Trapped by Television (1936) User Reviews

TV Fun.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 1 May 2013]

'Trapped by Television': an intriguing title that sounds as though the film might feature people being accidentally sucked into the fictional realm of TV.

It doesn't.

In 1936, television was very much in its infancy and the mere idea of broadcasting images was still fantastical enough to be the subject of a whole movie. This fun romantic drama/thriller sees Lyle Talbot as inventor Fred Dennis, who finally perfects his television camera and receiver set with support from opportunistic promoter Barbara 'Bobby' Blake (Mary Astor), her secretary Mae Collins (Joyce Compton) and well-meaning bill collector Rocky O'Neil (Nat Pendleton). Paragon Broadcasting CEO John Curtis (Thurston Hall) shows interest in the invention, and success for Dennis and pals looks assured, but a corrupt Paragon employee has other plans and sets out to sabotage their demonstration.

A light-hearted romp that proves all the more interesting from a historical angle, 'Trapped by Television' is a surprisingly entertaining piece of fluff, with decent performances from its likable leads, some reasonable scenes of tension, and the coolest looking television camera you're ever likely to see—an incredible hunk of art-deco metal and glass that is equal parts machine and objet d'art.

No-one has to battle their way out of a cathode-ray-tube world of make believe, but the film is worth seeing nonetheless.

An enjoyable B-movie with an unusual topic.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 20 January 2010]

The story begins at a collection agency. The boss is angry at Nat Pendleton (who plays his typical likable idiot in this film) because he's been a total failure at the job--particularly since Pendleton is too nice a guy for this sort of work. However, he gives him one more chance--he's to either get the money or parts bought by a young inventor (Lyle Talbot). But, when Pendleton sees the cool television that Talbot is working on, he becomes excited about it and offers to buy Talbot dinner AND help him get a job so he can afford to work on his experimental TV! I had a laugh when moments later, Pendleton introduced Talbot to the boss--and got him a job as a collection agent as well! How did he convince the boss? He told him that Talbot had job gotten out of jail for roughing up people on his previous job as a collection agent! At that point, Talbot begins threatening the boss--and is hired!

Soon, Talbot is sent out to collect from a client (Mary Astor). She is broke but Talbot, like Pendleton, is a softy and cannot bring himself to repossess the property. Instead, they strike up a friendship and she promises she'll help him find financing for his television, though considering she's broke this seems like a hollow gesture. But Astor has the "gift of blarney" and is somehow able to get the $200 Talbot needs. Things certainly are looking up for his invention. However, some crooks decide to sabotage the machine so that they can capitalize on television--leaving Talbot and his friends flat broke. What happens next is something you'll have to see for yourself.

I guess I have a soft spot for this movie. Since it's one of the earliest movies to discuss the new medium of TV, it's actually a very important historical piece. Plus, at the time, audiences must have been pretty excited to see this new gizmo. The acting is pretty good, there are a few nice laughs and it's a pleasant little B-movie. Not great but certainly pretty good and worth seeing--especially if you like films from the classic era in Hollywood.

Okay story of crooks trying to steal a new fangled TV

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 17 January 2006]

The inventor of an improved form of TV battles crooks and crooked broadcasters to remain alive and remain in control of his invention.

That sounds much more exciting than it is. This is a well made, well acted story that has a weird mix of humor and thrills. You have the crooks trying to steal the invention which is very good, and then you have things like the character of the dopey bill collector who seems to come from a very good broad comedy. The problem is that the two styles don't really blend and you end up with a movie thats neither, as well as being just sort of okay. Its a bland affair that never really held my attention.

Worth trying if you run across it, but probably not worth running out to get.

Early, Early Television

[sbibb1 · 12 November 2004]

This public-domain film is often said to be a Science Fiction film because of the title. In reality it is a B drama/comedy, and there is nothing Sci-Fi about it.

Inventor Lyle Talbot has invented a TV camera and TV monitor. He is trying to finish it despite being broke and having bill collectors like Nat Pendleton breathing down his neck. When a scientist working on his own television format vanishes and is held by gangsters, a crooked radio executive thinks he has a way to gain more money from his company.

