Pitfall

1948
PG
1h 26m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.9K

YOUR RATING

Raymond Burr, Dick Powell, and Lizabeth Scott in Pitfall (1948)

Married insurance adjuster John Forbes falls for femme fatale Mona Stevens while her boyfriend is in jail and all suffer serious consequences as a result.

Play trailer1:47

1 Video

38 Photos

Film Noir Crime Drama Thriller

Married insurance adjuster John Forbes falls for femme fatale Mona Stevens while her boyfriend is in jail and all suffer serious consequences as a result.Married insurance adjuster John Forbes falls for femme fatale Mona Stevens while her boyfriend is in jail and all suffer serious consequences as a result.Married insurance adjuster John Forbes falls for femme fatale Mona Stevens while her boyfriend is in jail and all suffer serious consequences as a result.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

Desk Sergeant
(as Dick Wassel)

Eddie Borden

Prison Visitor
(uncredited)

Helen Dickson

Fashion Show Attendee
(uncredited)

Ben Erway

Doctor
(uncredited)

Don Haggerty

District Attorney's Man
(uncredited)

Sam Harris

Man in Diner
(uncredited)

Thomas Martin

Bartender
(uncredited)

David McMahon

Police Lieutenant
(uncredited)

More like this

7.3

7.3

6.4

7.1

7.0

7.0

7.2

7.1

7.7

7.4

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

7.3

The Big Combo

6.5

Naked Alibi

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
This was independently produced by Regal Films and released through United Artists. For decades, the film was rarely seen. It can be seen today through the preservation efforts of the UCLA Film and Television Archives.

Goofs
The public elevator indicator in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice building shows floors 1 to 19. However, in reality, the building is only 14 stories tall.

Quotes
Tommy Forbes: Dad was a boxer in college!
Doctor: I think he was wise to go into insurance.
Doctor: [handing a prescription to Sue Forbes] Take this up to the drug store.
Sue Forbes: What is it?
Doctor: A course in boxing.

Connections
Featured in Noir Alley: Pitfall (2018)

Soundtracks
We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together
(uncredited)
Music by Henry Manners
Lyrics by Robert Sour

User reviews86

Featured review

8/10

chilling anticipation of the coming 50's

This is an all-around great noir film, as well as a very chilling anticipation of the sterlingness of the coming 50's ethos of home and fidelity at any price. Dick Powell gives a great performance as a man so tired of life and full of malaise that he can hardly stumble through his days as an insurance adjuster and "loving" father . Raymond Burr is the antithesis of his later Perry Mason (or the good-hearted Paul Drake) as a creepy detective stalking the low-rent Lizabeth Scott. And Jane Wyatt is (unintentionally?) the scariest of them all as Powells' homemaking wife. (After her son has a nightmare, she blames his comic books - and takes them away to be burned!) Pitfall is a fine example of the type of noir film that explores not the criminal underworld but the hidden pain and loneliness of the "everyman".