Framed (1947)

Directed by Richard Wallace. Starring Glenn Ford, Janis Carter, Barry Sullivan, Edgar Buchanan, Karen Morley, Jim Bannon, Barbara Woodell.

Standard title for a standard noir with Ford doing his standard clenched anger amid earnest naïvety and blurred morality. Starts out well with Ford’s down-on-his-luck mining engineer accepting a truck-driving job, but faulty brakes cause him to crash and get stuck in a small town looking for work. Carter’s blonde barmaid bails him out and picks him to be a patsy in a scheme involving embezzlement, mistaken identities, and murder. Effectively bleak throughout, but the stalled mid-section, journeyman direction, and inferior dangerous dame hold it back far short of its potential; Ford and Carter don’t exactly set the nitrate aflame. Tight on both ends, however, and less demanding genre enthusiasts will revel in its shadowy double-crosses and low-key thrills. Screenplay by Ben Maddow.

62/100