This is a interesting film for the time. TV was still in developmental stages at this point, and it is interesting to see what set designers thought a TV of the time would look like (big screens!).

The acting is good, Lyle Talbot was a staple in B-Films, as was supporting players Marc Lawrence, Joyce Compton and Nat Pendleton. Mary Astor, again wonderful and natural, would eventually graduate from B-Films to become an under appreciated A-list star.

Great Art Deco TV Props, Okay Film

[CatherineYronwode · 6/10 · 28 December 2006]

This film tries to blend comedy with drama, and the result is an uneasy tossed salad rather than a smooth pudding. Lyle Talbot is so stalwart and large it is difficult to feature him as a TV inventor -- but he more than makes up for this in the fight scene, where, with his usual technique, he just beats the dickens out of the other actors for five or ten minutes. Nat Pendelton is wonderful as the dim-witted bill collector turned science hobbyist. Mary Astor, playing closer to her "Thin Man" arch smile than to her "Maltese Falcon" dramatic style, is a scheming but lovable promoter of potato peelers who decides to back this newfangled thing called television. All in all, this makes a better comedy than a drama, but the direction pulls it both ways, and thus it fails to satisfy either audience altogether.

Kudos to the prop department for building the most amazingly art deco television camera and receiver in the history of film -- complete with a flat screen monitor! Great stuff, that!

Anyway, it's a fun film, won't put you to sleep, and might give you a few laughs until Lyle Talbot swings into action and starts the fight scene that you knew was headed your way the minute you saw his name in the credits and his broad shoulders in that unconvincing scientist's get-up.

Terrorvision.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 17 December 2014]

With Christmas coming up,I started to look round on IMDb for movies to get my dad as X-Mas gifts.Taking a look at a fellow IMDber's page,I spotted an excellent review about a potboiler which had the then- ground breaking television medium as its main focus,which led to me getting up,and turning the TV on.

The plot:

Being ordered by his mobster boss to go round & collect a debt,a geeky gangster called Rocky O'Neil discovers that would-be scientist Fred Dennis is attempting to create an intriguing invention called the "television." Relating to Dennis's ambitions,O'Neil uses his streets skills to get Dennis's debt pushed aside.

Catching the attention of would-be manager Barbara 'Bobby' Blake,Dennis finally gets the cash needed to complete his landmark invention.Getting ready to finally show his creation to the world,Dennis,O'Neil & Blake soon discover that there are some parts of the city's underworld,who would very much like to keep Dennis's TV off….forever.

View on the film:

Despite the lack of a full score giving the film a "hollow" soundtrack,the screenplay by Lee Loeb, Harold Buchman, Sherman L. Lowe & Al Martin keep the title moving at a lively pace,thanks to the writers steaming potboiler gangsters with fun Slap-Stick Comedy and wacky scientists.Made a few months before the BBC was to start TV broadcasts,director Del Lord shows a real excitement towards the new medium,with the warm glow of the TV being cast across the screen,as Dennis's device captures a screwball gangster fight,as Dennis,O'Neil and Blake find themselves trapped by the TV.

Okay

[SanteeFats · 5/10 · 2 May 2014]

I got this movie as part of science fiction set. It is not science fiction but that is not the fault of the film. There are two old time stand by actors in this one. They do a decent job of acting. A studio is facing failure with the advent of the new technology, television. There is the inventor who has invented a unique set of video equipment and he gets a surprising backer in a collection agent. They get hooked up with two women who are entrepreneurs of dubious nature but they actually fund his development of his gear. There is the bad guy who is so typical for this time. Sharp faced, cheesy mustache, hard attitude that includes murder. This bad guy is out to get a lucrative television equipment contract from the studio so he has a studio exec who is his accomplice divert the display of the equipment, then by trickery they bust the CRT and the demonstration fails. All is not lost as the women come to the rescue and pay for the part, he fixes his gear, fools the company board to meet, and televises to the board from his apartment. This broadcast includes a fight scene between the inventor and two crooks. There is a running pursuit that ends up with the bad guys arrested, the good guys are vindicated, and the studio is saved.

