If you didn’t have a gun on me I’d beat your brains out. Cheap penny-ante drifter
Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Trapped (1949).
This film has a crazy low 6.3 rating on iMDB.com[1]. It is even worse on rottentomatoes.com. It doesn’t have a Tomatometer score and a sad 11 percent audience approval[2]. That is crazy. The film is so much better than that. The sneering sharply dressed Lloyd Bridges is worth more than that. Barbara Payton is a joy to watch in spite of her sad ending.
This film was selected for restoration by Eddie Muller and the Filmoirfoundation.org. UCLA did the restoration. So, I am clearly not the only one that thinks this is a good film and Film-Noir.
The film was made by poverty row Eagle-Lion Films. It was produced by Bryan Foy, one of the Seven Little Foy’s, a popular vaudeville act. The director was Richard Fleischer, who also directed other Film-Noirs such as Bodyguard (1948), The Clay Pigeon (1949), Follow Me Quietly (1949), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Narrow Margin (1952), and Violent Saturday (1955).
He directed fantasy/sci-fi films, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Doctor Dolittle (1967), and Soylent Green (1973). He directed two very good war films Between Heaven and Hell (1956) and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). He had two more tights and fights with The Vikings (1958), and Barabbas (1961). He directed the macho-man Charles Bronson mafia fighting farmer Mr. Majestyk (1974) and Tough Enough (1983), which is a Dennis Quad tough man film. He also directed potentially career-ending films Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985).
So, without a good or bad review, let’s move on to the actors.
Actors – Trapped (1949)
Returning
Hawk faced actor John Hoyt played John Downey, an undercover Federal agent going under the name Mr. Hackett. Hoyt was first covered in the Film Noir The Big Combo (1955).
Lloyd Bridges played criminal Tris Stewart, and he did a great job. He was smart, cynical, tough, and well-dressed. Bridges was first covered in Sahara (1943).
New
Barbara Payton played the role of Meg Dixon. Payton was born in Minnesota in 1927. Payton grew up to be very beautiful and was married at 19. Following a quick annulment, she headed to Hollywood. Before long, the blue-eyed, peroxide blonde signed a contract with Universal.
She had a couple of small roles but was one of the leads in Trapped (1949). She starred in other small roles such as Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950), Dallas (1950), and Only the Valiant (1951). She began engaging in lurid behavior dating a string of male stars, many of whom were married.
She was married to John Lee Payton from 1945 to 1951. After this, she was dating Franchot Tone and B actor Tom Neal. This led to a brawl between the two men resulting in Tone being admitted to the hospital with a concussion. Despite this, she and Tone married in 1951. This marriage lasted a little over six months as shortly after being married she left Tone for Neal. She stayed with the abusive Neal, and her career suffered to the point where she was being cast in films like Bride of the Gorilla (1951).
Payton went to England to reinvent her career but had little success. She had two more marriages. With her facial appearance changing to blotchy and bloated, she also began to run afoul of the law. Payton began passing bad checks. She began giving away her possessions to pay for bar and drug bills. In 1962, she was arrested for prostitution. That same year she was stabbed by a drunk. She was arrested for possession of heroin in 1965.
She released a tell-all book titled “I Am Not Ashamed” in 1963. In 1967, the once beautiful star was found dead from heart and liver failure. She was 39 years old.
James Todd played criminal Jack Sylvester. Todd was born in Illinois in 1908. Todd is known for Riders of the Purple Sage (1931), The Luck of the Irish (1948), For the Love of Maryin (1948), and Titanic (1953). He had a lot of small parts in great movies like The Caine Mutiny (1954), The Wings of Eagles (1957), and The Buccaneer (1958). Of course, I think Francis in the Navy (1955) is great too. Todd died in 1968 at the early age of 59.
Russ Conway played the role of Chief Agent Gunby. Conway was born in Canada in 1913. He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UCLA. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army special services, which should never be confused with special forces. He began his career in Hollywood in 1947. He amassed an impressive 247 film and television credits. His better-known films include The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), and Our Man Flint (1966). On television, he played Fenton Hardy to the Hardy Boys on the “Mickey Mouse TV Series.” He played a series of characters on Lloyd Bridges’ “Sea Hunt” between 1958-1961. He died in 2009.
Robert Karnes played Federal Agent Fred Foreman. He was born in 1917 in California. His films include The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Road House (1948), not the one with Patrick Swayze, All the King’s Men (1949), Detective (1950), From Here to Eternity (1953), and Apache Rifles (1964). He is also on television’s “Police Story” 1977-1978. He died in 1979.
