लॉस एंजिल्स के एक बैंक सहायक प्रबंधक ने बैंक की तिजोरी से पैसे चुराने और अपनी पत्नी के साथ ब्राजील भागने की योजना बनाई।लॉस एंजिल्स के एक बैंक सहायक प्रबंधक ने बैंक की तिजोरी से पैसे चुराने और अपनी पत्नी के साथ ब्राजील भागने की योजना बनाई।लॉस एंजिल्स के एक बैंक सहायक प्रबंधक ने बैंक की तिजोरी से पैसे चुराने और अपनी पत्नी के साथ ब्राजील भागने की योजना बनाई।
- Raglin - Bank Teller #2
- (as Bill Hudson)
- Cleaning Woman
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Man in Barber Chair
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Bank Teller
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Bank Teller
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Airplane Passenger
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
फ़ीचर्ड समीक्षाएं
The film made a lasting impression on me, especially the New Orleans setting, as I was living there at the time. The scenes were all familiar places and very nostalgic, bringing to mind the New Orleans I remembered from my childhood of the early 1950's. All of the New Orleans characters and extras spoke in an authentic New Orleanean manner and had the "look" and style of locals.
The dramatic tension in the film was almost unbearable, with Joseph Cotton performing a masterful ex post facto narration. This added to the suspense of the film. It certainly prevented me from taking my planned nap. After the film ended, there was no chance of going to sleep--I was totally awake and mentally back in "the big easy."
I've never been able to locate the film for viewing again, but hope that Netflix or Blockbuster will one day have it available. Apparently, TCM doesn't have it in their portfolio. If you ever get a chance to watch this film, don't miss it--a real noir thriller!
Cotten has a likable everyman quality about him, so as he decides one day to make his day dream become a reality it's easy for the audience to identify with him. Yes, he's breaking the law and by all the moral codes of society he is wrong to do so. Yet we can't help but root for him because of the intelligence and audacity that his character displays.
This film is quite suspenseful at times and tightly paced by director Andrew Stone. It's a short little 85 minute feature and doesn't waste any time in telling it's simple but involving tale, with all the unexpected complications that arise threatening to scuttle Cotten and his plans for a new life with all that loot.
Since The Steel Trap was made in the '50s when the Hollywood production code dictated that no film character can attempt such a plan without paying a price for it, I was pleasantly surprised at the film's resolution, which I found to be both unexpected and satisfying.
One more thing for film noir buffs. Visually The Steel Trap has none of the chiaroscuro lighting effects that we so love about '40s noirs. In fact, the visuals of this film are the least of its virtues. The emphasis is upon plot development and, increasingly as the film progresses, its pacing. The film also reunites Cotten with his Shadow of a Doubt co-star, Teresa Wright. Wright gives a lovely performance (the moral conscience of the film) as Cotten's wife who initially hasn't got a clue as to her husband's plans. Her character eventually turns out to play an important role in the flow of the narrative.
Joseph Cotten was a fine actor, capable of playing a smooth talking charming psychopath (Shadow of a Doubt) as well as personifying an everyman, as an earnest, slightly awkward leading man (The Third Man). He also gets my nomination as the actor who possibly appeared in more outstanding Hollywood productions during the 1940s than any other.
While The Steel Trap hardly rates among Cotten's best films, it does have something in common with the actor, that of being good, largely neglected and underrated.
So why hasn't this little sleeper been repeated more often on TV. It sure as heck merits an audience, even among today's digital addicts. It's an expertly observed, tightly written, fluidly paced little thriller. Director Stone was known for insisting on ___location staging. His insistence here pays off with an everyday realism that heightens the petty annoyances threatening to undo Osborne's daring scheme.
So the banker's got a million in cash in that suitcase to get out of the country. But then life's minor delays and hang-ups intrude, becoming major headaches for both him and us. Just listen to the airline stewardess cackle while we wait and wait to take off, or watch the booking agent fumble around while we squirm and squirm. The filming is like a microscope held up to everyday irritants that suddenly assume gigantic proportions, while a routine escape path turns into a nail-biting obstacle course. Poor Osborne, he'll be in fat city if he doesn't have a nervous breakdown first.
Cotten's fine as the regular Joe looking for a way out of his workday routine. Ditto Wright, as Osborne's compliant wife, the light slowly coming on that this isn't just an ordinary business trip. Also, director Stone managed a number of compact thrillers during this period, including The Night Holds Terror (1955) and Blueprint for Murder (1953). Too bad his skills aren't more widely recognized. Note here how neatly his screenplay completes Osborne's journey with that routine walk home— cast now in a reaffirming light.
I expect I'll catch the film again even though I know how it turns out. But for darn sure, I'll still keep my sweat bucket handy.
क्या आपको पता है
- ट्रिवियाThis is the second movie that Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright appeared in together. They were previously in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) as uncle and niece.
- गूफ़Several times it is noted by airline personnel that the suitcase with the cash weighs 115 pounds, and yet neither Cotton nor others who handle it have any trouble picking it up, as if it weighed no more than 30 or 40. Picking up 100 pounds with one hand, without straining, is not easy, and cannot be done without showing effort.
- भाव
[first lines]
[as the film begins, a family of three can be seen exiting a house, a man, a woman, and their daughter. This is Jim Osborne, his wife Laurie, and their daughter, Susan. They can be seen approaching a car and entering it. As this is going on, Osborne can be heard narrating]
Jim Osborne: I left the same house at approximately the same hour every working day for over eleven years...
[the camera then fades to a scene of Jim arriving at a train station, where he can be seen walking up to a train]
Jim Osborne: I caught the same car...
[the camera fades to show Jim exiting a station in the city]
Jim Osborne: I emerged from the same terminal and dodged the same traffic...
[the camera then fades to show Jim rounding a street corner]
Jim Osborne: Rounded the same corner...
[the camera than shows Jim walking up to a bank and entering]
Jim Osborne: Entered the same bank...
- कनेक्शनReferenced in Screen Directors Playhouse: The Final Tribute (1955)
टॉप पसंद
- How long is The Steel Trap?Alexa द्वारा संचालित
विवरण
- रिलीज़ की तारीख़
- कंट्री ऑफ़ ओरिजिन
- भाषा
- इस रूप में भी जाना जाता है
- The Steel Trap
- फ़िल्माने की जगहें
- Bourbon Street and Bienville Street, New orleans, लुइसियाना, संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका(In front of The Old Absinthe)
- उत्पादन कंपनियां
- IMDbPro पर और कंपनी क्रेडिट देखें
- चलने की अवधि1 घंटा 25 मिनट
- रंग
- पक्ष अनुपात
- 1.37 : 1
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