Regal
Films, 85m 55s
After
storming film noir gates with MURDER, MY SWEET (1944), Dick Powell
brought his diverse acting talents to other important noir works, including CORNERED
(1945), JOHNNY O'CLOCK (1947) and CRY DANGER (1951). He also made his
directorial debut in the genre with the tense SPLIT SECOND (1953). Roughly in the center of his noir output lies PITFALL, an independent production that recalls plot mechanics of
the classic noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) and the structural framework of the prior
year's NORA PRENTISS (1947). That is
not to suggest similarities to other noir
titles diminish the obvious worth of PITFALL,
one of the most realistically dramatic instances of the sometimes surreal genre.
PITFALL opens with the traditional family
breakfast, where LA-based insurance man John Forbes (Dick Powell) expresses
discontent with the daily rat race. His frustrated train of thought continues
at the workplace when he comments he will require a heavy dose of alcohol to
make it through yet another weekly bridge game. The new path Forbes seeks is
cleared by private investigator J.B. MacDonald (Raymond Burr), who reluctantly
points Forbes toward a blonde temptress.
Firmly
within the context of film noir
conventions, Forbes gets his first look at Mona Stevens (Lizabeth Scott) via
flattering glamour pictures and body measurements. When the real Stevens enters
the room adorned in short shorts, the potential problem she presents to the
married man is beyond debate. Temptations aside, Forbes has justification for
being in her apartment. Stevens's embezzling significant other Bill Smiley
(Byron Barr, DOUBLE INDEMNITY
[1944]) was bonded by the firm where Forbes is employed. Especially surprising for
any film noir exercise, Stevens is a temptress
only in terms of her attractive appearance. She explains Smiley was mistaken
when he thought the way to her heart was through the acquisition of ill-gotten
material items. The afternoon conversation shared by Forbes and Stevens is
convincingly well-written; in effect the two make a silent contract. Each is
exactly what the other needs, if only for the moment.
Director
André De Toth, Veronica Lake's husband and also the director of the revered film noir CRIME WAVE (1954), brings noir
concerns to a suburban atmosphere mostly void of the genre's forbidding urban
settings and nightmarish visual setups. Karl Kamb's screenplay, adapted from
the novel THE PITFALL by Jay Dratler, stands unwaveringly on the side of the
story's major female characters, a fairly unique treatment in respect to noir releases of the late 1940s. The
hapless model Stevens is far from the ball-busting femme fatale suggested by
the film's theatrical poster. Her only flaw, a tragic one, revolves around the
males who are drawn to her, though that magnetic quality is not advanced as her
fault. The narrative also sympathizes with the strong wife and mother Sue
Forbes (Jane Wyatt, BOOMERANG!
[1947], HOUSE BY THE RIVER [1950], THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF [1950]). By
virtue of its startlingly frank concluding scene, PITFALL imparts a guardedly optimistic outlook on marital
infidelity and its troublesome aftermath.
The
dark personality of this film noir is
the sexually obsessed detective character portrayed by Burr, a corpulent actor
noted for playing film noir heavies,
i.e. DESPERATE (1947), RAW DEAL (1948), THE BLUE GARDENIA (1953). His sinister stalker MacDonald is the
type of conniving creep any woman would despise. Burr plays MacDonald as a
relentless man in a trance, glass-eyed over his lust for a woman who conveys no
interest in him. He somehow has it in his head that Stevens will learn to love
him. At his most rotten, MacDonald inflames the hot temper and brooding
jealousy of the imprisoned man Smiley. As good an example as any of the noir doppelgänger, the shadowy figure
MacDonald embodies the repressed desires of the disillusioned veteran Forbes,
who, interestingly, saw no action during the course of his service.
The
single-layered Blu-ray version of PITFALL
recently made available through Kino Lorber was mastered in HD from a 35mm
negative preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The result is a
noticeable improvement over the various public domain renditions of the film
that have accumulated over the years, though contrast is a bit soft and surface
scratches intrude at times. The correct original 1.37:1 theatrical aspect ratio
with rounded corners is observed, despite Kino's packaging indication of
1.33:1.
The
audio commentary track is anchored by the always reliable Eddie Muller, who
directs the viewer's eye to the many subtle filmmaking efficiencies of De Toth,
as well as the director's occasional shortcomings. Muller sees Stevens as the
archetypal noir protagonist whose
past events threaten the present, as is the case in OUT OF THE PAST (1947). Working toward a definition of film noir, Muller notes Forbes feels
compelled to return to the apartment of Stevens despite knowing full well that
is the exact opposite of the right thing to do. In the noir world, knowingly doing the wrong thing is standard behavior.
