In this offbeat but very enjoyable crime thriller, a couple of mysterious deaths in the same family raise fears for the safety of a child and suspicions of murder that are hard to prove. The story is given its momentum initially by a quick series of interesting revelations and then later, by the urgency with which it becomes necessary to act in order to ensure that no harm comes to the apparently endangered child.Having been notified that his young niece Polly is seriously ill, businessman Whitney "Cam" Cameron (Joseph Cotten) rushes to the hospital where she's being treated and is relieved when he's told that she seems to be making a successful recovery. He's troubled by the fact that her doctor is unable to make a definite diagnosis of what she's suffering from but, in the circumstances, returns with his widowed sister-in-law Lynne (Jean Peters), to her home where he gets reacquainted with his young nephew Doug (Freddy Ridgeway). Doug (who's Lynne's stepson) is upset about his sister's suffering, especially because she'd kept saying "don't touch my feet" and this reminded him of his father uttering the same words when he was ill with a similar mystery illness from which he never recovered. Cam is very fond of both Lynne and Doug and is later distressed when Polly suffers a relapse and dies.Later, Cam goes to visit his old friend and family lawyer, Fred Sargent (Gary Merrill) and his wife Maggie (Catherine McLeod). During one of their conversations, Maggie remarks that from her research as a writer for the "pulps", Polly's symptoms were similar to those suffered by people who'd been poisoned with strychnine and as Cam's brother Bill had died in similar circumstances, this possibility should be considered. Cam and Fred initially laugh off Maggie's observations but then Fred (in a later conversation) adds that under the terms of Bill's will, Lynne would only be able to inherit his estate if both his children had died before receiving their inheritances. Maggie also then remarks that her research had shown that most cases of killing by poison never actually lead to a conviction.This information and the results of an autopsy carried out on Polly's body make Cam very suspicious of Lynne's role in Bill and Polly's deaths and extremely anxious about the welfare of his nephew, Doug. His concerns are then heightened further when Lynne announces that she intends to take Doug on a trip to Europe for about a year. Without giving them any indications of his intentions, Cam simply turns up on the ocean liner which is taking Lynne and Doug to Europe and carries out an elaborate plan to discover whether or not his suspicions about Lynne (who was his brother's second wife) and his concern for Doug are indeed justified.Despite its modest budget, straightforward plot and relatively short running time, "A Blueprint For Murder" generates plenty of suspense and intrigue especially because pieces of information emerge at different times that throw doubt on Lynne's guilt. Probably the movie's greatest asset though is its cast who are consistently good. The ever-reliable Joseph Cotten is marvellous as the kind and well-mannered Cam and Jean Peters gives a compelling performance as the sophisticated socialite whose composure always seems unshakeable. Gary Merrill and Catherine McLeod are also very good in their key supporting roles.

Joseph Cotten stars as Whitney "Cam" Cameron, the uncle to two adorable tykes. As the movie opens, the girl dies, and as it turns out, she was poisoned deliberately. Suspicion falls on Cams' sister-in-law Lynne (Jean Peters of "Pickup on South Street"), because she stands to gain the most from the death. Cam has his doubts, and will continue to have them for much of the story. Lynne just doesn't seem the type, appearing to have been a very devoted maternal figure to these kids.It's that element of doubt that is the focal point of this routine but engaging mystery flick from 20th Century Fox. The filmmaking is reasonably stylish; Andrew L. Stone directs from his own script. Cotten does a decent job in the lead, but he's outshone by the pretty Peters, who is revealed to be quite a cool customer. Some viewers may feel that the conclusion is rather pre-ordained, but getting there is still fairly enjoyable. The finale consists of a showdown between Cam and Lynne where he waits to get some sort of reaction from her, but she never seems to be anything other than innocent.A very strong supporting cast makes this easy enough to watch: Gary Merrill as Cams' attorney friend Fred Sargent, Catherine McLeod as Freds' wife Maggie, an author of pulp fiction, and Jack Kruschen and Barney Phillips as detectives. Jonathan Hole (as Dr. Stevenson), Mae Marsh (as the housekeeper Anna), Walter Sande (as the district attorney) and Carleton Young (as a ships' detective) are among those appearing uncredited.At a mere 77 minutes, "A Blueprint for Murder" tells a sometimes tense story (with no filler) that goes on no longer than it needs to.Six out of 10.

