Pitfall (1948)

John Forbes is a family man who's tired of the 9 to 5 humdrum of his job an insurance company executive. Life gets a little more exciting for him when he calls upon femme fatale Mona ... See full summary »

Director:

André De Toth

Writers:

Jay Dratler (novel), Karl Kamb (screen play),

Stars:

Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dick Powell	...	John Forbes
Lizabeth Scott	...	Mona Stevens
Jane Wyatt	...	Sue Forbes
Raymond Burr	...	J.B. MacDonald
John Litel	...	District Attorney
Byron Barr	...	Bill Smiley
Jimmy Hunt	...	Tommy Forbes
Ann Doran	...	Maggie
Selmer Jackson	...	Ed Brawley
Margaret Wells	...	Terry
Dick Wessel	...	Desk Sergeant

Storyline

John Forbes is a family man who's tired of the 9 to 5 humdrum of his job an insurance company executive. Life gets a little more exciting for him when he calls upon femme fatale Mona Stevens. Her boyfriend has robbed a store insured by Forbes' company and has showered her with gifts using the loot. Forbes comes to collect the ill-gotten gifts, but the boyfriend is in jail, and Forbes falls hard for Mona and begins an affair. The only problem is that MacDonald, a private dick who freelances for the insurance company, has had his eyes on Mona first. The obsessed MacDonald turns the soon-to-be-released boyfriend against Forbes.

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Plot Keywords:

insurance | family man | hard boiled | prison visit | modeling | 

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Taglines:

Her love was Pitfall... to the only man she didn't want to hurt...

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Genres:

Film-Noir

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caminho da Tentação

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regal Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 8, 1948 with Dick Powell, Jane Wyatt and Lizabeth Scott reprising their film roles.

User Reviews

Where Oh Where Is The DVD?

It's sad it is now 60 years after this film was released and we still don't have this available on DVD. You even have to pay big bucks to find a used VHS copy. It's "sad" because it is a fine film noir and would make an excellent addition to anyone's noir collection. So many film noirs are now on disc, where is this one??!!

I found you can't go wrong with Dick Powell in a film noir, and Lisabeth Scott certainly ranks among the all-time femme fatales in the genre's history. Add an unlikely pair of actors like Jane Wyatt and Raymond Burr, and Director Andre de Toth and you really have an interesting "old" crime story. "Crime Wave" and "Ramrod," two other fairly unknown-but-excellent hard-bitten noirs were also done by de Toth.

I am always amazed how Powell made such a tremendous career switch from Busby Berkely crooner and romantic to the hard-boiled detective or whatever (a restless insurance agent in here, believe it or not) while Scott seems to have always owned those "loser dame" roles. Between those two and the menacing Burr, who always was that until his Perry Mason TV days, I really enjoying watching this trio.

The film also featured Harry Wild's fine noir photography. Wild was the cinematographer on at least a half dozen film noirs, beginning with "Murder My Sweet" in the beginning of the period, so he knew what he was doing.