A brilliant thriller with above all a splendidly intelligent script leading constantly further down into deeper mysteries of spurious handlings of young beautiful women in Soho. You never can guess what to expect next in this labyrinth of erring mistakes, as the police has nothing to go on in their search for a serial killer that makes all his young lady victims vanish without a trace. This is a treat for everyone and must especially have been so for the actors, who all are inspired to do better than their Best - George Sanders in a role that couldn't have suited him better, Lucille Ball in her freshest prime, Alan Mowbray as one of his many doubtful double-dealers with a hidden agenda, Charles Coburn more direct than ever, Cedric Hardwicke for once carefully concealed behind thick glasses as the perfect second hand dealer, and Boris Karloff in a brief but unforgettable display of exasperating horror. I was surprised that Douglas Sirk could make such an exquisitely many-faced film with so many surprising turns to it, which effectively promoted him in my esteem.

This remake of Robert Siodmak's "Pieges" (1939) is an engaging thriller about Scotland Yard's pursuit of a London serial killer who attracts his victims by advertising in the newspapers' personal columns. The mysterious maniac, who's clever enough to have avoided being caught by the police, is also conceited as he regularly sends them notes that include poetry and clues to the identities of his forthcoming targets. Checks carried out by the police reveal that the killer's verses are strongly influenced by the works of Charles Baudelaire and betray a preoccupation with a perceived link between beauty and death. Furthermore, the typeface of these notes is so distinctive that they could only have been produced by one specific typewriter.Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) is a brash New York City dancer who'd travelled to London to work in a stage musical which had closed prematurely due to poor box office returns. After working for a while in her next job as a taxi-dancer in a popular dance hall, she becomes concerned when her fellow dancer and good friend Lucy Barnard (Tanis Chandler) goes missing. Police Inspector Harley Temple (Charles Coburn), is convinced that Lucy has become the killer's latest victim and so interviews Sandra. He quickly recognises her strong personal qualities and so invites her to assist in his hunt for the killer by acting as the bait to catch the culprit. Sandra readily agrees to work undercover as a temporary detective and then starts to systematically reply to each new personal ad that appears.Through her work, Sandra meets a variety of contacts including a seriously deranged retired dress designer called Charles van Druten (Boris Karloff) and a strange character called Dr Nicholas Moryani (Joseph Calleia) who it later transpires is involved in transporting young women to work as slaves in South America. In another of her blind dates, her contact, who she was due to meet at a classical music concert, fails to turn up, but that evening at the concert she meets nightclub owner Robert Fleming (George Sanders) and very soon, they fall in love.Robert is a sophisticated womaniser who lives in a large house with his business partner and close friend, Julian Wilde (Cedric Hardwicke). On the night of their engagement party, Sandra finds a number of suspicious items in Robert's desk (including Lucy's photograph) which lead to him being arrested and becoming the prime suspect in Inspector Temple's investigation but finding conclusive proof of his guilt proves to be extremely difficult."Lured" features a colourful collection of characters and the performances of its top quality cast are consistently good. Lucille Ball is irrepressible despite the number of times that her character has to be rescued from threatening situations and the unorthodox ways in which her bodyguard, Detective H.R. Barrett (George Zucco) finds the solutions to his crossword puzzles are also quite amusing. The emphasis in making this film was clearly on producing an upbeat thriller which has many of the characteristics of a routine whodunit (e.g. numerous red herrings) and judged purely on this basis, it is very successful and entertaining.

There are a few things here that may attract the casual Movie Viewer. The big and certainly eclectic Cast, the title, and those looking for vintage Film-Noir. They may find all but the latter. This is a scatterbrained affair that changes tone many times and its 107 Minute Running Time can seem like an eternity to some.Not without flashes of interest, like the First Act, a bizarre Cameo by Boris Karloff, and an almost mind-boggling way it goes about being true to its Mystery Premise and then abandoning it for syrupy Romance and Upper-Crust Pageantry, and then returning. There are many unnecessary diversions and it is frankly overfilled with fluff and is certainly not Film-Noir.Not a bad Movie, but a strange one, and as a whole it is weighted down with an overload of side steps, and pieces that don't fit comfortably together. Lucy Fans might want to take a peek but others are warned.

Set in London but mainly studio bound, this is a super outing from Douglas Sirk and although known as, Lured, here in the UK, the US title, Personal Column, seems more appropriate as the UK title does suggest the film is rather more hard edged than it is. But, never mind, Lucille Ball is excellent and we can see just what a loss to cinema she was when swallowed up by TV. Indeed all the cast a great, helped by the dialogue and plotting. George Sanders is his usual likable self but it is the Karloff cameo that shines and for me his surreal scene makes the film worth seeing on its own. Things could have been tightened in the middle when we almost forget there is a killer at all but things soon pick up and much fun is had by all.