"Framed" is Absurd Claptrap

 

by Daniel White

Framed (1947) opens with Glenn Ford barreling into town, driving a truck with no brakes. Little does he know that a local blonde black widow (Janis Carter) is about to take him on the ride of his life.

Smartly directed by Richard Wallace and adroitly performed by all involved (especially our two leads), Framed has one major failing: the screenplay is bonkers!

First of all, the title: it makes no sense whatsoever. Nobody is framed in Framed! Hash-slinger Paula and her sleazy, vice president of a bank lover (Barry Sullivan) want to kill Ford in a fiery car crash. Then, in a case of mistaken identify, pass him off as Barry and run away with the loot he's embezzled from the bank. That's not a frame-up, that's a homicide! Even crusty old miner, Jeff (Edgar Buchanan), is not framed. Wrongly accused of the murder of Sullivan (Carter has a change of heart as to which love-struck sap she wants to smack with a sap!), his predicament is not an intentional set up, just a stroke of good luck for the duplicitous Carter.

The film continues to defy logic as it unspools, but to the actors' credit, it almost doesn't matter. Janis Carter is a fierce femme fatale, completely devoid of any feeling for the two man-puppets she has on a string. Not exactly sultry, but very chic-looking in her Jean Louis-designed outfits, Carter is a deadly ice maiden. Props and praise to Mr. Glenn Ford, one of Hollywood's most underappreciated actors. Fully committed and always believable, Ford makes even absurd claptrap like Framed a pleasure to take in.

Two-time Oscar winner Burnett Guffey works his film noir magic as cinematographer. And the musical score (Martin Skiles) and the too-numerous-to-mention art directors and set decorators accomplish their tasks capably as well.

So what if scenarists Ben Maddow and Jack Patrick drop the ball and deliver a bug-eyed, improbable yarn? Framed is still a whole lot of fun. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and featuring Karen Morley as Sullivan's fed-up-with-his-philandering wife, Framed is currently available on YouTube.