Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Trapped Starring Lloyd Bridges

This 1949 nifty crime noir stars Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, and John Hoyt. Bridges, who later played the humorous, crusty character of Izzy Mandelbaum on the TV sitcom Seinfeld, is first rate as a counterfeiter who is doing time. He was also the father of actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges (Academy Award for the Best Actor in the 2009 film Crazy Heart which I saw and liked). Anyway, the Feds release Lloyd Bridges but keep him on a short leash to track down the source of the phony bills that are flooding L.A. Of course the shifty Bridges is only willing to go along with the Feds' deal if it benefits him. Bridges always seems to be playing his movie roles with a slight tongue-in-cheek casualness which I enjoy. It's interesting to see the trolley cars running in L.A. I wonder if the steel tracks are still there like I see them on the Washington, D.C streets. Don't be put off by the voice-over sounding like a documentary film about the U.S. Treasury Dept. at the start of the movie. I guess the documentary style was big at the time because I've seen other films produced the same way. Barbara Payton who plays Bridges' gorgeous love interest led such a tragic personal life, but here she is quite cool-headed and competent. A solidly acted movie, Trapped is also a short one.