THE STEEL TRAP is a reminder of how even the best laid plans can go completely awry if the plan involves a getaway on an airplane to a foreign country. That's what our hero discovers after stealing a million dollars from the bank that employs him, and why his wife is so suspicious about the amount of hysteria he undergoes while dealing with one obstacle after another at the airport.
Although suspenseful, there's never a buildup of Cotten's character to indicate why he would risk stealing a million bucks and put his own life (including a wife and child) in such jeopardy. It's a by-the-numbers sort of thriller--throw in enough obstacles and keep the audience guessing as to how it will all pan out.
Teresa Wright, with blonde hair, is attractive and appealing enough as the wife but it's really a thankless role in a film where all the attention is on Joseph Cotten's character. His acting is fine, but not good enough to save the film from being a minor thriller rather than a first-rate one.
Andrew Stone's direction is taut, but the film has a low-budget look and the flat lighting is no help, resembling the sort seen in the average '50s teleplays.
A couple of the bank scenes during the heist are well-staged, but not enough to raise this above the level of a routine suspense film.
Although suspenseful, there's never a buildup of Cotten's character to indicate why he would risk stealing a million bucks and put his own life (including a wife and child) in such jeopardy. It's a by-the-numbers sort of thriller--throw in enough obstacles and keep the audience guessing as to how it will all pan out.
Teresa Wright, with blonde hair, is attractive and appealing enough as the wife but it's really a thankless role in a film where all the attention is on Joseph Cotten's character. His acting is fine, but not good enough to save the film from being a minor thriller rather than a first-rate one.
Andrew Stone's direction is taut, but the film has a low-budget look and the flat lighting is no help, resembling the sort seen in the average '50s teleplays.
A couple of the bank scenes during the heist are well-staged, but not enough to raise this above the level of a routine suspense film.