Traquée

Janis Carter boasted a largely undistinguished filmography from the 1940s but she deserved (as so many of her female peers from this era did) better parts and greater exposure. As the scheming and duplicitous Paula Craig, she personifies the cool blonde bombshell (while her line readings are a wee bit stilted, her body language is instinctive and sensational). She's the spider into whose web drifts Glenn Ford, an out-of-work mining engineer with a bit of an alcohol problem who's looking for a break. Meanwhile, Carter's on the lookout for her embezzling boyfriend's lookalike, to furnish a warm body to provide a charred corpse. This is James M. Cain territory, and, though we've been through it with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray and with Lana Turner and John Garfield, this effort by Carter and Ford deserves more prominence; its writing, direction and cinematography are all well above average. One unique moment: a banner head in the local newspaper lets us know that one of the characters has been charged with murder, but just below it, in the mock-up, is the smaller headline "Meteorite lands near baby." I think they made that movie, too, about 10 years later.

This little film, made by Columbia Studios, is very enjoyable!! All about a woman who is greedy and wants to get hold of a quarter of a million dollars and plans to rob a bank with the bank president himself, but then something goes awry and well........ you will just have to watch this great B-movie to find out the rest, but I assure you that it is a film that is very good!! Nice work by Glenn Ford and Janis Carter. This film is a bit like "Double Indemnity", only with a twist ending, and a lower budget. Oh, to have this released on DVD--I would be so happy. I just love these old black and white film noir type films from the 1940's and 1950's.

Glenn Ford is Mike Lambert in "Framed," a 1947 noir also starring Janis Carter, Barry Sullivan, and Edgar Buchanan.

Ford plays a man who takes a job driving a truck that ends up having no brakes. Once at his destination, he enters a bar/restaurant called La Paloma and comes to the attention of waitress Paula Lambert (Carter) - and vice versa.

Turns out she's been waiting for someone like Ford to come along. Well, hasn't every woman? Paula and her boyfriend, Steven Price, need someone to be identified as Price in a car accident/explosion so that she and Price can take off with the $250,000 Price has embezzled from his bank. Unfortunately for them, they're pretty sophomoric, and Mike gets suspicious.

I can't share the deep thrill others have expressed about this film, though I love Glenn Ford's combination of gentleness, toughness, and sexiness. He had really just hit big stardom around the time of this film.

As beautiful, slender and accomplished a Broadway performer as Janis Carter was, I thought her acting was - well, awful is the only word for it. This is a Lizabeth Scott/Ann Sheridan type of role - smoky, mysterious, ambiguous as to motive.

Carter had none of these shadings, offering instead wooden line delivery with nothing going on underneath. A better actress would have made this a much stronger film.

The plot (to me anyway) was very predictable, in part due to the casting. As for the denouement, there was no explanation as to how it all came together, i.e., there were holes.

Ford and Edgar Buchanan, who plays a miner hoping to get a loan from Barry Sullivan's bank, are very good in their roles. Sullivan is fine, but he has a non-showy part.

A stronger female lead and a little more developed script at the end would have helped "Framed" immensely.

Mining engineer Glenn Ford (Mike) trucks into town and is befriended by barmaid Janis Carter (Paula). She's a bit too friendly isn't she? The clue to this film is in the title.

You know Janis Carter is up to something from early on. Always be suspicious of people who are too friendly. Carter is plotting with bank vice-president Barry Sullivan (Steve) and they are looking for a scapegoat. There are twists along the way and Glenn Ford is a sympathetic character to identify with as he begins to suspect and unravel what has been happening. Who gets all that money? Someone starts the film with nothing….and ends the film with nothing.

What an opening! Mike's truck goes careening down a mountain road before pinballing through town. It's not only a riveting effect, but establishes Mike (Ford) as an honest workingman when he turns over his proceeds to the injured Jeff (Buchanan). Too bad he meets up with spider woman Paula (Carter) who spins a greedy web around the well- meaning patsy. As Paula, Carter is a powerful presence. She's got a way of acting that shows a lot of eyeball that's kind of scary. Actually, I think she's too strong, making her switch to the laid-back Mike not very believable. Their chemistry never really gels the way Paula's does with Steve (Sullivan). Unfortunately, that's a lack that undercuts the script's central twist.

Still, it's a solid noir thanks to the classic elements of the screenplay. Ford makes an interesting low-key fall guy. Not too many mining engineers turn up in noir, which I guess accounts for his occasional spiffy suits that look more like uptown Manhattan than temporary truck driver. Still, he's basically the classic working stiff looking for a job. Too bad he sees Paula's well-turned ankle first. Anyway, director Wallace films in journeyman style, except for that one inspired moment after the crash when Paula does a sharp gasping intake. It's a brief cameo shot whose only purpose is to connect Paula's sexuality with violence. For 1947, that's daring and Carter brings it off memorably. I guess it just goes to show how less can imply so much more in the imagination—a lesson contemporary film seems to have forgotten.

The movie may not be front rank noir, but it does have its moments.