Story – Trapped (1949)
The narration begins extolling the Treasury Department and its’ role in protecting America. It comes down to the Secret Service and the engraving by The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. They talk about the skill of the engravers and how no one person does the entire job.
The scene switches to a restaurant owner making a deposit in the bank. One of the bills is counterfeit. The bill is taken from the lady, and she is told that the loss is hers for accepting the fake bill. The teller stamps the bill counterfeit.
The bill is sent to Secret Service to be analyzed. Two agents bring the bill into the chief. He recognizes it as a “Stewart Note.” Stewart is in the federal prison in Atlanta on a counterfeiting charge. However, the plates were not recovered, and this bill seems to be a new printing from the original plates.
Agent Raymond (Mack Williams) goes to Atlanta to see Tris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges). Stewart is hard as nails and sharp as a razor. Stewart is shown the money and is told the money is showing up again. Stewart says stool-pigeons don’t last long. Stewart is no help at all. Raymond leaves mad but thinks Stewart will come around.
Several weeks later, Stewart is on a bus being transferred to a prison in Kansas City. He is handcuffed to a marshal. A mysterious car passes the bus, and Stewart sees the driver. Stewart grabs the marshal’s gun and forces him to uncuff his hands. Stewart makes the bus driver stop, and he gets off. The car returns and Stewart gets in.
The driver of the car is Agent Foreman (Robert Karnes). He takes the marshal’s unloaded gun away from Stewart and reports that the pickup has been made. It was all a trick to make sure no one thought Stewart was a rat. Stewart tells that he has a lot of leads to check, and the cops shadowing him will not help.
Stewart and Foreman hold up in a hotel. Foreman asks about Stewart’s old girlfriend, Meg Dixon (Barbara Payton). Stewart says he doesn’t know. He goes into the bathroom and pretends to cut himself. When Foreman comes in to help, Stewart jumps him and beats him senseless. Stewart takes Foreman’s money before leaving.
Meg Dixon is a cigarette girl working in a slick nightclub. She is now under the name Laurie. At the bar, an older man, Mr. Hackett (John Hoyt), is dropping large tips on Meg. They are in Los Angeles, and Hackett really presses Meg hard for a date. Outside of the club, Hackett tries to pick Meg up again. She sends him away with a threat to call the police.
Later she is grabbed and pulled into an alley by Stewart. The lovers are happy to be reunited. They go to her apartment, and Stewart tells about the setup and the escape. She is sure that cops have not located her in LA. Stewart says he has to get in touch with his old partner, Sam Hooker (Douglas Spencer). It is then shown that the apartment is wired, and the feds have double-double crossed Stewart.
Chief Agent Gunby (Russ Conway) and Foreman get the word from the wiretappers that Stewart will be contacting his friend the next day. Foreman is sore about the beating he took. Hackett comes in, and he is really a federal agent named John Downey. He is undercover as a high-rolling criminal.
In the morning, Hooker comes to his hotel, looking like a drunken bum and carrying a bottle. Stewart follows him up from the lobby. Hooker doesn’t even remember him. Hooker has become a total drunk. As Stewart beats Hooker, he finds that he has sold the plates to Jack Sylvester (James Todd) and has wasted all of the money gambling and boozing. Finally, Hooker gives up the location of Sylvester.
Stewart goes directly to Sylvester’s office. Sylvester looks like he has seen a ghost when Stewart barges into his office. Stewart says he wants to get into the action again. Sylvester says for 25g, he will sell Stewart a load of counterfeit money.
The wiretappers find out everything Stewart has done that day. He tells Meg he needs money to do the deal. Finally, Stewart decides he is going to rob the place where Meg works. Of course, the feds have all the information. They contact the Hollywood Police Station.
At closing time, Meg meets Stewart, who is waiting in a car. Before Stewart can start for the club, a police patrol car rides by. He heads for the club, and the police pull up to Meg. They start asking about Stewart, and he makes a run for it.
In the morning, John Downey pays $300 to a lawyer to get Meg out of jail. She is smiling like a charm. He drops that he has some money to spend. He is still hitting on her pretty hard.
Sometime that night, Stewart shows up at the apartment. Stewart gets in a rage about John getting her out of jail. She tells Stewart that John has money. Stewart immediately heads to John’s hotel.
He begins robbing the room. The suitcase is full of dice, cards, and bonds. John comes in, and Stewart decks him. Stewart tells him to stay away from his girl. After some harsh words, Stewart pitches the deal. John says he has to think it over because it is not his regular line of crime.
