Summer Indulgence: Lured (1947)

It's good to be back! As much as I had hoped to be able to keep it up, my New Year, New Movie mission fizzled out rapidly due to rising demands from work and life. I have finally achieved a few weeks of respite and am free to indulge myself in movies. For Summer Indulgence, I will continue to work on watching a new movie every day, but will also be revisiting some old favorites. 

Though I've acquired a number of movies that still need to be inventoried and shelved, today's movie attracted my notice while I was inexplicably exploring the streaming options. There was no way I was going to pass up Lured after seeing it was a film noir with Lucille Ball, George Sanders and Boris Karloff, along with Alan Napier (Alfred in Batman TV series), George Zucco (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) and Sir Cedric Hardwicke (The Invisible Man Returns). 

"A fine gentleman of means desires friendship with young and untouched girl. Enclose photographs, intentions of marriage. Box 477."

The Gist

A poetic serial killer is luring pretty, young girls through the personal ads. When Sandra Carpenter's bestie ends up a victim, Scotland Yard appeals to her to become the luscious bait to trap the madman with a flair for Baudelaire.

Memorable Moments

Night life in London.

Blue Eyes makes her love connection.

A poetic killer, or Hitchcock wannabe?

Examining evidence.

"What is it tonight, a sweepstake for zombies?
I hope you two will be very happy."

"Eh, shut up!"

Job qualifications.

Position filled.

Working for Mr. van Druten.

Karloff is a treasure.

Modeling his gown.

"You will never leave this room alive."

"But you want to learn to take care of your gun, Miss Carpenter."

Meeting Mr. Fleming.

All for love 🎼

Engaged!

"Ruff!"

Preparing for the engagement party.

An unhappy discovery.

Interrogation

Confronted with evidence.

A corpse turns up in the river.

Cat and mouse.

All for love 🎼

Thoughts

This movie was visually delicious! I loved every minute of it, though the scene with Boris Karloff was truly a treat. I don't know what possessed me to go looking online for movies today when I have plenty to watch around here already, but surely some movie magic was at play to lead me to such a wonderful film that I was unaware existed. It was the perfect indulgence to kick off my summer movie viewing. This is a keeper that I will be watching again. If you love shadowy noir murder mysteries, then be sure to check this one out. 

Season of Horror: Masquerade (1961)

Happy Halloween! I've been wanting to write about this misunderstood episode of Thriller for quite awhile, and give it the appreciation it deserves. Masquerade is a quintessential Halloween episode, which is why I've chosen to watch it tonight. It aired the day before Halloween in 1961, and when I first saw it, I couldn't help but think it was like being at a kid's Halloween party back in the 60s. The kind where you pass the peeled grapes and spaghetti noodles and someone jumps out and says BOO! This episode is all about Halloween fun. Here's something to get you in the spirit.

The viewer is expected to determine who is wearing the masks in this episode. It leads one to wonder that if kids wear monster masks on Halloween, then what kind of masks do the monsters wear? It is fun, lighthearted, and for it's time, portrayed vampires in a uniquely different light. You'll find no capes or fangs or fake Transylvanian accents here. As Karloff says in his intro, "Before this terrifying adventure is ended, you'll change some of your outdated ideas about vampires."

This episode is appreciated even more on second viewing after seeing the reveal at the end, as much of the dialogue is cleverly written and will take on new meaning. Elizabeth Montgomery and Tom Poston play well together, and the lighting and detail in the house is a pleasure to watch. It looks as though Norman Bates left behind objects of his taxidermy. There's much to enjoy about this episode.

"Just such a night as this, who knows what masquerade the living dead may choose."

Season of Horror: La Strega (1962)

It's Thriller time! We're getting close to Halloween and it's time to show some love and respect to the witches. Jeannette Nolan plays one brilliantly in La Strega. I have not seen this episode since watching it with the Thriller-a-Day boys back in October 2010. This episode was directed by that talented lady, Ida Lupino.

A pretty little Italian girl is washing her laundry in the river when she's accosted by three brutish males calling her Strega. The doltish ringleader with the one word vocabulary slaps her around and then picks her up and tosses her in the river, where she thrashes about in the water.

Karloff arrives on scene to make the introductions, and defines Strega as witch, "a dreadful word for a horrible creature." He goes on to describe how witchcraft in Italy was called the old religion over a hundred years ago, and that pious peasants used extreme measures to fight witches, but that witches can fight back and wreak a fearful vengeance on those who stand in the way.

"She's outcast, unwanted, feared, and the image of her that has come down to us through the ages is a frightening one indeed."

