Young Polly Cameron is taken to the hospital suffering from seizures, yelling "Don't touch my feet!" Her stepmother Lynn (Jean Peters) and her visiting uncle Cam (Joseph Cotten) sit with her overnight and she seems to be on the road to recovery, but the next night, the seizures return and she dies in the hospital. The apparent cause is encephalitis, but Cam's lawyer’s wife, Maggie says the symptoms sound like strychnine poisoning. Then Cam discovers from Lynn's younger stepson Doug that his father (Cam's brother) died in similar circumstances. Maggie’s husband Fred notes that Lynn is in line for an inheritance from her dead husband, but the two stepchildren were ahead of her; now, only young Doug is in her way. Cam comes to the conclusion that Lynn has done in both her husband and Polly, and fears that Doug may be next on her list. When an autopsy is performed, strychnine is indeed found in her system and the police officially question her, but despite the fact that the last medicine given to Polly was obtained by Lynn—and therefore could have been tampered with—the police determine there is not enough solid evidence to charge her. Cam has conflicting feelings; he has come to care for her, but also believes that she may well have committed murder. When Lynn announces that she is taking young Doug off to Europe for a trip, Cam worries that Doug will be the next victim of poisoning and he books passage on Lynn's ship, hoping to protect the boy and possibly to entrap Lynn at the same time. This mystery is stymied by drab production and direction. It feels more like a TV movie than a theatrical one, even in its length of only 75 minutes. There is little suspense, since the case against Lynn is awfully airtight and no other suspects are presented. Some nice tension is worked up in the last 20 minutes when Cam plots to poison Lynn on the ocean liner with a suspicious tablet he finds in her possession, but the conclusion is fumbled (not story-wise but in presentation) and disappointingly anti-climactic. Joseph Cotten, Gary Merrill (as Fred) and Catherine McLeod (as Maggie) do what they can with underwritten roles, but Jean Peters is very good as the possible cold-blooded poisoner. If all you expect is a TV movie of the week, you may be satisfied with this. It's watchable but so much more could have been done to make this a real nail-biter. Pictured are Peters and Cotten. [TCM]
Monday, December 02, 2019
A BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER (1953)
Young Polly Cameron is taken to the hospital suffering from seizures, yelling "Don't touch my feet!" Her stepmother Lynn (Jean Peters) and her visiting uncle Cam (Joseph Cotten) sit with her overnight and she seems to be on the road to recovery, but the next night, the seizures return and she dies in the hospital. The apparent cause is encephalitis, but Cam's lawyer’s wife, Maggie says the symptoms sound like strychnine poisoning. Then Cam discovers from Lynn's younger stepson Doug that his father (Cam's brother) died in similar circumstances. Maggie’s husband Fred notes that Lynn is in line for an inheritance from her dead husband, but the two stepchildren were ahead of her; now, only young Doug is in her way. Cam comes to the conclusion that Lynn has done in both her husband and Polly, and fears that Doug may be next on her list. When an autopsy is performed, strychnine is indeed found in her system and the police officially question her, but despite the fact that the last medicine given to Polly was obtained by Lynn—and therefore could have been tampered with—the police determine there is not enough solid evidence to charge her. Cam has conflicting feelings; he has come to care for her, but also believes that she may well have committed murder. When Lynn announces that she is taking young Doug off to Europe for a trip, Cam worries that Doug will be the next victim of poisoning and he books passage on Lynn's ship, hoping to protect the boy and possibly to entrap Lynn at the same time. This mystery is stymied by drab production and direction. It feels more like a TV movie than a theatrical one, even in its length of only 75 minutes. There is little suspense, since the case against Lynn is awfully airtight and no other suspects are presented. Some nice tension is worked up in the last 20 minutes when Cam plots to poison Lynn on the ocean liner with a suspicious tablet he finds in her possession, but the conclusion is fumbled (not story-wise but in presentation) and disappointingly anti-climactic. Joseph Cotten, Gary Merrill (as Fred) and Catherine McLeod (as Maggie) do what they can with underwritten roles, but Jean Peters is very good as the possible cold-blooded poisoner. If all you expect is a TV movie of the week, you may be satisfied with this. It's watchable but so much more could have been done to make this a real nail-biter. Pictured are Peters and Cotten. [TCM]
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