Pitfall (1948)

Middle-aged insurance man Forbes (Dick Powell) is tired of his predictable life. He crosses paths with Mona, a pretty young woman who’s embezzling boyfriend lavished her with gifts, and starts an ill conceived relationship. Unfortunately the company PI (Raymond Burr) already called dibs.

The put-upon wife is played by Jane Wyatt, better known as the mom in Father Knows Best. I’ve never seen an episode. Raymond Burr is compellingly despicable as Mona’s unwanted admirer. He was said to be a nice guy in real life. Go figure.

Lizabeth Scott plays the pretty Mona. She seemed something of a Veronica Lake type. The former understudy of Tallulah Bankhead, it is said she was the model for Eve from All About. Ambitious and difficult, she was often derided for her talent, but her understated performance worked fine here. Producer boyfriends and better roles dried up once north of 30, so she rounded out her career on television.

Independently produced, Pitfall has a snappy script and pretty good performances. It skirted some Hays code conventions that studio productions might not have been able to. Nothing too scandalous, though. This is pretty much still a by-the-books 40’s noir.

Honestly, this won’t be a film that sticks with me. It is a good but not great film, but I had to get the bad taste of that last one out of my mouth. It has some good dialog and a few interesting moments, and is worth a watch. AMRU 3.5.

Tommy: “Dad was a boxer in college!”
Doctor: “I think he was wise to go into insurance.”