Trapped (1949)

I wasn’t enthusiastic about seeing Trapped. I had read that the film used the semidocumentary style and started with a voice-over narrator who explained what the U.S. Treasury is and how it works. Maybe such background information is necessary for the counterfeiting operation that is at the heart of the story, but I was afraid that the film was going to be a yawner.

It’s true that the film opens with voice-over narration about the Treasury Department. A lot has changed since 1949, and I could tell that the information was outdated. Many films noir are a step back in time, which I find to be a plus, especially if history is an interest. But not that many films noir give so much historical data. One example from the voice-over narration in Trapped is that the U.S. Treasury Department used to oversee the U.S. Coast Guard; today, the Coast Guard is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Yes, indeed, the opening is packed with information.

Once the voice-over narrator gives over to the fictional story, viewers learn still more. A restaurant proprietor, Mrs. Flaherty, wants to make a deposit to her bank account. The teller notices that one of the twenty dollar bills she plans to deposit is a counterfeit. She asks for the bill back, but the teller won’t return it. Mrs. Flaherty is out twenty dollars because it is her responsibility to check that all legal tender given to her is indeed legal. (This also applies to the foreign coins I often receive from gas station and grocery store transactions.)

The bank turns the counterfeit bill over to the Secret Service, whose agents recognize Tris Stewart’s brand of counterfeiting. He is in prison, but he didn’t have the plates for making the counterfeit bills when he was arrested, so someone else must be using the same plates to distribute counterfeit currency once again. Secret Service Agent Raymond visits Stewart in prison to start the investigation.

(This article about Trapped contains almost all the spoilers.)

Agent Raymond asks Stewart about his contacts on the outside. Stewart refuses to talk, even with the offer of reduced prison time. Several weeks later, however, Stewart is being transferred by bus to another prison in the custody of a U.S. deputy marshal. He grabs the marshal’s gun and forces him to take off the handcuffs that bind them together. Then he demands to be let off the bus. At first, it appears that a friend is waiting to pick him up, but viewers quickly learn once Stewart is in the car that the “friend” is Secret Service Agent Foreman.

While in the custody of Agent Foreman, Stewart makes phone calls to help locate the old counterfeiting plates. Before he can provide any useful information, Stewart fakes an accident with a broken glass to escape and meet his old girlfriend Meg Dixon. Viewers subsequently learn that this second escape has also been staged, but this time Tris Stewart doesn’t know anything about it.

Meg Dixon is working as a cigarette girl under the alias Laurie Fredericks at a nightclub in Los Angeles. She has caught the eye of someone named Johnny Hackett. Viewers learn before Dixon and Stewart do that Hackett is an undercover Secret Service agent. Dixon and Stewart also don’t realize at first that Dixon’s apartment is bugged. Agents learn from their conversation that Stewart’s ex-partner still has the counterfeiting plates and that Stewart wants to get them back and go to Mexico with Dixon.

Trapped has many plot twists, which was a welcome surprise to me. Only one plot twist bothered me a bit. An old army buddy blows Johnny Hackett’s cover in Chanteclair, the nightclub where Laurie Fredericks (Meg Dixon) works. The man’s name is Bill, and he is out for the night with his wife. He recognizes Johnny Hackett as John Downey from their wartime service in the U.S. army. Downey/Hackett denies knowing the man, and Bill’s wife Betty is the one who cuts short Bill’s insistence that he knows Downey. When Bill and his wife get to their table, he explains that when he knew Downey, he worked in military intelligence. Bill admits that the man is probably still working undercover, and he says all this within earshot of Meg Dixon.

I found this particular coincidence hard to believe because I wasn’t so sure that someone who knew Downey and knew something about military intelligence would be so insistent about the man’s identity or about knowing him, or would be so quick to explain everything to his wife while they were sitting in a crowded nightclub. This incident is an important plot point because Meg Dixon uses the information to warn her boyfriend Tris Stewart and his partner Jack Sylvester, but it seems to be based on a flimsy assumption about the behavior of former service members.

Eagle-Lion Films is one of the old Hollywood Poverty Row producers, so I wasn’t expecting star power or crisp production values. I’m not sure that Trapped even makes the grade of B movie. The action is sometimes obliterated by nearly complete darkness, which is certainly one way to save money and time.

