Certain vintage films are classic films. They are revered by film connoisseurs and regularly are cited on lists of the all-time-great dramas, comedies, or romances. But some older films, while not deserving of classic status, still are worth discovering because they offer insight into the time in which they were made. Plus, they are solidly entertaining.
One such film is PITFALL, which dates from 1948 and offers an unusual take on post-World War II America. PITFALL recently was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
So many post-war films feature veterans who have survived the Great Depression and Second World War. Whatever the context of the storyline, they essentially are readjusting to civilian life and embracing the American Dream. This is the message that Hollywood was passing on to the masses of moviegoers in the late 1940s. However, perhaps not all Americans wished to do so. Perhaps not all Americans were satisfied with a by-the-numbers lifestyle, a house in the suburbs and crabgrass on their lawns.
Such is the case with the central character in PITFALL. He is John Forbes, a veteran with a wife and son, who now works for an insurance company. Forbes, who is played by Dick Powell, the 1930s juvenile crooner turned 1940shardboiled film noir hero, feels that he is bogged down by this nine-to-five existence. Once upon a time, in his youth, he fantasized about living an exciting life. He yearned to purchase a boat and sail it around the world. But marriage, fatherhood, and unending money issues have transformed him into an unhappy, ever-complaining cynic. Forbes grumbles when his kid asks for five dollars for a school charity. He gripes when reminded that he needs to buy the boy a new pair of shoes. No matter that his spouse is played by Jane Wyatt, prior to her being cast as one the idealized mates and moms of the 1950s on TV’s FATHER KNOWS BEST. John Forbes is trapped and frustrated, and he doesn’t like it. So how will he respond when, in the course of his work, he meets and finds himself attracted to a sultry, free-spirited blonde, played by Lizabeth Scott, one of the great, forgotten film noir heroines?
It would be too easy if the Scott character was a scheming femme fatale, the kind of bad girl that populated 1940s and early-50s film noirs. Yet even though she admittedly has not lived a mistake-free life, she is a basically decent person. If Forbes was not married, perhaps she could be his ticket to the life that now is nothing more than a fantasy unrealized. But he is married, and he is a father-- and so, will he abandon his home and his family? Plus, adding to the storyline is the presence of a slimy, menacing private detective, superbly played by a pre-PERRY MASON Raymond Burr.
PITFALL is no CASABLANCA, no IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, no DOUBLE INDEMNITY, but it is a diverting, keenly perceptive exploration of the notion that fulfilling the so-called American Dream does not always result in a happy-ever-after contentment. It puts forth the notion that, once upon a time, not all Americans were willingly grabbing onto a lifestyle that was supposed to make them happy and fulfilled. And this acknowledgment is rare for a late-1940s Hollywood film.
Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.
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