Historically interesting 30's potboiler

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 26 November 2014]

Trapped by Television equates to a bit more than most 30's cinematic potboilers. It may include a number of the tropes that genre films from that decade usually have but it is distinct in that it is quite historically interesting. The reason for this is that it depicts a 30's view of television – a technology that hadn't actually happened at that point in time yet. Interestingly, the film speculates that these devices would not only be able to receive signals but to transmit them as well. To this end we have an inventor devise an elaborate art deco TV that can do just this. The plot-line surrounding this has him needing financial backing and going to a shady businessman, while a gang of criminals gets involved seeing this new invention as a potentially massive money-maker.

It's actually quite a decent premise for one of these flicks, given that, as we all know perfectly well, television would soon go on to be perhaps the most successful and influential technological development of the 20th century and the depiction of how it could work in this movie is charming and entertainingly quaint. Aside from all this, the plot-line still has the usual requisite elements seen in umpteen films from the period such as a male/female duo, a comedy-relief character – in this case a science-loving debt collector and dastardly villains. And to top it all off, it rounds off with a satisfying extended fight sequence and there's really nothing wrong with that either.

Yawn! A Real Snoozer

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 12 November 2016]

I love most of the older films that I've seen but this one is a real snoozer. I found Murder by Television (1935) a bit more interesting (mainly for Bela Lugosi's performance in all honesty).

I realize that in the 1930s television was a fairly brand new invention and they were kinda promoting it through motion pictures on the silver screen but the both films (Murder and Trapped) are not all that grand to me. Don't get me wrong, the film is not awful but it's not a great film. I really find it mediocre at best.

The actors in the film are good but it's just a typical semi-comical or "cutesy" gangster flick of the 1930s - really nothing to make this film stand out other than the idea of a television which was done a year earlier with Lugosi in Murder by Television.

3/10

An Infectiously Optimistic Tale of One Inventor's Dream for the Future

[brando647 · 6/10 · 17 April 2016]

The early years of film are, for me, yet still a vast untapped resource of entertainment. I've seen a dozen or so of Chaplin's silent films, I've seen a couple of the classic Universal monster movies, and I've watched some of the classics (e.g. CASABLANCA), but the majority of those first few decades of film entertainment are almost completely unknown to me. So it's always a nice surprise when I get the opportunity to watch one I've never heard of and find it to be a fun, if ultimately forgettable, little romp. Such is the case with TRAPPED BY TELEVISION from 1936. It's a heart-warming, optimistic story in the world of science where Fred Dennis (Lyle Talbot) is an inventor who has nearly perfected a new form of television broadcast. He is putting the finishing touches on a system that will sent sound and images wirelessly across distances from the camera directly to the receiver unit. He almost hits a snag when a debt collection agency sends out an agent to collect on money owed for some of Dennis's equipment. But it just so happens that Rocky (Nat Pendleton), the collection agent, loves the idea of science; as he's overly fond of reminding people, it's his hobby. So instead of busting Dennis's kneecaps and taking the machinery back, the two of them become quick friends and partners, taking the invention to struggling investor Bobby Blake (Mary Astor) for financial aid. Bobby, seemingly more interested in Dennis than his television invention, agrees to help him shop it around and uses her connections to shop it to the Paragon Broadcasting Company, where its board members are contemplating entering the world of broadcast television. But another shady group of men have their eye on Paragon's investment funds and have no problem busting cathode ray tubes or faces to keep their plan in motion.

After watching TRAPPED BY TELEVISION, my first impression was just how happy a film it was. It's just so unapologetically optimistic and its characters are so lovable that you want them to succeed. The four main characters… Dennis, Rocky, Bobby, and Mae (Bobby's personal assistant and best friend, played by Joyce Compton)…are in this together with everything to lose. Dennis is obviously in dire times if he's got debt collectors sending hired muscle to wring the money out of him. Bobby and Mae are on the verge of poverty with her investment company going broke after a series of poor decisions (that automatic potato-peeler just didn't take off as she'd expected). Rocky's really the only one here with nothing to lose except his new best friend and his chance to be a scientist by proxy. They're all on the way to the poorhouse but they've got the spunk to keep going in search of their next big accomplishment. I loved all of them, especially the simple-minded Rocky. His enthusiasm for science and Dennis's project is contagious and I couldn't help but chuckle with the running gag of his interactions with Dennis's flustered landlady. When she discovers Rocky works for a debt-collector, she asks him to muscle the overdue rent out of Dennis while he's at it; he puts her fears to rest with a wink and a wag of his finger, over and over again, and it works every time. A little gesture of "don't you worry none, I've got this…" It's minor and it's stupid but I loved it.