Stewart then goes to see Sylvester. Sylvester is suspicious because he doesn’t know John. They bring John into the office, and he wants to see the money first. John has to use a magnifying glass to determine the money is fake. They set up the drop for the next day at noon in Hollywood.
Chief Agent Gunby and John talk through side-by-side phone booths in a drug store. It is clear that the police do not move in until the money changes hands. Gunby sets the signal to move in for when he sets a crate on the sidewalk.
The next day, Gunby is slowly painting a store window. There are men cutting grass, cleaning screens, and fixing cars. The two cars for the swap pull up on the other side of the street. Sylvester gets in the back seat of the car, driven by John and Stewart. Sylvester checks John’s money and then delivers a package. However, it is just cut paper to see if it is a trap. Gunby is on the sidewalk holding his crate a few inches off the ground.
John and Stewart go back to Meg’s apartment. They have a drink in expectation of their future fortune. They have to solace John about the test run.
John is in the club when a man recognizes him as John Downey. Meg overhears and knows something is up. She then overhears the couple says that he is an undercover government agent. She leaves work early and goes to Stewart. She pulls him into the hall and says the room may be wired. They find the bug and head out.
Stewart tells Meg to buy two tickets to Mexico in the morning. That morning, Stewart goes to John and has him get the money out of the hotel vault. In the car, Stewart pulls a gun and says he knows John is a federal agent. Stewart takes John to a quit place where he plans to murder him. John attacks and eventually beats and arrests Stewart. They lock Stewart under a false name in Venice.
John calls Gunby to pick up Meg before she can tip off Sylvester. The two wiretappers are sent to arrest Meg, but she is already gone.
John goes to see Sylvester and tells him that Stewart has been arrested. Meg tries to phone from the airport, but they don’t connect. John and Sylvester get in the car and head out. They are trailed by Gunby and some other agents. Sylvester spots the tail, and they begin to make random turns. They get away and Sylvester makes him stop at a bar for a drink. In the bar, Sylvester, calls his henchman and tells him to clean the office. Meg comes into the office and says she is looking for Stewart. The henchman knows something is up and takes her to the car barn. This is from the time that LA had streetcars.
Inside the car barn, are rows of streetcars on raised platforms. Sylvester tells his partner that it is time to make the deal and shut down the operation. Sylvester orders the operation shut down and moved. John stalls for time by looking through the fake money. Meg and the henchman show up at the car barn. Sylvester, like a bad criminal, shows the plates to John.
Sylvester is called to the outer office to meet with Meg and the henchman. She breaks down John’s story, and she tells that John is a cop. Sylvester pulls a gun on John when he and Meg go into the back. A motorcycle cop finds the car and location. John is talking for his life, and Sylvester sees that Meg is weak. In a surprise, he shoots and kills her. John flips the table, and Sylvester runs out into the trolley area. The cops break-in and they have an under, over, and in chase among the trolley cars. Sylvester gives his location away when he steps on the bell ringer. He heads underneath as the cops’ chase. Finally, he climbs on top and spotted. Sylvester puts his hands up and says don’t shoot. However, he touches the electrical wire and is killed.
John and Gunby discuss the plates and fake money. They send the evidence to Washington, and the Stewart case is closed.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Trapped (1949)
The final gun battle and a grizzle death take place in the car bar. This is the second movie we have reviewed where this has been used. LA is arguably the most car-centric city in America. It is odd to think that this large city once featured trolleys or rail cars serving the city.
There is a conspiracy theory, known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, that the rails were destroyed by mega gas stations to force the use of cars. It is true that conglomerates were buying city rail and trolley lines[3]. They were often shut down and replaced with bus lines. However, it may not be as sinister as trying to force car use. The goal behind this General Motors and Standard Oil backed movement was probably just to make money off bus routes.
As Eddie Muller mentioned in his introduction of this movie, the conspiracy was part of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). It was also featured in a number of energy documentaries such as “Taken for a Ride, Internal Combustion, and The End of Suburbia”[4].
World-Famous Short Summary – Watch that third rail
I hope you enjoyed today’s show. You can find connections to social media and email on the site at classicmovierev.com or in the podcast show notes.
Beware the moors
[a] Muller, Eddy (Writer). 2019. Trapped (1949). TCM NoirAlley. Atlanta: TCM.
[b] iMDB.com
[1]1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041983/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trapped_1949
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy
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