Lured (United Artists) (1947)

BIOGS-Ball, Coburn, Zucco, Calleia ^Lucille Ball Helps Scotland Yard Unravel A Baffling Case In Hunt Stromberg’s fascinating mystery romance, “Lured,” Lucille Ball plays an American show girl whose play flops i,n London. In order to earn a liv¬ ing, she takes a job as a taxi dancer. Her best friend at the dance emporium answers a classified “lonely hearts” advertisement and disappears. Then Lucille swings into action and helps Scotland Yard track down a homicidal maniac and, in the course of the hunt, she attracts the romantic interest of a wealthy night club owner, George Sanders. In the picture, which opens on . at the . Theatre through United Artists release, Lucille is a sharp, intelligent, slightly brash and knowing creature, but always the lady. And in private life, she is very much akin to the character she portrays. She is fast-talking, straight-shooting, and calls the turn instantly when she feels it is necessary. In the course of a recent interview Lucille de¬ scribed her life as an obstacle race. “And,” she ad¬ ded, “I’m still in there running!” Lucille was born in Butte, Montana, on August 6, 1911. When her father died, she moved with her another to Jamestown, New York, where she gradu¬ ated from high school. Stagestruck, she persuaded her mother to allow her to come to New York to en¬ roll in John Murray Anderson’s dramatic school. After a year she left and tried out for a spot in the chorus of several shows, without success. Her hard time period included jobs as a soda jerker at a drug store on Broadway and as a model on New York’s Seventh Avenue, the cloak and suit district. Later she became a model at Hattie Carnegie’s, and here she learned how to walk and pose and to groom her¬ self smoothly. The biggest blow to her career came after an auto¬ mobile accident, when she was paralyzed from the hips down. She was out of the running for five years, three of which she spent in a wheelchair. During this time Lucille, as she puts it, “learned to live with myself.” Recovering, Lucille began posing for national magazine ads. Then she received an offer to come to Hollywood to appear in “Roman Scandals,” the Eddie Cantor picture, along with a dozen other fa¬ mous magazine cover girls and models. Of these, she is the only one today who still is in the limelight. Picture after picture followed, and Lucille began calling herself “The Queen of the B’s.” It was not until after she had met Desi Arnaz, with whom she played in “Too Many Girls,” married him, and re¬ turned from her honeymoon to resume her roles in B pictures that she got the break which lifted her to A pictures and stardom. The tall, slim actress whose strawberry red hair gives her identity away in any crowd, has a buoyant and unceasing sense of humor. Recently on a nation¬ wide radio interview, actor George Sanders, who has played opposite such stars as Ingrid Bergman, Hedy Lamarr and many others, named her his fav¬ orite of all leading ladies, “because she makes me laugh so much.” Mat (2G) .30 & Mellow Chas. Coburn Gives His Formula For Happiness Candidate for the cognomen “the happiest man in Hollywood” is Charles Coburn, veteran character actor, who, at the age when most people have retired, enjoys a rich, full Tife. .On the set during the filming of Hunt Stromberg’s thrilling new mystery-drama, “Lured,” in which Coburn is co-starred with George 3P Sanders, Lucille Ball and Boris Karloff, he disclosed that he “just doesn’t have time to worry.” His major desire at the moment is the establishment of a dramatic school on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles, the like of which has never been seen before. Coburn believes the only way to learn to act is to act under the direction of seasoned instructors. The school he envisions will be staffed by people drawn upon . from the legitimate stage and from the motion picture industry. Coburn is an actor through and through. He sensed his vocation early in childhood, down in Atlanta, Georgia, and at the age of 17 fte took over the direction of one of the South’s important theatres. Later he was schooled in the difficult art of the actor through playing in stock and repertory companies. Later, when he married, the name of “Mr. and Mrs. Coburn” began to spread the influence of classic drama throughout the country. After Mrs. Coburn’s death in 1937, the actor began his Hollywood career. Some of his outstanding pictures were “The Devil and Miss Jones” and “The Green Years.” His role in “The Green Years” is his favorite, although he likes the part of the Scotland Yard inspector Jie plays in “Lured,” because, as he says, it called upon him to be Mentally active and alert and also to keep pace with the fast-talking, quick-thinking Lucille Ball. “Lured” is due to open on at the. Theatre. It is a United Artists release. These Featured Players Are Always Big News! AFTER SERIES OF “HEAVIES” ZUCCO SHINES IN GOOD ROLE Still No. PC-20 As a Scotland Yard inspector, Charles Cob urn shows puzzled George Sanders some highly in¬ criminating evi¬ dence. The film is Hunt Stromberg’s dynamic mystery drama, “Lured,” now at the. Theatre through United Artists re¬ lease. Mat (2K) .30 George Zucco, who has established himself for screen portrayals of psychopathic murder¬ ers and villains, portrays a sympathetic role for a change in Producer Hunt Stromberg’s engrossing mystery drama, “Lured,” now showing at the . Theatre through United Artists release. Lucille Ball, George Sanders, Charles Coburn and Boris Karloff are co-starred in the film. As bodyguard for Miss Ball, Zucco becomes in effect a guardian angel, and keeps busy res¬ cuing her from the difficulties she encounters as she tracks down a homicidal maniac. Miss Ball, in her attempt to lure the maniac to jus¬ tice, offers herself as “bait” for the murderer, and gives Zucco plenty of opportunity to dis¬ play his heroic qualities. Zucco, who was born in Manchester, Eng¬ land, on January 11, 1886, has been acting since 1908, having made his debut in Toronto, Canada. He has been in pictures for years now, and recently completed a role with Greer Garson in “Sacred and Profane.” Still No. PC-Post 14 George Zucco as he appears in Hunt Stromberg’s thrilling mystery- romance, “Lured,” now oc- cupying the screen at the . . . Theatre. It is a United Artists re¬ lease. Mat (V 2 A) .15 CALLEIA CHALKS UP A NEW HIT AS MENACE IN “LURED” Joseph Calleia’s campaign to get away from unsympathetic roles came a cropper when he signed up with Hunt Stromberg to play the sinister part of Dr. Moryani, an international jewel thief with a weakness for young and beautiful girls, in “Lured.” The picture, which opens on at the . Theatre through United Artists release, stars George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn and Boris Karloff. Recently Calleia portrayed the role of Dr. Fermi, Italian scientist in “The Beginning of the End,” the picture which deals with the atom bomb. This was a highly sympathetic part, and it gave the actor the pleasure of knowing how pleasant it can be to play a char¬ acter that the audience likes for a change. Some of the pictures in which Calleia has played are: “The Cross of Lorraine,” “Dead¬ line at Dawn,” “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “The Glass Key.” Between screen roles, which are always plentiful for this fine actor, he composes music. He has written several semi-classical composi¬ tions which return substantial royalties annu¬ ally. Page Fifteen