IMDb > Pitfall (1948)
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Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   214 votes
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Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
André De Toth
Writers:
Jay Dratler (novel)
Karl Kamb (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Pitfall on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 August 1948 (USA) more
Genre:
Film-Noir more
Tagline:
A man can be as strong as steel...but somewhere there's a woman who'll break him! more
Plot:
John Forbes is a family man who's tired of the 9 to 5 humdrum of his job an insurance company executive... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Where Oh Where Is The DVD? more (7 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Dick Powell ... John Forbes
Lizabeth Scott ... Mona Stevens
Jane Wyatt ... Sue Forbes
Raymond Burr ... MacDonald
John Litel ... District Attorney

Byron Barr ... Bill Smiley
Jimmy Hunt ... Tommy Forbes
Ann Doran ... Maggie
Selmer Jackson ... Ed Brawley
Margaret Wells ... Terry
Dick Wessel ... Desk Sergeant
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
86 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15
Company:
Regal Films more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
Where Oh Where Is The DVD?, 24 December 2007
9/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

It's sad it is now 60 years after this film was released and we still don't have this available on DVD. You even have to pay big bucks to find a used VHS copy. It's "sad" because it is a fine film noir and would make an excellent addition to anyone's noir collection. So many film noirs are now on disc, where is this one??!!

I found you can't go wrong with Dick Powell in a film noir, and Lisabeth Scott certainly ranks among the all-time femme fatales in the genre's history. Add an unlikely pair of actors like Jane Wyatt and Raymond Burr, and Director Andre de Toth and you really have an interesting "old" crime story. "Crime Wave" and "Ramrod," two other fairly unknown-but-excellent hard-bitten noirs were also done by de Toth.

I am always amazed how Powell made such a tremendous career switch from Busby Berkely crooner and romantic to the hard-boiled detective or whatever (a restless insurance agent in here, believe it or not) while Scott seems to have always owned those "loser dame" roles. Between those two and the menacing Burr, who always was that until his Perry Mason TV days, I really enjoying watching this trio.

The film also featured Harry Wild's fine noir photography. Wild was the cinematographer on at least a half dozen film noirs, beginning with "Murder My Sweet" in the beginning of the period, so he knew what he was doing.

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Related Links

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