Better Late Then Never

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Richard Widmark stars with Lee J. Cobb, Tina Louise, and Earl Holliman in 1959's "The Trap," produced by Widmark's company.Widmark plays a mob attorney, Ralph Anderson who returns to his home town, despite being estranged from his sheriff father and deputy brother (Holliman). He needs his father to look the other way while a mobster, Vincent Massonetti (Cobb) takes a plane from there to Mexico. He explains that if his father doesn't do it, lots of blood will be shed.Unfortunately, Massonetti is spotted and all hell breaks loose. Anderson decides to drive Massonetti to the authorities - and there's one road out of the desert town. Accompanying him are his brother and his brother's wife (Louise), a former girlfriend of Anderson. Lots of complications as they attempt to get past the people who want to free Massonetti.Tense thriller with good performances all around. Louise was probably 20 at the time and very beautiful. I had the extreme displeasure of interviewing her some years ago, so I hesitated to watch this. Small but effective film that has the feel of a western, though it isn't one.

'The Trap (1959)' is a rather obscure crime thriller, but nevertheless has some star-power behind it. Richard Widmark is Ralph Anderson, a prodigal son returning to his hometown in the middle of the California desert. Lee J. Cobb is Victor Massonetti, a fugitive mob-boss intent on boarding a private plane to Mexico. When Ralph and his alcoholic brother Tippy (who is unhappily married to Ralph's ex-flame, Linda) capture Massonetti, the gangster's Mafia affiliates go into overdrive. With just a single dirt road leading out of town to civilisation, getting Massonetti into the hands of the authorities isn't going to be pleasant or easy. Just like John Sturges' wonderful 'Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)', this film has all the trademarks of a Western, but is set in modern times. As the escort winds its way across the lonely, parched landscape, you can cut the tension with a knife. Cobb is a formidable villain, his silent glowers and snide threats from the backseat proving both entertaining and unsettling. Tina Louise is certainly alluring as the love interest torn between two brothers, and Carl Benton Reid is impressive as Ralph and Tippy's overbearing sheriff father. And just to prove that Bruce Willis has nothing on his forebears, Widmark takes out a plane with a car!

The Trap is an independent film produced by star Richard Widmark which sad to say doesn't get broadcast often enough.Widmark plays a mob attorney who goes to his former hole in the wall one horse town where his stern father Carl Benton Reid and jealous younger brother Earl Holliman are sheriff and deputy. Widmark is hoping to get his family to help big time mobster Lee J. Cobb escape to Mexico.Dad doesn't prove amenable to helping a son he despises for whom he works for. He even likes the weak and vacillating Earl Holliman more than Widmark.When the plan blows up and Widmark realizes it's brought about the destruction of his family he resolves to bring Cobb in. But it proves to be a daunting task.Cobb essentially repeats the roles he had as mobsters in On the Waterfront and Party Girl. He doesn't break any new ground, but he's always fascinating to watch.Holliman has the best role in The Trap. He's married to Tina Louise who Widmark abandoned when he left their town. Holliman always has known he was less than a second choice husband and his resentment crackles throughout his performance.I wish that The Trap was broadcast more often. Maybe it will be seen on a Richard Widmark retrospective if that man ever gets his long deserved lifetime achievement award.

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.