The struggle of perfecting the invention and getting the chance to present it to Paragon would've been enough of a plot to carry the movie because, like I said, the characters are enjoyable enough. But we've still got the added dilemma of some men hoping to manipulate Paragon into paying for their radio services. There's something about missing radio technicians and one of the Paragon board members in on the scheme. Anyway, it gives the film a little bit of a gangster vibe and some drama for the final act. Maybe unnecessary but it didn't hurt anything. The main problem with a quick-and- easy bit of fun like TRAPPED BY TELEVISION is that it's not all that memorable. There's nothing spectacular that's really going to set it apart from the droves of early films that were fun but tended to fade from memory pretty easily. It's got a quaintness to it from the fact that it comes from a period where television was still a technical marvel. The idea of wireless broadcast television was science fiction at the time and came in the form of an enormously bulky unit with dials and antennae but, of course, I can download and watch it from a phone that fits in my pants' pocket. The adorably outdated ideas, the fantastic cast, the upbeat vibes, and the painless hour or so runtime make TRAPPED BY TELEVISION an easy recommendation from me if you happen to stumble across it. It should be enough to elicit a few grins.

A great cast and zippy pace makes this a fun "B".

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 28 November 2018]

Television...what is it? Will it succeed? Will it last? That's the question that would have been asked if this interesting programmer had a sequel. But thanks to a cast which includes Lyle Talbot, Mary Astor, Nat Pendleton, Sidney Toler and Thurston Hall, the film ends up being surprisingly enjoyable in spite of its implausabiliry. The idea of TV had been around for a while but not quite perfected, so probably in the mid 1930's, it was considered science fiction.

The discovery of television here starts when Nat Pendleton as a bill collector visits Lyle Talbot and becomes curious over Talbot's inventions. Convincing Talbot to become a bill collector so he can raise some money to pay his bills and continue with his experiments, Pendleton becomes his partner. Talbot's first client as a bill collector is the feisty Mary Astor who coincidentally is searching for new inventions that she can sell to businessman Thurston Hall, and is able to raise $200 to help finish with his work. But somehow, his Premiere showing of how the experiment works fails, sabotaged by one of Hall's associates who wants to gets the patent on television first so he can make some money and get out from underneath Halls thumb.

Quick thinking from Talbot and Astor while having a fight with these goons results in Hall getting to see how television really works. But will Pendleton get there in time to aide his friend and have television formulated the right way? The story is predictable and preposterous, but the screenplay is filled with some fun dialogue, particularly by Pendleton and Astor who could steal scenes from babies, dogs and cute old ladies. At only an hour long, it's a pleasant diversion but certainly not reflective of how television came about.

A look at the VERY first 'steps' of television!

[binapiraeus · 8/10 · 3 April 2014]

This is NOT just an ordinary 30s' 'semi-sci-fi' about some revolutionary invention, throwing in some pseudo-scientific terms, and otherwise concentrating on the battle about the patent rights. This is - apart from being a very lively, entertaining and well-acted story of poor inventors, poor bill collectors, and poor product promoters (none less than Mary Astor!) on the one side, and ruthless crooks wanting to get rich with a stolen invention on the other side - a VERY realistic depiction of the 'battle' that was ACTUALLY going on at the time for the development and patent rights of television - a device that has literally changed the world.

