TRAPPED
US, 1948, 78 minutes, Black and white.
Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Peyton, John Hoyt.
Directed by Richard Fleischer.
Trapped is a small film, in the vein of film noir of that period, post or US, a film about a mint, forgeries, criminals, police investigations. It is made in a semi-documentary style, and the director is Richard Fleischer, who made many films in a variety of genres over the next 30 years. Lloyd Bridges as the hero – with a performance from the troubled film star, Barbara Peyton.
1. The semi-document features of the 1940s? The help of the government mint? Other government offices and officials to make the film authentic?
2. The voiceover descriptions popular at the time, the voice of authority, taking the audience into its confidence?
3. An urban story, the American cities, streets, police precincts, clubs, the world of criminals? The musical score?
4. The title, the focus on Tris, the plates for the forgeries, his being caught, taking the rap for someone else, the years in prison, the reappearance of forgeries, the contact by the police, his not talking, transfer and his sudden escape? His personality, brusque, criminal mind?
5. The escape being arranged? His being picked up, then actually escaping? The police keeping track of him?
6. His going to his girlfriend, her being happy to see him, working with him?
7. Going to his contacts, the friend for whom he went to jail, the friend having sold the plates, the quest for the plates?
8. The clubs, criminal elements, the agent undercover? His being unmasked, the girlfriend’s information?
9. Tris going to the new buyer, discussions and plans, double deals?
10. The police decisions, undercover, pursuit, being discovered again? The role of the girl, her being shot?
11. The build-up to the conclusion, the title of the film, the role of the police, the criminals, shootings, the recovery of the plates?
12. The moralising of the film, story of the woman and her $20.00 bill and its being discovered as a forgery and her losing her money, the warnings to the
public about forgeries? The reassurance to the public that the police were on the job?
