More Desert Fury At Paramount

The Trap (1959) On Blu-Ray

A good book to chronicle what bad times Paramount had fallen upon by the late 50's is Engulfed, by Bernard Dick. So much of what they released around this time was snake-bit, save contribution by Jerry Lewis or an occasional Elvis. The Trap was independently made by Richard Widmark's company in partnership with Para. It's a siege yarn, well made so far as it goes on desert locations, though a corner cut opening places action on Paramount's too-familiar western street, redressed to extent of autos parked and a few windows repainted. Otherwise, it's like a same year's The Hangman for looking borrowed from the Cartwrights or Burt Lancaster's Wyatt Earp. Further parallel with The Hangman is Tina Louise as lead woman. The Trap is another of those where your star takes a shoulder bullet and keeps hero'ing through third act improbability, good enough in event you'll forgive that, colorful and quick-paced at least if you don't. Lee J. Cobb shades his heavy enough to be a best performance of the lot. A picture like this, much of it done outdoors, can profit plenty when disc delivered to quality like Olive's here, a 1.85 Blu-Ray transfer that brings an average pic to entertaining life.