PITFALL. United Artists, 1948. Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr. Based on the novel The Pitfall by Jay J. Dratler. Director: André De Toth.

   Call this one “suburban noir,” if you will, and as I’ve seen it described as by at least one other reviewer, but “noir” it is, there’s no doubt about it. This was co-star Lizabeth Scott’s sixth film, and while her first one. You Came Along, [reviewed here ], was an uneasy combination of comedy and sentimental romance, most of the movies she made from there on were noir all the way, beginning with her second, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).

   Dick Powell plays an insurance executive in Pitfall, but even though he has a beautiful wife (Jane Wyatt) and a young son at home, somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area, he’s starting to feel caged in, as though life is slipping away, that his opportunity for some adventure in his everyday existence is about to pass him by.

   Enter Raymond Burr, a private eye who’s found the girl friend (Lizabeth Scott) of a guy who’s in jail for embezzlement. The company Powell works for is responsible for the loss, but most of the money was spent on fancy things to give her.

   Powell pays her a visit, and while she agrees to return everything she can, she mocks him lightly for being such a dull, company-oriented guy. Thus challenged, a date for drinks turns into an overnight stay. This does not go well with Raymond Burr’s character, who has had his own eyes on the blonde beauty, and he has already told Powell so.

   Burr beats Powell up rather badly, and when Mona (Lizabeth Scott) discovers the latter is married, she wants the affair to end. Powell agrees, but as far as Burr is concerned, he is not the kind of fellow that takes no for an answer.

   I have discovered that whenever Lizabeth Scott is in a movie like this, she is always the center of attention in the film, as far as I’m concerned. Not quite so, this time. She’s an innocent victim this time, her only fault being that of attracting the wrong type of guy: from the embezzler, to the family man looking for a fling, or Raymond Burr’s character, an ugly hunk of a man whose glowering, hate-filled eyes demand your full attention throughout the film, even though he’s billed only fourth.

   There’s no sympathy in this film for Dick Powell, whose character is shallow and weak and in over his head as far as extracurricular activity is concerned, and he soon comes to know it. But he’s essentially an honest man and he does do his best on Mona’s behalf.

   I can’t tell you how the ending comes out – even whether it’s a happy one or not, for example – but when the tale is over, it is very very clear who – no, sorry, I can’t tell you that either.

   If you’re a fan of film noir, don’t miss this one.