Masterful Movie

Let's be realistic.

Am I Missing Something?

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This neat little thriller was directed by Richard Fleischer at the beginning of his "noir" period. He got better at it after this one--the terrific "Narrow Margin" and "Armored Car Robbery"--but this is still a good one, if a bit too slow at times.Lloyd Bridges is a convicted counterfeiter serving time when he cuts a deal with the Treasury Department. It seems that when he was nabbed, his partner kept the plates and now almost flawless counterfeit currency is flooding Los Angeles. The feds believe it's Bridges' partner, and they'll cut his sentence in exchange for letting him out to find his partner and retrieve the plates. Once he gets out, however, he double-crosses them and plans to get the plates himself. As it turns out, Bridges isn't quite as slick as he thinks he is, and things start to go south rather quickly. Although not quite as fast-paced as Fleischer's better-known thrillers, it benefits tremendously from Bridges' presence. He's very tightly wound in this one, and quite a bit more brutal than you would expect him to be, even playing a bad guy. Tragic figure Barbara Payton actually does quite well as his floozy girlfriend, and the sinister John Hoyt does an excellent job as a somewhat enigmatic character who turns out to be not quite what he seems.Good atmosphere and some neat plot--and other--twists make this a good companion piece to Fleischer's later noirs, and definitely worth a watch.

"Trapped" is a typical late '40s B movie. This one concerns a sting organized by the Treasury Department in order to track down some counterfeit plates.The beginning is told in documentary style, which was done quite a bit during that period. In the story, the Department enables Tris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges) to escape from prison to lead them to counterfeit plates, funny money which has again surfaced after a period of several years. They bug the apartment of his old girlfriend Meg (Barbara Payton) and ultimately send in an agent (John Hoyt) who is supposed to be one of the gang. He's established an identity in the club where Meg works. Once Stewart tracks down the plates, he learns they've been sold, and it will cost him $25,000 to buy them back.It's fun to see the actors driving around old Los Angeles, though this is a fairly routine drama with very over the top music. When Bridges makes his entrance, it's almost Superman music. He was certainly a hunky young man as well as a handsome older one.Barbara Payton, whose career at this time was actually on the way up, does a good job as Meg. A few years later, she hit the skids, due to a series of unfortunate romances. She was juggling the abusive Tom Neal and Franchot Tone at the same time; Neal and Tone got into a huge fight during which Tone was badly injured and hospitalized. This hurt her reputation, and the rest is a sad story of abuse at the hands of Neal, drunkenness, prostitution, and bad checks.Despite this being formulaic, it will hold your interest.

she really doesn't have a heck of a lot to do and this movie is kind of gauche with its ridiculous opening in newsreel style, stretching the film out to feature length with an "in the news" documentary bit that segues to a silly bank scene in which a struggling lady restaurateur is held accountable for a phony 20 passed at her eatery.Lloyd Bridges is good but the weakness of the film is such that one gets tired of him along with the whole shebang, quite honestly!Have to concede that the very ending is quite... elaborate a veritableRube Goldberg contraption. What a way to go!The review needs another line, gee that's fine!

This was a good movie. Considering that it was probably made on a shoestring budget, it was a very good movie. Personally, I enjoy a good plot and storyline and this picture had it; it was interesting and absorbing throughout. Pacing was good and the picture moved along at a brisk pace. There was very little if any padding material.Good job by Lloyd Bridges, who had not yet made it big. It had a good cast of dependable character actors. I did not know the sad story of Barbara Payton until I read it on the website, and she was very good as Bridges' girlfriend. It must have been Director Richard Fleischer's first solid hit, as he went on to have a pretty distinguished career in Hollywood.If it ever comes on one of the movie channels do yourself a favor and see it, even if you're not a cops-and-robbers fan.