And it's no phony, either: the names of the components for the device Fred Dennis (Lyle Talbot) is developing are well-researched - the cathode ray tube, which is so expensive and vital for the machine to work that Dennis initially can't afford to buy it was IN FACT the 'heart' of the first television sets that were really able to broadcast clear moving pictures! So this suspenseful as well as entertaining movie today is a TRUE time document - and you'll enjoy and cherish it even more if you try to watch it the way the astonished audience must have watched it back then; and say, agreeing with Dennis' friend, bill collector Rocky (Nat Pendleton): "Gee, ain't science great?!"

Trapped by Television - Slightly Fascinating

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 6 November 2023]

This film has more hackneyed characters and cliches than most thirties films, but has one redeeming value; it has an original product: television. TV was virtually unknown in 1936, the year this film was made. It was still in experimental stages, and people's imaginations ran wild with the possibilities of the new phenomenon. The acting, if you could call it that, is way over the top, but the most fascinating part of the film is the technology. It is relatively accurate, and I found it extremely interesting on how the medium was handled at the corporate level. The nefarious bad guy complication was obviously a Hollywood studio insertion to try and make the film more precarious, but the struggle of the engineer who invented a prototype is far more interesting that any phony Hollywood subplot. Watchable for the tech aspect.

Foreshadowing the Future

[dougdoepke · 6 October 2015]

I tuned in because of the intriguing title. I didn't even know the TV idea was around in the 1930's, so the plot came as a revelation. The movie itself, except for the TV premise, is fairly standard gangster boilerplate. A pseudo-respectable businessman uses his gangster underlings to sabotage inventor Dennis's new-fangled TV camera. Instead, he wants a collaborator's technology to get the expected market.

Columbia produced, so production values are respectable, especially the elaborate TV camera. All in all, the narrative is lively if not exactly gripping. But then the acting is better than the boilerplate, especially Astor in her pre-Maltese Falcon (1941) days. Also, scrawny Marc Lawrence is convincing as heck as the lead gangster, and might have stolen the film with more screen time. Talbot may not seem the inventor type, but he does show why he became a professional nice guy on TV's Ozzie & Harriet, and Bob Cummings Show, while muscle-man Pendleton ingratiates as comedic relief. From what I see here, I'm guessing that except for a disruptive WWII, TV would have gotten an earlier start as a mass medium. Apparently the technology was pretty much in place. Be that as it may, the movie's definitely a worthwhile curiosity and okay as entertainment.

SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE I'M...

[mmthos · 6/10 · 13 November 2021]

...Trapped by Television, whenever they're running an Agnes Moorehead or Shirley Temple film festival, But this is a yarn about the race to corner the television market, before the WWII delay. Lyle Talbot is the idealistic young inventor, Janet Gaynor is the hapless entrepreneur who sees the potential to steal his work, but, you guessed it, she falls for the mug, his optimistic enthusiasm a contrast to her worldly cynicism.. Nat Pendleton and Joyce Compton play the leads' respective sidekicks with comic gusto. Bubbly little comedy from the Golden Age.

Fun Little Movie. No much science fiction.

[Bababooe · 6/10 · 18 January 2017]

Fun Little Movie. No much science fiction.

Good acting, plot was good, acting was good. Some quick one liners and comedy. Quick moving. Decent movie.

Fun Little Movie. No much science fiction.

Good acting, plot was good, acting was good. Some quick one liners and comedy. Quick moving. Decent movie.

Fun Little Movie. No much science fiction.

Good acting, plot was good, acting was good. Some quick one liners and comedy. Quick moving. Decent movie.

Fun Little Movie. No much science fiction.

Good acting, plot was good, acting was good. Some quick one liners and comedy. Quick moving. Decent movie.

A must-see for Joyce Compton and Nat Pendleton fans.

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 21 November 2017]

Mary Astor (Bobby Blake), Lyle Talbot (Fred Dennis), Nat Pendleton (Rocky), Joyce Compton (Mae), Thurston Hall (Curtis), Henry Mollison (Thornton), Wyrley Birch (Paul Thornton), Robert Strange (Standish), Russell Hicks, Howard C. Hickman, George Webb, Lloyd Whitlock, Bruce Sidney, Harry Stafford, Boyd Irwin (directors), Mary Blake (Miss Walsh), Wade Boteler (collection agency manager), Marc Lawrence (Griffin), Lillian Leighton (Mrs Leary), Eddie Fetherston (Jostler), Robert Gordon (messenger boy), Neil Moore (Mason), Max Wagner (Al), Ralph McCullough (truck salesman), Lillian Stuart.

