Pitfall

Released Aug 24, 1948

1h 24m

Drama

List

100%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

An insurance man's (Dick Powell) affair with a blonde (Lizabeth Scott) leads to guilt, murder and a confession to his wife (Jane Wyatt).

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nick s

An entertaining noir film with husky Lizbeth Scott at her sultry best. The main character lacked charm, but still well acted.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/01/24

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Georgan G

One of my favorite film noir thrillers. Quite a snappy script with very little drag time. Great acting from some of that generations best actors. Raymond Burr as a bad guy!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/12/23

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Audience Member

A decent enough film noire built around the contrived stupidity of the Forbes character. Lousy ending.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Luca D

A decent noir. Some scenes carried on a bit. I think Scott carried this movie and I'm surprised she never made more hit movies. It seems there just aren't enough good Scott movies to go around. Overall a bit anticlimactic but had some realistic conversational scenes. Not too emotional or deep but would watch again.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/07/21

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Tom M

Ho hum text book noire. 'Average Joe', Powell has a moment of weakness with' femme fatale' Scott who are then blackmailed by creepy stalker Burr. The only problem is that Scott is the only decent person of the three. She didn't know he was married and when she finds out, she tries to do the right thing. Movie ends with no closure. How many films noire did Burr play the creepy bad guy? He might hold the record.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/09/20

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ashley h

Pitfall is a decent film. It is about a married insurance adjuster John Forbes falls for femme fatale, Mona Stevens. Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott gave good performances. The screenplay is well written. Andre De Toth did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama and mystery.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Andre de Toth

Director

Dick Powell

John Forbes

Lizabeth Scott

Mona Stevens

Jane Wyatt

Sue Forbes

Raymond Burr

J.B. MacDonald

John Litel

District Attorney

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Fred Camper

Chicago Reader

Links between inside and outside occur regularly in de Toth’s work, generally articulating and expanding on the narrative’s threats.

Jun 15, 2022

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

The movie crackles with sharply-drawn characters, deadly complications and murky motivations, a brisk, brief noir with bite...and Lizabeth Scott.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 15, 2023

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Jeremy Heilman

MovieMartyr.com

De Toth's sensitive handing of Pitfall stalls out somewhere along the way.

Rated: 57/100

Jul 27, 2012

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jun 30, 2005

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A slight melodramatic story, but an efficiently made moral tale with noir overtures.

Rated: C+

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

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Synopsis

An insurance man's (Dick Powell) affair with a blonde (Lizabeth Scott) leads to guilt, murder and a confession to his wife (Jane Wyatt).

Director: Andre de Toth
Screenwriter: Karl Kamb
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Regal Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 1948, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 24m

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