Dick Powell is an insurance investigator bored with the daily grind who gets more than he bargains for by pursuing a little adventure in Pitfall, and though I always find him a bit of an unlikely Noir hero or romantic lead, his everyman persona does work for the set-up. Lizabeth Scott is an obvious femme fatale then when she pursues a relationship with him, because why would this dame fall for a schmoe like him? Except the film has several surprises in store for us, and though Scott has all the makings, her power over men appears to be accidental and by the end I believe her when she said early on she never asked for the things a convict boyfriend sent her. To three men, she's an object to be possessed, but Powell's character is a more decent sort, whose affair weighs on him (why WOULD you cheat on Jane Wyatt?), and so perhaps that's the attraction. He's a damn sight better than Raymond Burr's lumbering bully, the actual homme fatal of this piece who exudes so much menace, he ramps up the tension in his every scene. Suburban boredom rocked by Noir happenings, with a more sympathetic than usual fatale... I've only seen Lizabeth Scott in one other movie and thought of her as who you call when you can't get Lauren Bacall, but I've gained a new appreciation of her here.
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Siskoid
Dick Powell is an insurance investigator bored with the daily grind who gets more than he bargains for by pursuing a little adventure in Pitfall, and though I always find him a bit of an unlikely Noir hero or romantic lead, his everyman persona does work for the set-up. Lizabeth Scott is an obvious femme fatale then when she pursues a relationship with him, because why would this dame fall for a schmoe like him? Except the film has several surprises in store for us, and though Scott has all the makings, her power over men appears to be accidental and by the end I believe her when she said early on she never asked for the things a convict boyfriend sent her. To three men, she's an object to be possessed, but Powell's character is a more decent sort, whose affair weighs on him (why WOULD you cheat on Jane Wyatt?), and so perhaps that's the attraction. He's a damn sight better than Raymond Burr's lumbering bully, the actual homme fatal of this piece who exudes so much menace, he ramps up the tension in his every scene. Suburban boredom rocked by Noir happenings, with a more sympathetic than usual fatale... I've only seen Lizabeth Scott in one other movie and thought of her as who you call when you can't get Lauren Bacall, but I've gained a new appreciation of her here.sushantv10
Among the best written characters ........great script.....Loved ItAndrewB
"When I was a kid it was too much supper, now it's comic books."..."I'll burn them tomorrow."
anne_f_
It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfLHe6jdOXU (with English subtitles for the hard of hearing).