Film noir is an individual taste, and while the genre is certainly one of the most famous of classic movies today, there are so few that can be called "all-time classics". Certainly, when you say "Film Noir", you may think instantly of "Laura", "Double Indemnity", "Gilda", "The Big Sleep", among a few others. But then, there are the "sleepers", low-budget delights like "Detour" and "Decoy", cult classics like "Somewhere in the Night" and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes", and later day film noir entries like "Cape Fear" and "The Manchurian Candidate". Some might rank the more obscure entries in this genre as just average, but there are hidden delights out there just yearning to be re-discovered."A Blueprint For Murder" took me totally by surprise, and I was not expecting the twists and turns of this exciting melodrama. It all starts with an unseen little girl screaming in ailment, supposedly due to viral encephalitis, but suspicions lead to more being revealed than meets the eye. The poor little girl's uncle (Joseph Cotten) arrives and exchanges pleasantries with Jean Peters, the girl's stepmother and widow of his late brother. They are seemingly very close, but certain factors begin to make him suspicious of her. His close friend (Gary Merrill) and Merrill's mystery obsessed wife (Catherine McLeod) give him the hints that something else could be up. Could the seemingly sweet Peters be a strictnine poisoning murderess? After the poor girl dies, Cotten keeps putting off leaving town on business, afraid that his nephew (Freddy Ridgeway) might become Peters' next victim. But there's no evidence to prove that Peters isn't anything more than a loving woman, and it is up to Cotten to go out of his way (here very desperately) to prove himself either right or wrong.All the twists and turns are there for a desperate measure to reveal the truth, and it all culminates on a European bound steamship where Cotten himself might be revealed to be a killer. This is another chase between cat and mouse where the stakes are obvious. As Peters points out after her possible motives are exposed, Cotten has possible motive too. So the viewer begins to question what seems obvious as possibly being not so, and who seems to be good as being not so. The fact that romance slowly erupts between Cotten and Peters makes them a couple straight out of memories of MacMurray and Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity" and Mitchum and Greer in "Out of the Past". This one has a twist towards the end that left me with a dropped jaw and clutching my hands, both in tension and delight, as to the twists and turns of this film noir roller-coaster.

Most of this movie is a "did-she-or-didn't-she-do it?" story. Two family members have been poisoned and it looks like the mother, "Lynne Cameron" (Jean Peters) is the killer, but it's hard to prove. As the film goes on, one has more and more doubts whether she did it. Perhaps the innocent-sounding "Uncle Cam" (Joseph Cotten) is the killer. Hmmmm.....which one is it? Was it the pretty Peters or Cotten?For most of the short movie, it was entertaining. It began to drag a bit in the last third but the film, since it is short, should keep your interest enough to find out who's the killer and how she-or-he did it. I agree with those posters who felt the ending was a bit disappointing. I was looking for something a little more clever than was presented.I'd also liked to have seen more scenes with the two supporting actors: Catherine McLeod and Gary Merrill. Both actors were fascinating. McLeod played "Maggie Sargent," the first character in here to suspect foul play after a child's death. Merrill played her husband, "Fred." He also was "Cam's" lawyer.McLeod is deceptively good-looking and I wish I could see more things she did, but her IMDb resume indicates she mainly acted on television in the 1950s.Overall, this is definitely worth one viewing. It is usually worth seeing the sexy Peters in her prime before she went into retirement a few years later. She did four films in 1953 and three more the next year, several of them being good film noirs ("Pickup On South Street" and "Niagara.")