Season of Horror: The Walking Dead (1936)

I'm forging ahead tonight in an insane attempt to get through the bulk of my classic horror movies--because Winter is Coming. Hopefully I'll have some real time off by then--the kind I don't have to work through--and I'll complete all my unfinished business before moving on to the Season of Silents. That's just the piecemeal way I'm putting this scrapbook together.

To celebrate the beginning of Season 7 of The Walking Dead, I'm watching The Walking Dead, 1930s style. I won't be watching the contemporary version until tomorrow, but I thought it'd be fun to see this one tonight. There is no zombie apocalypse going on here, and the only dead guy walking is one of my favorite horror guys, Boris Karloff. This film can be found on the Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics set. I recommend picking this set up while you can.

This movie was directed by Michael Curtiz, who you may not know that you know. Or at least I didn't, until I kept seeing his name reappear on a lot of my pre-code movies like God's Gift to Women, The Office Wife, Bright Lights, The Mad Genius (Boris Karloff appears briefly in this pre-Frank film), and one of my favorites, Female. I was further surprised to discover he directed Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas. I could list more but I should get on with it. I don't know how it is that I did not know this guy's name as well as I knew Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, F. W. Murnau, Billy Wilder, Cecil B. DeMille, or Alfred Hitchcock. But I do now and now so do you. Let's move on.

"Leave the dead to their maker. The Lord our God is a jealous god."

Season of Horror: Pigeons from Hell (1961)

It's time to revisit one of Thriller's most highly rated episodes, Pigeons from Hell. Just to put things in context, check out what folks were watching during the 1960-61 season.

Our show opens with a car driving off-road in a vehicle not made for off-road driving. The driver sideswipes a tree and then gets stuck in a sump. Two young guys step out of the car to check their predicament. While one guy notes the joys of the south, including the swamps, and blames the other for taking a shortcut, the other fella is not feeling in much of a joking mood about it. He comes up with a brilliant plan to locate a big pole in the middle of nowhere to jam under the front wheels to try and get some traction. Since it's his plan, his buddy suggests he go find the pole. Turns out they're not going to need it.

While searching the woods, a yowling sound grabs his attention. He walks toward the sound and sees a group of pigeons congregated on the grounds of a run down estate. The yowling sound happens again as he stands among them, causing the pigeons to fly up in his face. He freaks out and yells for Tim, who suggests they go check out the old house. He is still spooked but follows Tim into the creepy old place.

We cut to Karloff in a foggy wood, who describes the many frightening creatures of the swamp, and notes that our young friend is alarmed by seemingly harmless pigeons, but that he has cause for alarm because they are the pigeons from hell. He relates how spirits come back from the dead to guard their ancestral home from intruders, who in life fed on evil but in death return to feed upon the living, driven by the spell of a terrible curse. He also lets us know the two boys are brothers, but his intro gave no indication of the horrifying event that follows.

"You mean he can turn women into zombies?"

Season of Horror: Parasite Mansion (1961)

I'm getting started on my horror viewing late tonight, so I'm dedicating myself to another episode of TV horror. Tonight's featured attraction, "Parasite Mansion," comes from that awesome horror anthology hosted by Boris Karloff, Thriller. I will be revisiting a few of my favorites from this series.

It's hard to believe it's been 6 years since I've seen some of these episodes. "Parasite Mansion" is one that I recall enjoying quite a bit, due especially to the performance of Jeanette Nolan. I must say that having temperatures close to 100 degrees is really spoiling my mood for the old dark house genre, but I'm forging ahead anyway and hoping the weather will follow suit.

Season of Horror: Frankenstein (1931)

Sunday afternoon seems ideal for watching one of Universal Pictures classic horror movies. I have selected Frankenstein for today's viewing. I know this film from childhood, but I still never tire of seeing it. I have always thought of this solely as a classic monster movie, but now that I've had quite a bit of pre-code movie experience, my perspective has changed somewhat.

I've seen Mae Clarke, who plays Elizabeth, as a moll who gets a grapefruit in the face in Public Enemy, as well as a prostitute hooking up with a naive soldier in Waterloo Bridge. John Boles plays Victor Moritz and is the face I recognize from Shirley Temple movies. Dwight Frye was Renfield before Fritz. Edward Van Sloan was Van Helsing before Doctor Waldman. Boris Karloff...well I still don't think of Frankenstein as being played by Boris Karloff, which is due to Karloff's brilliant acting and make-up. While this movie has been recreated many times over, there is nothing like the original Frankenstein.

"Where should we be if nobody tried to find out what lies beyond?"