Pitfall

In the 1940's roughly 85% of the working class was involved with insurance.

Subdued noir lacks stylization but sticks with you. Although short on snappy dialogue and snazzy photography, the themes of modern ennui are strong. At times it seems like De Toth is setting up a cautionary fable about straying too far from the suburban nuclear family, but by the ending there's some room for ambiguity. You can't complain about Dick Powell or Lizabeth Scott, and you sure as hell can't complain about Raymond Burr, menacing and creepy as ever. The score, however, is a mixed bag.

Pitfall is not a film that believes in subtlety, or complexity for that matter. The opening scene, with a great sourpuss performance from Dick Powell, lays it all out. Suburban boredom and the realization that routine is all he has leads him to take some risks whose effects resonate throughout the film. It explores its theme quite well but does so at the expense of an interesting narrative. The ideas and performances are enough to hold it together, but the experience is a bit lacking.

Dick Powell & Lizabeth Scott starring in a rather casual adultery thriller with a violent touch at the hands for the future Perry Mason - Raymond Burr. The mood of this thing feels natural. Doesn't exaggerate for the sake of doing something spectacular, and that becomes the attraction of this Pitfall (1948). I really loved Powell here.

Work sucks, I know

Poor, long-suffering Lizabeth Scott... she just can't catch a break. Dick Powell is good in a role so ineptly-written as to be almost unplayable. Actually, the whole movie suffers from slipshod writing. But it's great fun to watch nice-guy Perry Mason play a psycho stalker with a sadistic streak. Jane Wyatt is also excellent in a fairly thankless role.

Great performances by Lizabeth Scott and Jane Wyatt help elevate this one. Powell on the other hand is just a clammy lump and Burr is better but still outshone by his ridiculous oversized suit (inspiration for David Byrne?). There's just not enough intensity to properly serve the story. Scott is alluring to be sure, but her would-be suitors seem drawn to her compulsively simply because she's the designated femme fatale.

Star Rating: ★★★

Em honra de Lizabeth Scott.

Always more of a foregone conclusion than anything, everyone ends up miserable and alone. Burr is a monster here, and quite an effective one too. Otherwise pretty humdrum.

A good performance by Raymond Burr does not do much to save a film that was very slow paced and not all that interesting to watch.