Framed (1947)

Framed aka Paula (Dir: Richard Wallis, 1947).

Glenn Ford gets mixed up with a deadly dame and a shady banker in this taut film noir from Columbia Pictures. 

Out of work and out of luck mining engineer Mike Lambert (Ford) lands in a heap of trouble when he crashes his truck into a small mining town on the outskirts of the Arizona desert. Bailed out on a trumped up charge of reckless driving by barroom waitress Paula (Janis Carter), lonely Mike finally thinks he has found an ally in the beautiful blonde. Unbeknownst to Mike, Paula is in cahoots with Vice President of the Empire Trust and Savings Bank, Steve Price (Barry Sullivan). Having embezzled $250,000 of the bank's money, Paula and Steve plan to murder Mike, faking the banker's own death in the process and absconding with the cash. Framed for murder is Mike's only friend and prospective employer Jeff (Edgar Buchanan).

One of many B-movie crime thrillers released by Columbia Pictures in the 1940/50s. What distinguishes Framed from the other second features is a decent production which belies its low budget and some terrific performances from its principle players. 

Ford is great as the taciturn Mike, one of his many portrayals of weak willed, easily manipulated manhood. Janice Carter, as archetypal femme fatale Paula, makes the part of the sultry blonde her own. Whether welding a wrench with or lacing a beverage with poison, she does so with sadistic glee and a malevolent glint in her eye. Carter showed great promise as a leading lady and it is to Columbia's detriment that they kept her in B pictures. Rounding out the decent cast is top character actor Edgar Buchanan. The role of Jeff doesn't exactly stretch his acting talents, but he is a welcome presence who benefits any movie he appears in. 

With its themes of suburban adulatory and felony, Framed is somewhat reminiscent of James M Cain's novel and subsequent movie adaptation Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944). Richard Wallis directs at a rattling pace; from the opening shot of Mike's truck careening down a mountain path and through busy small town Main Street, the audience is at the heart of the action. The movie then breathlessly races to its climax a brief 80 minutes later. 

Despite its obvious qualities and the presence of Glenn Ford, Columbia seems to have had little faith in the movie, renaming it Paula in an attempt to cash-in on Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946), the studio's hit from a year earlier which also starred Ford. While the movie isn't quite in the same league as that classic, it is an entertaining, exciting feature in its own right. If you are a fan of film noir you will find much to enjoy in this cracking crime flick.