of the good guys who can't get a lucky break. Even when he finds someone he could love she turns out to be poison, someone who was about to poison his coffee until she was reassured that he does not know something incriminating about her role in the crime. It was an entertaining B-film that ably caught how an honest but desperate man reacts after hooking up with a falsehearted woman. The good performances overcame the cheap production values and slight story."[3]
Noir analysis
Film critic Hans J. Wollstein wrote, "These silly censorship rules aside, Framed remains a thrilling example of 1940s film noir at its best: economically told, atmospherically photographed (at, among other places, Lake Arrowhead) and more than competently acted. Carter, especially, is a revelation and it is too bad that she was mostly used by Columbia Pictures for decorative purposes, a sort of second-tier Rita Hayworth."[4]
References
- ^ Framed at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
- ^ Deming, Mark. Framed at AllMovie.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, September 20, 2001; accessed: August 4, 2013.
- ^ Wollstein, Hans J. Allmovie by Rovi, film review, no date. Accessed: August 4, 2013.
External links
- Framed at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Framed at IMDb
- Framed at AllMovie
- Framed at the TCM Movie Database
- Framed film clip on YouTube