Dans la souricière

A twisted family plot about one son who leaves his small California desert town and becomes a lawyer for the mob, and the other, who remains and follows in his father's footsteps to become a sheriff's deputy in the same town, and who meet again when brother number one returns with a fleeing mob boss and his bodyguards, who are attempting to help him escape into Mexico via a desert airstrip. Between them (the two brothers) aside from being on opposite sides of the law, is a woman who is now married to the deputy but who was with the other brother before he left town. And the father, the town sheriff, is a by-the-book character who resents the one son for leaving and the other for his personal weaknesses, especially his drinking. Along comes the mob boss and his boys into the desert town, and all hell breaks loose, leading to the film's finale, a scenic cat and mouse chase through the desert. Widmark's character turns out to be not bad at all, as he's shown to be really a good guy at heart, and contrasts with the corrupted mob figures whom he ultimately battles. Earl Holliman, as the other brother, plays the tragic part, a marriage (Tina Louise as his wife) that turns out to be a farce, and a job that's his only due to the influence of his father (sheriff Carl Benton Reid), a man who has zero respect for him.

A romance, a crime drama, and a family feud all rolled into one - and starring Richard Widmark. Yes, please! Dick has been estranged from his family for years, and his dad Carl Benton Reid is ashamed of his career: working as a lawyer who represents mob boss Lee J. Cobb. The unreliable brother, Earl Holliman, has taken his place in his dad's heart. Carl is the sheriff in town, and Earl is the deputy, despite his drunkenness and incompetence.

Earl has also taken his place in another way: he married Dick's old girlfriend Tina Louise. There's still a smoldering chemistry between them, though, so when he comes back to town the sparks really fly. Dick has a reason for coming back: to ask his dad to break the law and allow Lee to cross the border before his trial date. Do you think his favor will be granted?

The Trap is pretty entertaining, even though parts of it are predictable. I'll watch anything with cutie-pie Richard Widmark in it, and I always like seeing him as a romantic lead since he so often played villains. Lee. J. Cobb isn't given anything to do besides be a mafioso, so if you're looking for a range of acting in this movie, you probably won't find it. You will find a tense small town meets big mafia drama with the time ticking away at every moment.

Prodigal son (Widmark) must get top gangster (Cobb) across desert to justice despite opposition from gang and family rivalries.

Pretty good suspenser if you can get past that over-long, over-done early scene where Widmark and Louise make moon-calf eyes at each other. After that the narrative settles into a decent contest of wits. One thing for sure—they didn't have to build many sets. There's a huge swath of desolate California desert the cars get to roll across, while I'm thirsty just watching this.

There're maybe more family convolutions than the story needs. I expect much of that is to build up Tina Louise's part. And what a dish she is, several years before Gilligan's Island. I will say they wisely de-glamorized her for the rustic part here. It's a good cast, though the 46-year old Widmark is a little long-in-the-tooth for his role; plus, the great Lee J. Cobb has less to do than I would expect.

Nonetheless, the premise plays out nicely in the abandoned diner and in that final twist that I didn't see coming. There's nothing special here, just an entertaining 90-minutes with a good cast and a big part of California that sure ain't Hollywood.

The Trap (AKA: The Baited Trap) is directed by Norman Panama who also co-writes the screenplay with Richard Alan Simmons. It stars Richard Widmark, Lee J. Cobb, Tina Louise, Earl Holliman and Lorne Greene. Music is by Irvin Talbot and cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp.

Tula Torments.

Tula, California and Ralph Anderson (Widmark) has returned home under a cloud. He's been a lawyer for mob boss Victor Massonetti (Cobb) and needs to fulfil a favour to get Massonetti out of the country. Unfortunately the law in Tula comprises of his father and brother, the former still angry at Ralph for a youthful misdemeanour, the latter an alcoholic married to Ralph's childhood sweetheart. It's a recipe for disaster...

A Technicolor action/thriller that has somehow found its way into some film noir reference books, The Trap should just be viewed as belonging to the former genre titles. Which is fine, especially since it's grand entertainment. Essentially it's a play on the good narrative device of a good man who has done something he's not proud of, but is now desperately trying to make amends. Surrounding him is a fractured family dynamic, a romantic attachment that hurts his very being, and the small matter of some very bad dudes after the quarry in his charge - and thus also his blood!

The story throws up a number of surprises to further beef up the psychological broth, emotions are pulled all over the place, while death is a constant threat to keep things on the high heat. There's plenty of sweat and steam, boozing and brooding, neuroticism and nastiness, there's nary a dull moment in the whole play. All of which leads to a genuinely surprising and moving finale. The cast all turn in effective character portrayals, feeding off of one and other to make the picture achieve all it can. The sound stage aspects of the shoot are irksome, with the main painted backdrop particularly looking fake, which is a shame as the genuine exterior photography by Fapp is gorgeous.

Small irks aside, this is a meaty hybrid piece out of Paramount and highly recommended to fans of the stars and such genre fare. 8/10

The Trap grafts a dysfunctional-family drama onto a glorified road-chase movie; it also grafts the shoot-from-the-hip conventions and sun-parched look of the Western onto a late-fifties crime drama. These various components, all vying for our attention, give birth to a hybrid that lacks any individuality.

Prodigal son Richard Widmark turns up in his hometown of Tula, out in the California desert, after a decade's absence. The old homestead, seething with tensions, houses his father (Carl Benton Reid), the town sheriff; his drunken wastrel of a brother (Earl Holliman); and the brother's wife (Tina Louise), an old flame of Widmark's. It seems that Widmark works for the mob as a mouthpiece, come home to persuade his law-and-order dad to call off the police guarding an airfield where crime kingpin Lee J. Cobb will make a break for Mexico. In the ensuing chaos, after his dad gets killed, Widmark decides to bring Cobb to justice himself. Unfortunately, he needs the help of his resentful brother, who in turn needs the cash Cobb offers him....

The trek through the desert to the nearest big town proves a fiendish obstacle course: What with snipers and double-dealings and radiators gone dry, it's just one damn thing after another. The relentless heat and blazing sun suck out much of the movie's juices, too; watching it becomes an endurance contest like being stranded in the desert. Widmark and Cobb walk through their roles with expected professionalism, but do nothing unexpected, either. Holliman telegraphs his vacillating weakness loud and clear, while Tina Louise doesn't bring much to the party (but then again, director Norman Panama didn't ask her to bring much). Once it's over, The Trap just sort of dries up and blows away.