Die Stahlfalle

A nail-biter from beginning to end. Bank officer Osborne (Cotten) yields to temptation and steals a million bucks from his bank. Except to complete the theft, he's got to get to Rio before the bank opens on Monday. That means he's got to get a passport and make plane connections with only moments to spare. Thanks to him, I left a bucket of sweat on my living room couch.

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.

Written and directed by the more than capable Andrew L. Stone, this has been described by some as a 'noir' but actually contains none of the components associated with that particular genre. It is essentially a 'heist' movie in which Joseph Cotten's assistant bank manager is the complete antithesis of the criminal mastermind whilst his wife, played by Teresa Wright, is the film's moral compass. As with all films of its type the robbery itself goes pretty well to plan but the getaway proves more than somewhat problematic, to say the least.

Despite the innate implausibilty of the plot, the editing by Otto Ludwig maintains the momentum throughout whilst Dimitri Tiomkin's instantly recognisable chords and orchestration underline the tension.

An earlier reviewer has expressed the view that some might find it awkward watching Cotten and Wright playing husband and wife having previously seen them in 'Shadow of a Doubt' as uncle and niece, to which I would respond: It's called ACTING!

This is a medium budgeted, tight little drama starring Joseph Cotten in one of the favorite roles of film noir culture, that of a respectable member of society who is discontented and bored, which leads to trouble. It is also one of those rare films with featured elements which are implausible if not impossible yet still holds one's interest to the end without one saying, "Yeah, right." and changing the channel. In this case Cotton plays a long time employee of a bank who day dreams of how easy it would be to embezzle one million dollars from his bank over a weekend.

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.

In the Film-Noir Canon this is there because of the Everyman abandoning the safe confines of Conservative Capitalism, that for the little guy is an oh so slow Corporate climb, and the unrelenting tension it embodies, more than the style or unfolding of implicit irony.

It has a rather pale look with mostly unremarkable Camera set-ups, although there are a couple that are noteworthy, and it all takes place in bright lights illuminating the plight of the Anti-Hero's inability to hide from the deed done and the escape route he has set in motion.

It is extremely suspenseful and the screws are forever tightening as one scene to the next lays out never ending barricades and pitfalls. The Movie can be at times quite breathtaking and never fails to pull the Viewer along with unsuspecting twist and turns.

The ending is up for debate, for it can be quite surprising and at the same time some might say a cop out. It does manage to separate this one from quintessential Noir and land it somewhere in the Film-Noir netherworld, just not at the forefront.

The always great Joseph Cotton plays a bank employee who steals a lot of cash but begins to have second thoughts. You find yourself rooting for Cotton's character hoping that he will not be caught. Theresa Wright, Jonathan Hale and Walter Sande round out a fine cast. I first saw this film in 1952, the year it was released and, even as a 12 year old boy, the movie has stuck in my mind all this years. How many Hollywood efforts can you say that about?