SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

blanche-2 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.

Spikeopath The Trap (AKA: The Baited Trap) is directed by Norman Panama who also co-writes the screenplay with Richard Alan Simmons. It stars Richard Widmark, Lee J. Cobb, Tina Louise, Earl Holliman and Lorne Greene. Music is by Irvin Talbot and cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp.Tula Torments.Tula, California and Ralph Anderson (Widmark) has returned home under a cloud. He's been a lawyer for mob boss Victor Massonetti (Cobb) and needs to fulfil a favour to get Massonetti out of the country. Unfortunately the law in Tula comprises of his father and brother, the former still angry at Ralph for a youthful misdemeanour, the latter an alcoholic married to Ralph's childhood sweetheart. It's a recipe for disaster...A Technicolor action/thriller that has somehow found its way into some film noir reference books, The Trap should just be viewed as belonging to the former genre titles. Which is fine, especially since it's grand entertainment. Essentially it's a play on the good narrative device of a good man who has done something he's not proud of, but is now desperately trying to make amends. Surrounding him is a fractured family dynamic, a romantic attachment that hurts his very being, and the small matter of some very bad dudes after the quarry in his charge - and thus also his blood!The story throws up a number of surprises to further beef up the psychological broth, emotions are pulled all over the place, while death is a constant threat to keep things on the high heat. There's plenty of sweat and steam, boozing and brooding, neuroticism and nastiness, there's nary a dull moment in the whole play. All of which leads to a genuinely surprising and moving finale. The cast all turn in effective character portrayals, feeding off of one and other to make the picture achieve all it can. The sound stage aspects of the shoot are irksome, with the main painted backdrop particularly looking fake, which is a shame as the genuine exterior photography by Fapp is gorgeous.Small irks aside, this is a meaty hybrid piece out of Paramount and highly recommended to fans of the stars and such genre fare. 8/10

samdivin15 If I could describe the trap as a regular 50s film I would say it is a very good film of its kind it may not have been the Rebel without a cause or The African Queen but my personal believe is that it sais something for B movies, my other thought is that you don't have to have Burt Lancaster or Rock Hudson or even a big budget for it to be a great film. Take this for example this was Tina Louise's second or third film but she did an outstanding job. Also the actors did outstanding job Richard Widmark, Earl Holliman, Lee J. Cobb, Carl Benton Ried and Lorne Greene did a super job. The camera was great, the producing and directing was great and the film itself was excellent I am looking forword to seeing it again.

aromatic-2 This is well acted and directed. The mood is set right from the beginning, and Tula is no town for the faint of heart. Widmark and Cobb are terrific, and the supporting cast matches them every step of the way. Toward the end, some plot holes become apparent under close examination, but the ride is worth taking.