You have to have lived through the 50's to understand why this film is a reflection of that decade.
Not everyone agrees, but the 50's is so well represented by the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. The Steel Trap begins the same grey way. A man -- a J. Alfred Prufrock kind of a man -- gets up in the morning, eats, gets into his car, drives to the train station, dodges traffic, opens the bank outside door where he works, puts in his time, goes home and repeats the same thing the next day.
It's Groundhog Day without any chance of reprieve, any chance of self improvement, and certainly no Andie McDowell to win over. With that as background, is there any doubt about why he contemplates, plans and actually does rob the bank he works for?
Teresa Wright plays a woman that reminds everyone of the young married mother. Her biggest problem seems to be one domestic crisis after another, one that could spell disaster for Joseph Cotton if she delays too long. There is one piece of cinematography that is astonishing. While waiting for the tellers to balance their books, the camera focuses on a closeup of Cotton. His normally bland good looks are transformed into something very reptilian and cold blooded just before he takes the cash. What a remarkable transformation that disappears as he goes into action and he becomes -- Joseph Cotton, the man we all remember from the Third Man.
So the plot goes. Scene after scene, each as problematic for Cotton as the one preceding it, is met with the same almost military precision, not a surprising event in 1950, just 5 years after the American involvement in the Second World War. People were ready for any movie the highlighted American ingenuity and quick thinking. Also. suspense didn't hurt.
I didn't get an exact count, but I think there were 15 scenes between the beginning and when Wright leaves to come back home. All were filled with complication and suspense.
The climax comes when she decides to leave him. Her reasons for going home are very indicative of the times: she loves her child, her home, her country and her standard American life.
The suspense continues, because now the cat is out of the bag: others now know what has happened. So what will Cotton do? Will he go back to his wife and child, or will he go on to Brazil and enjoy the money he has stolen? Is he a man of the 50's or is this a film much ahead of its time? Even with a spoiler, I cannot say much more. Watch it and sit on your hands because if you don't, you'll bite your nails off.
Not everyone agrees, but the 50's is so well represented by the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. The Steel Trap begins the same grey way. A man -- a J. Alfred Prufrock kind of a man -- gets up in the morning, eats, gets into his car, drives to the train station, dodges traffic, opens the bank outside door where he works, puts in his time, goes home and repeats the same thing the next day.
It's Groundhog Day without any chance of reprieve, any chance of self improvement, and certainly no Andie McDowell to win over. With that as background, is there any doubt about why he contemplates, plans and actually does rob the bank he works for?
Teresa Wright plays a woman that reminds everyone of the young married mother. Her biggest problem seems to be one domestic crisis after another, one that could spell disaster for Joseph Cotton if she delays too long. There is one piece of cinematography that is astonishing. While waiting for the tellers to balance their books, the camera focuses on a closeup of Cotton. His normally bland good looks are transformed into something very reptilian and cold blooded just before he takes the cash. What a remarkable transformation that disappears as he goes into action and he becomes -- Joseph Cotton, the man we all remember from the Third Man.
So the plot goes. Scene after scene, each as problematic for Cotton as the one preceding it, is met with the same almost military precision, not a surprising event in 1950, just 5 years after the American involvement in the Second World War. People were ready for any movie the highlighted American ingenuity and quick thinking. Also. suspense didn't hurt.
I didn't get an exact count, but I think there were 15 scenes between the beginning and when Wright leaves to come back home. All were filled with complication and suspense.
The climax comes when she decides to leave him. Her reasons for going home are very indicative of the times: she loves her child, her home, her country and her standard American life.
The suspense continues, because now the cat is out of the bag: others now know what has happened. So what will Cotton do? Will he go back to his wife and child, or will he go on to Brazil and enjoy the money he has stolen? Is he a man of the 50's or is this a film much ahead of its time? Even with a spoiler, I cannot say much more. Watch it and sit on your hands because if you don't, you'll bite your nails off.