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A Blueprint for Murder

A Blueprint for Murder

Mystery · Crime · Thriller · 1953

Whitney Cameron is in a quandary: he's attracted to his beautiful sister-in-law, Lynn, but also harbors serious suspicions about her. Her husband, Cameron's brother, died under mysterious circumstances, and now that the death of her stepchild, Polly, has been attributed to poisoning, he suspects that Lynn is after his late brother's estate, and killing everyone in her way.

Movie details

A Blueprint for Murder

“He kissed her into the most sacred confession a woman can make!”

1953 Mystery · Crime · Thriller 1h 17m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Whitney Cameron is in a quandary: he's attracted to his beautiful sister-in-law, Lynn, but also harbors serious suspicions about her. Her husband, Cameron's brother, died under mysterious circumstances, and now that the death of her stepchild, Polly, has been attributed to poisoning, he suspects that Lynn is after his late brother's estate, and killing everyone in her way.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A Blueprint for Murder?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

Lady in the Lake

Lady in the Lake

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Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.

The Glass Key

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A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Maniac

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Crime · 1963

When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.

The Naked City

The Naked City

Crime · 1948

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

The Blue Gardenia

The Blue Gardenia

Crime · 1953

Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt

Thriller · 1943

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

His Kind of Woman

His Kind of Woman

Crime · 1951

Career gambler Dan Milner agrees to a $50,000 deal to leave the USA for Mexico, only to find himself entangled with fellow guests at a luxurious resort and suspecting that the man who hired him may be the deported crime boss Nick Ferraro aiming to re-enter to the USA.

Time Without Pity

Time Without Pity

Crime · 1957

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Andrew L. Stone

Written by

Andrew L. Stone

Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cotten

Whitney 'Cam' Cameron

Jean Peters

Jean Peters

Lynn Cameron

Gary Merrill

Gary Merrill

Fred Sargent

Catherine McLeod

Catherine McLeod

Maggie Sargent

Jack Kruschen

Jack Kruschen

Harold Y. Cole

Barney Phillips

Barney Phillips

Detective Captain Pringle

F

Freddy Ridgeway

Doug Cameron

Court is in session

Put A Blueprint for Murder on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.