But the film doesn’t skimp on violence. Meg Dixon is shot by Jack Sylvester, and when federal agents arrive on the scene, they step over her body to chase down Sylvester. Sylvester electrocutes himself trying to hide in a trolley yard. A couple of fight scenes between Tris Stewart and Secret Service agents are long and physical. I was surprised that one of them survived his head being beaten against an iron bedframe. In 1949, and in a Poverty Row production, there is (thankfully) no blood or other physical damage to witness.

Lloyd Bridges was fantastic, however, as Tris Stewart. He exudes menace, and he is completely believable when Stewart’s plans don’t go the way he had hoped and his character becomes increasingly desperate. I didn’t have high expectations for Trapped, and I must confess that I didn’t enjoy it as much as other noirs. At seventy-eight minutes, however, Trapped is worth a look, especially for fans of film noir and U.S. history.

October 1, 1949, release date  •  Directed by Richard Fleischer  •  Screenplay by Earl Felton, George Zuckerman  •  Based on a story by Earl Felton, George Zuckerman  •  Music by Sol Kaplan  •  Edited by Alfred DeGaetano  •  Cinematography by Guy Roe

Lloyd Bridges as Tris Stewart  •  Barbara Payton as Meg Dixon, alias Laurie Fredericks  •  John Hoyt as Agent John Downey, alias Johnny Hackett  •  James Todd as Jack Sylvester  •  Russ Conway as Chief Agent Gunby  •  Robert Karnes as Agent Fred Foreman  •  Douglas Spencer as Sam Hooker  •  William Woodson as the narrator

Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films  •  Produced by Bryan Foy Production, Contemporary Production

Road to Perdition (2002): Daniel Craig Was Connor Rooney Before He Was James Bond

Daniel Craig is Connor Rooney in Road to Perdition, a film about fathers and sons in the worst of situations: mob families vying for control of illegal business during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Craig may have had a license to kill later in his career, as James Bond, but he only thinks he has a license to kill as Connor Rooney. In other words, he is not on the right side of the law in Road to Perdition, and he is not often on the right side of his father’s wishes. Connor Rooney’s actions are the impetus behind all the violence and sorrow that is in store for the Rooneys—and the Sullivans, too—as the narrative unfolds.

Connor is the son of John Rooney, the well-connected patriarch of an Irish mob family working closely with the Italian mob in the Chicago area. John took Michael Sullivan Sr. under his wing when Sullivan Sr. was still a young boy. Sullivan Sr. respects John Rooney and regards him as a father figure. As he tells his son, Michael Jr., he feels that he owes everything to John Rooney. But the fatherly relationship that John Rooney cultivates in Michael Sullivan Sr. creates a murderous sibling rivalry for his biological son Connor. John Rooney relies on Sullivan Sr. as an adult for help in keeping the family business going. John gives more responsibility to Sullivan Sr. than he does to his own son, and Connor is well aware that his father doesn’t trust him as much as he trusts Sullivan Sr.

There is talk among the Rooney mob lieutenants that Connor is stealing from his own father, skimming part of the profits and spending it all on himself. Such talk is met with assassination, so the rumblings aren’t expressed out loud too often. When they are, it is Connor who takes offense and acts on his worst impulses, and he never waits to hear what his father thinks or what his advice might be. Connor Rooney is the most dangerous because he is a hothead among dangerous murderers. When Michael Sullivan Jr. inadvertently witnesses Connor Rooney killing Finn McGovern, one of the Rooney mob faithful, and his own father, Sullivan Sr., killing two of McGovern’s men, Connor decides to deal with all of the Sullivans (Annie, Peter, Michael Sr., and Michael Jr.) himself.

One of Michael Sullivan Sr.’s responsibilities is the collection of debts owed to John Rooney, and Connor takes advantage of this situation to get rid of Michael Sullivan Sr. (or so he is hoping) once and for all. He gives Sullivan Sr. a note for Tony Calvino, someone who runs a jazz club and brothel and is late with his payments to the Rooney family. Connor tells Sullivan Sr. that it’s a note from his father John, but it’s a lie. When Tony Calvino reads the note (“Kill Sullivan and all debts are paid”), he is confused. He hesitates. Sullivan Sr. is smart: He knows how to read trouble, and he sees it in Calvino’s hesitation. He grabs Calvino’s partially hidden gun from the top of his desk before Calvino has a chance to, and he shoots both Calvino and Frank, the brothel security guard.