Director: DEL LORD. Screenplay: Harold Buchman, Lee Loeb. Story: Al Martin, Sherman L. Lowe. Photography: Allen G. Siegler. Film editor: James Sweeney. Special camera effects: E. Roy Davidson. Associate producer: Ben Pivar.

Copyright 8 June 1936 by Columbia Pictures of California. New York opening at the Globe: 13 June 1936. Australian release: 23 September 1936. 64 minutes

U.K. release title: CAUGHT BY TELEVISION.

SYNOPSIS: An inventor (Lyle Talbot) is hard put to sell his cheapo television system until he falls in with a couple of enthusiastic amateurs (Nat Pendleton and Mary Astor). But his success is almost stymied by the machinations of a corrupt corporation executive, who is allied with a vicious killer (Marc Lawrence).

COMMENT: Although it veers a bit uncertainly from slapstick comedy to stop-at-nothing thrills, this "B" still holds the interest despite its dated (even quaint) subject matter.

The pace is fast, production values are surprisingly high and director Del Lord pulls no punches.

The players respond enthusiastically, although our star, Mary Astor, battles against none too flattering photography and, for some reason, is outclassed in the beauty stakes by Joyce Compton who is also more alluringly made up and costumed.

In some shots, Mary looks positively dowdy. However, for Joyce Compton (and Nat Pendleton) fans, "Trapped by Television" is a must.

ONE OF A FEW MOVIES FROM THE 1930's-40's SHOWCASING OR EXPLORING "TELEVISION"

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 8 February 2024]

Mary Astor ("The Maltese Falcon" (1941), Headlines this Rom-Com-Drama about a Private Inventor (Lyle Talbot) on the Cusp of Completing a Working Television Transmitter-Receiver.

Nat Pendleton, Shows Up as a "Bill-Collector" Demanding Money from the Broke Electrical-Engineer.

A Sort of Mad-Cap Romp Ensues as Criminals and White-Collar Types get Wind of the New Discovery and some Mayhem Manifests with Joyce Compton, Astor's Roommate, Joining in to Round Out the Romance, all Familiar Stuff with the Interesting Point of "TV" at the Center.

It's a Big-Clunky Behemoth Camera and the Receiver is about a 40 inch Flat Screen. The Demos Include a "Football Game", a Furious Fist-Fight, and Ends with some Hugs.

All Kind of Foreshadowing Exactly what the "Boob-Tube" would Showcase as it Made its Way into the Living-Rooms of America.

The Movies that Used the "Television-Gimmick" were all Fluff-Piece B-Movies, but are Worth a Watch to See the Genesis of the "Idiot-Box" in its Infancy.

Television would have had an Earlier Landing in Mid-America, but the War Held Up Production.

Financing and Science were used for Other War-Winning Technology.

No One Could Figure Out How to Use TV as a Weapon...

That would come Later in the "Cold-War" in the Battlefield Known as of "Mind-Control".

Enjoyable quickie

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 23 April 2013]

Nice guy inventor Fred Dennis (a solid and likable performance by Lyle Talbot) needs backing for his new television invention. He gets involved with shrewd and assertive crooked businesswoman Barbara 'Bobby' Blake (delightfully played with winning sass and spark by Mary Astor) while a bunch of gangsters plot to steal his invention. Director Del Lord, working from a compact script by Leo Loeb and Harold Buchman, relates the entertaining story at a snappy pace, offers a pleasing blend of comedy and drama, and delivers some rousing action at the very end. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast: Nat Pendleton as amiable lug Rocky O'Neil, Joyce Compton as Barbara's spunky gal pal Mae Collins, Thurston Hall as grumpy CEO John Curtis, and Marc Lawrence as ruthless mobster Frank Griffin. Allen G. Siegler's cinematography makes nice use of wipes. Plus it's a kick to see a motion picture made at a time when television was an exciting technological marvel. A fun little romp.