A Blueprint For Murder (1953)

When his young niece dies under mysterious circumstances, her uncle (Joseph Cotten) insists on an autopsy which proves the child was poisoned. All the evidence points to her stepmother (Jean Peters) and now the uncle fears for the life of the surviving child (Freddy Ridgeway). But is the stepmother a cold blooded murderess? Or the innocent victim of circumstantial evidence? This well executed thriller is a nice tight piece of suspense. Its brief running time (1 hour, 16 minutes) is filled with tension and keeps the viewer on his toes. I kept vacillating between "yes, she's guilty" and "no, she's not" several times and the movie's last 15 minutes are pretty intense. It was yet another Fox programmer when released and didn't exactly set the box office or critics afire but the film has slowly acquired a modest reputation among film fans. Directed by Andrew Stone (THE LAST VOYAGE) who knows a thing or two about suspense. With Gary Merrill, Jack Kruschen, Catherine McLeod and Mae Marsh.