Rent Framed (1947)

Give a Man a Break - Framed review by CH

There is something to be written about the rôle of the truck in American films - and also the propensity for automobiles to take a tumble over a cliff. Framed (1947) could find a place in both studies. At the wheels of a truck whose brakes have failed, mining engineer Glenn Ford arrives with a smash in a small town where he soon falls victim of a racket which turns around despatching him to a plunging death one night in a car - as envisaged, his body mangled, he would be taken for the married man who has made off with a cool $250,000 from the town bank belonging to her family.

Those are a few noir tropes - added to which is the familar bold one of Janis Carter, lover of that banker and first encountered at work in a café - premises which contrast with her glamour. Play with her at your peril. She seems to know what she is about, but, but..: plotwise, any viewer, at one stage or another, might pull to a halt more swiftly than that opening-minutes truck as her dealings unravel in parallel with Ford wising up.

That said, all this happens at such a pace that there is no time to linger over such items as conveniently-sited, boldly-labelled poison bottle. Well lit, whether the dark of a bar or the light of a highway, the settings play quite a part in carrying one along, relishing it all.

Terrific stuff - Framed review by sb

FILM & REVIEW Cracking little small budget Noir - Ford plays Mike an engineer down on his luck who litterly rolls into town when the brakes fail on a truck he is driving. Charged with dangerous driving it’s a fine or 10 days in jail. He is bailed out by a local barmaid Paula (Carter) who has taken a shine to him but it’s soon revealed that she an ulterior motive as Mike is the same hight and build as her boyfriend Steve (Sullivan) so Mike is being set up. Steve is the VP of a local bank and has been embezzling funds into Paula’s safe deposit box and with the annual audit coming up the pair plan to flee with the cash. Only problem he will soon be tracked down - unless his car crashes and a badly burned body is found at the wheel - which is where Mike comes in. Unfortunately for Steve Paula begins to get other ideas …..then things get really complicated. Ford is as solid as ever with Sullivan all suave menace but it’s Carter who steals the film using her womanly charms to run circles around everyone. She never seemed to get any other major parts which is a shame as she’s really good - well worth tracking down - 4/5

Forties Noir. - Framed review by Steve

Surprising that only a year after his success with Gilda, Glenn Ford was in such a minor film noir. And there are many echoes of that film; Janis Carter even looks like Rita Hayworth. It's a psycho-sexual power struggle between a scheming, sexy knockout and a pliable, alcoholic drifter. She wants his body. But not in the usual way!

The glamourgirl works in a sleazy bar looking for a man about the size of her married boyfriend to burn in a car crash, for the usual reasons. Ford is the perfect match. He arrives in an out of control truck. Given the influence of the Hollywood left on early noir, maybe this is intended as a critique of the unregulated haulage industry!

There are disappointments: Burnett Guffey is a great noir photographer, but this looks bright and realistic; and director Richard Wallace doesn't create much suspense. It was made quickly and cheaply. Ford doesn't look engaged, maybe because Carter has the better role. And she's pretty good. The title sometimes goes under her name, Paula.

It's the genre dynamic of the femme fatale versus the male dupe that still works best. The grim, violent premise is interesting, and this could have been a much stronger film, with a decent budget. It is a short, punchy thriller; second level film noir. Though that's intended as a compliment.