''A Blueprint for Murder'' is a 1953 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed and written by

Andrew L. Stone Andrew L. Stone (July 16, 1902 – June 9, 1999) was an Americans, American screenwriter, film director and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Julie (1956 film), Julie'' in 1957 and re ...

and starring

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and ''Sabr ...

Jean Peters Elizabeth Jean Peters (October 15, 1926 – October 13, 2000) was an American film actress. She is known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and as the second wife of Howard Hughes. Although possibly best remembered f ...

and

Gary Merrill Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...

Plot

Whitney "Cam" Cameron (

) arrives at a hospital to be with his widowed sister-in-law Lynne (

), whose stepdaughter Polly has died under mysterious circumstances. A doctor cannot determine the cause of the child's death. Cam has great affection for his young nephew Doug (Freddy Ridgeway). He begins to fear for the boy's life when Maggie Sargent ( Catherine McLeod), the wife of his lawyer, Fred (

), mentions that the dead girl's symptoms sound suspiciously as if she had been poisoned. Fred reveals that the will of Cam's brother, who also died from unspecified causes, put all his money into a trust for the boy. Lynne would inherit it all if anything happened to Doug. Police, prodded by Cam, exhume the girl's body. Poison is found and Lynne is brought to court, but a judge dismisses the charges for a lack of evidence against her. A desperate Cam cannot think of any way to keep Doug safe, particularly once Lynne decides to take the boy away to Europe for at least a year. Cam surprises them by turning up on the ocean voyage. He begins romancing Lynne, all the while plotting to poison her. He slips a tablet from her belongings into a cocktail. Lynne goes to great lengths to castigate Cam for his suspicions and demonstrate that the tablet contained nothing but aspirin. Cam leaves her stateroom, but a few minutes later Lynne's life is saved by the ship's doctor, proving that she did indeed possess poison. A court soon sentences Lynne to prison for life.

Cast

as Whitney 'Cam' Cameron *

as Lynne Cameron *

as Fred Sargent * Catherine McLeod as Maggie Sargent *

Jack Kruschen Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. ...

as Detective Lt. Harold Y. Cole *

Barney Phillips Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His most prominent roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet' ...

as Detective Capt. Pringle * Freddy Ridgeway as Doug Cameron (as Fred Ridgeway)

Reception

The film received a mostly negative review in ''The New York Times'' upon its opening. The film critic wrote, "Andrew Stone, the writer-director who flavored last season's ''

The Steel Trap ''The Steel Trap'' is a 1952 American film noir written and directed by Andrew L. Stone and starring Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright and Jonathan Hale. Plot With a million dollars cash in the vault, Jim Osborne (Joseph Cotten), a long term bank em ...

'' with such intriguing semi-documentary finesse, misses by a good mile in his latest case history, ''A Blueprint for Murder'' ... However, Mr. Stone's plodding fixation on conventionalized justice, redundantly stressed in the hero's narration, sidesteps any surprises along the way. Indeed, it loses conviction altogether before the climax, when he traps the culprit aboard an ocean liner, squiring her intended victim and enough strychnine—as Mr. Cotten accuses her, twice—to choke a horse. 'This farce', replies the understandably surly Miss Peters, 'has gone on long enough.'" Recently, Craig Butler of AllMovie was more positive. He writes "A Blueprint for Murder is a moderately entertaining crime thriller ... A bit more imagination would have brought a higher level of excitement to the film. However, Blueprint does benefit from a fine cast ... there's enough going on in Blueprint to make up for many of its flaws."

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blueprint For Murder 1953 films 1950s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American black-and-white films American detective films Film noir Films directed by Andrew L. Stone Films scored by Leigh Harline Poisoning in film 1950s English-language films 1950s American films