Lulu Belle

The title of the 1948 mystery/drama "Lulu Belle" is, not coincidentally, mere syllables removed from one of the most female names of all time, "Jezebel." It's fitting: The title character (played by Dorothy Lamour) is a woman cut from exasperatingly stereotypical cloth, a conniving gold-digger who latches onto men with any semblance of riches or influence -- especially if they can help her get a shapely leg up in her career as a singer -- and then discards them once she's used them up.

A shooting at the start of the movie opens the door to whodunit territory, but the movie meanders through any number of genre terrains: Romance, women's movie, even a touch of comedy -- it's all bundled together here in a scratchy and curiously compelling package.

The movie is most directly propelled by the love story between Lulu Belle and her husband George (George Montgomery), a good guy and upcoming lawyer whose life is derailed when he falls in love with Dorothy (after meeting her at a tavern, naturally -- an establishment he only ventures to in the course of work). Lulu Belle isn't completely heartless; she's reckless with George's money and mad about new clothes, which pretty much reduced George to the poorhouse, but there's a definite, if dysfunctional, chemistry between the two of them. Once the newlyweds fall on hard times, Lulu Belel essentially whores herself to a prize fighter named Butch (Greg McClure) in order to pay the bills, but she's also stringing along various other men in an eventually successful bid to win fame and fortune as the newest sensation on Broadway.

But success doesn't change Lulu Belle's ways much, and when the various threads of usury she's spun intersect one fateful night, she's gunned down in her dressing room. Will she survive? And who pulled the trigger? Suspicion falls instantly upon George -- who is, by now, her ex -- and it's as George gives his statement to a police detective that the film plays out in flashback. The noirish trappings are superseded by anguished romantic flailings, but the classic trope of gathering all the suspects together for a big reveal is preserved. You get a definite feel that this movie started out as a play -- which it did; Charles MacArthur and Edward Sheldon's stage work was adapted for the screen by Everett Freeman, with some contributions by Karl Kamb.

But as a film, this is enjoyable -- even if it seems trite to us now. "Lulu Belle" is atmospheric, shot with lovely black and white cinematography by the great Ernest Laszlo, and its overheated blend of mystery, drama, and romance is nicely handled by director Leslie Fenton (who would go on to direct the 1949 film "Streets of Laredo").

Kudos to Olive Films for bringing this movie to Blu-ray, where it fairly shines. The are no extras on this release, but that's just fine; this is the sort of movie you enjoy without needing to delve deeper.

"Lulu Belle"
Blu-ray
$21.99
http://www.olivefilms.com/films/lulu-belle-blu-ray