The film’s narrative never explains the Rooneys’ backstory. Viewers know only that John Rooney places much more trust and responsibility in Michael Sullivan Sr., something that Connor chafes against. He desperately wants his father’s love. In one scene, after John Rooney learns about Connor’s attempted murder of Sullivan Sr. and the murders of Annie and Peter Sullivan, John strikes Connor and laments the day that Connor was born. Connor cowers in fear, but he continues to let his emotions rule his actions, alienating his father more and more.

Connor is the heir to a business that does not shy away from the use of threat and force. His father doesn’t encourage extreme violence, but he knows that it is part of doing business with the mob. He is deeply dismayed when his son takes matters into his own hands to settle scores and avenge personal vendettas, but there seems to be little he can do about Connor’s behavior. And blood is blood for John Rooney. No matter what Connor does, no matter who he kills, his father will not abandon him.

At one point, the mob accountant Alexander Rance tells Sullivan Sr. that Connor Rooney is too valuable, but he never states why. Is it for the simple reason that he is John Rooney’s son? Is Connor valuable as a hit man (when his target is approved, that is)? Is he a valuable liaison between the Rooney operations and the Italian mob in Chicago because he is unafraid of bloodshed and killing? I wondered about Nance’s statement, but answers to these particular questions aren’t really important for the story. Viewers know that Connor is protected by his father and by the resources of his illegal enterprise.

But eventually Connor crosses a line. He tells Frank Nitti, one of the Italian mob lieutenants in Chicago, that his father won’t live forever and that he, Connor, is the future. Nitti isn’t so sure that he wants to deal with someone so hard to control, someone who doesn’t obey orders. He doesn’t object when Michael Sullivan Sr. seeks revenge for Connor’s murder of Anne and Peter Sullivan, Sullivan Sr.’s wife and youngest son.

Daniel Craig gives a powerful performance as Connor Rooney. He is believable when he portrays Connor’s murderous rage, and it’s easy to believe that others are afraid of him and his unpredictability. But Craig is also believable as the wounded son, the son who cowers before his father, desperate for his love. I wonder if portraying James Bond was easy compared to portraying the very different facets of Connor Rooney’s personality!

I listened to the DVD commentary provided by the director, Sam Mendes. He states that one of the reasons Daniel Craig was chosen for the role of Connor Rooney is the color of his eyes (blue): They are similar to Paul Newman’s, Mendes says, the most famous pair of blue eyes in movie history. But Mendes is quick to follow this statement with the assertion that Craig could hold his own with the talents of Newman and Tom Hanks, who plays the role of Michael Sullivan Sr. Connor Rooney may not be a leading role in Road to Perdition, but it is an important one. And I have to agree: Daniel Craig portrays Connor expertly.

This article about Daniel Craig in Road to Perdition is my entry in the You Knew My Name: The Bond Not Bond Blogathon, which has been organized by Gill from Realweegiemidget Reviews and Gabriela from Pale Writer. Click on either blog name for the complete list of blogathon participants and their entries, which will be updated regularly from December 16 to December 18, 2021. Each host operates in a different time zone so there will likely be discrepancies between the times that each entry is added to the two different blogs.

◊ December 16 (Day 1)

◊ December 17 (Day 2)

◊ December 18 (Day 3)

◊ December 19 (Encore!)

July 12, 2002, release date  •  Directed by Sam Mendes  •  Screenplay by David Self  •  Based on the graphic novel Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins, Richard Piers Rayner  •  Music by Thomas Newman  •  Edited by Jill Bilcock  •  Cinematography by Conrad L. Hall

Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan  •  Tyler Hoechlin as Michael Sullivan Jr.  •  Paul Newman as John Rooney  •  Jude Law as Harlen Maguire, freelance photographer  •  Daniel Craig as Connor Rooney  •  Stanley Tucci as Frank Nitti  •  Jennifer Jason Leigh as Annie Sullivan  •  Liam Aiken as Peter Sullivan  •  Dylan Baker as Alexander Rance, the mob’s accountant  •  Ciarán Hinds as Finn McGovern  •  David Darlow as Jack Kelly  •  Kerry Rossall as Rooney’s henchman  •  Kevin Chamberlin as Frank the bouncer  •  Harry Groener as Mr. McDougal  •  JoBe Cerny as a banker  •  Peggy Roeder as Virginia, the farmer  •  James Green as Bill, the farmer  •  Doug Spinuzza as Tony Calvino  • Diane Dorsey as Aunt Sarah

Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures (United States), Twentieth Century Fox (international)  •  Produced by Zanuck Company