The Great Villain Blogathon: Raymond Burr in "Pitfall" (1948)

The Great Villain Blogathon of 2015 runs from April 13th to 17th. It is hosted by the terrific trio of Kristina of Speakeasy, Karen of Shadows and Satin and Ruth of Silver Screenings. It is a do-not-miss internet event.

What motivates our great villains? Greed? The lust for power? Love? Hate? Are they born bullies or were they once the bullied? Did they just get up on the wrong side of the bed? Villains - no matter where or how they are spawned - are all around us in fact and fiction. Sometimes their viciousness is on a global scale and sometimes it is up close and personal. In the case of J.B. MacDonald "Mac" as played by Raymond Burr in 1948s Pitfall, his wrongdoing is extremely personal. Mac's single-minded purpose will lead him to cross boundaries, callously invading the physical and emotional homes of his victims.

Raymond Burr as J.B. "Mac" MacDonald

Andre de Toth directed the film based on the novel The Pitfall by Jay Dratler. Among de Toth's dark-tinged dramas and westerns are None Shall Escape, Dark Waters, and Day of the Outlaw. Dratler's noir credits include an Oscar nomination for the Laura screenplay and a Poe Award for Call Northside 777. Pitfall's screenplay is by Karl Kamb (Whispering Smith) with an uncredited William Bowers (Support Your Local Sheriff!) and Andre de Toth. Cinematographer Harry J. Wild was behind the look for such crime features as Murder, My Sweet, His Kind of Woman and The Big Steal.

Jane Wyatt, Dick Powell

Johnny:  "Whatever happened to those two people who were going to build a boat and sail around the world?"

Sue:  "Well, I had a baby. I never did hear what happened to you."

When a fellow meets an attractive girl who shows an interest, it is really incumbent upon the fellow to let the girl know that he is married. It is no excuse that he's been having one of those days when life has been wearing him down with its sameness. If you start acting like you are single things are bound to get complicated. The complications will treble when that girl is also the object of another's affection and you are aware of the same.  

In our movie, the fellow is Johnny Forbes, an insurance agent with personal and professional obligations. Dick Powell plays Johnny who uses wry humour to barely disguise his bitterness. Sue, Johnny's wife, is played by Jane Wyatt. She is good-natured and pragmatic. She may sometimes feel the stifling effects of housewifery, but doesn't let it get her down. Jimmy Hunt plays their son Tommy, a freckled faced kid with the right mix of spunk and adoration for his dad.

Lizabeth Scott as Mona Stevens

Mona:  "I liked him mostly because he was nice to me.  Very few men are.  That means a lot."

The girl in the case is one Mona Stevens played by Lizabeth Scott. She's the sort of girl men make assumptions about, and they are usually way off base. A department store and photographers model, Mona's ex-boyfriend Bill Smiley played by Byron Barr is in prison serving an embezzlement sentence. He foolishly stole money to buy Mona's affection. Johnny must repossess the gifts given to Mona as his company had bonded Smiley.

Dick Powell, Raymond Burr

Mac:  "I bet you never thought of me as a man who could fall in love."

Johnny:  "You'd be surprised how little time I have to think about you at all, Mac."

Mona was tracked down for the insurance company by a freelance private eye and a former cop named J.B. MacDonald. Johnny's secretary Maggie, played by Ann Doran, has a nickname for Mac, it is "Gruesome". The bulky Burr in this film looks slightly unkempt when we first meet him and he uses his size as a form of intimidation. Reporting on Mona to Johnny, Mac confesses that one look and he was hooked. Mona's impression of Mac is slightly different. As she tells Johnny, "That was quite a bull you sent to see me yesterday.  I've met some weird ones in my life, but that one nearly scared me to death."

Johnny and Mona get acquainted on the open sea in her motorboat (a gift from Smiley) and in a darkened cocktail bar. They don't realize that all the time they are under the watchful eyes of MacDonald. The jealous Mac switches tactics from implied intimidation to brute force. Confronting Johnny outside his home Mac gives him a beating which lays Johnny up for a couple of weeks. By this time Mona discovers that Johnny has a family and she breaks things off with no hard feelings. Johnny sheepishly apologizes.

Dick Powell

Johnny:  "It's just a warning, Mac.  If you're real smart you'll take it seriously. Leave the girl alone. Stay away from her. And if I ever hear that you've threatened to do anything about my family again I'll kill you, Mac. I mean that."

For Mona and Johnny, the incident is closed. For Mac, things are not that simple. He harasses Mona at work and follows her home at night. She tries to let him down easy before threatening him with the police. Mac, who feels he knows Mona better than she knows herself, plays the ace of threatening to hurt Johnny if she doesn't see things the MacDonald way. There is nowhere else to turn when Mona shares her troubles with Johnny. Johnny, a former boxer in college who had been taken by surprise by Mac earlier, returns the beating and, once again, walks away thinking the Big Mac problem has been solved.

Raymond Burr

Mac:  "I just don't like to see a guy getting a bad deal."

Now Mac ups the ante in his battle for Mona and against Johnny. He has tried scare tactics and drubbings, but now it is time for manipulation. Mac visits Smiley in prison and plants seeds of doubt about Mona. He mentions Forbes and needles the nervous Smiley who has been sweating out his time. On the day of his release, Mac offers solicitude and friendship to Smiley in the form of copious liquor and a gun, setting the crazed ex-con on the Forbes family. Spoiler ahead.

Lizabeth Scott, Raymond Burr

Mac:  "You haven't thought about it yet, but when you do you'll realize the only reason I did all this was because I  - I really love you."

Backed into a corner, Johnny has no choice but to defend his home and a shootout in the dark leaves Smiley dead. Mac later brags to Mona that he is a lucky gambler, but didn't expect such a strong payoff. He claims he expected Smiley and Johnny to frighten each other off, that he didn't expect the gunplay or murder. Mac also didn't expect the frustrated, angry and frightened Mona to shoot him. Villains, no matter how many arrows they have in their quiver, somehow never expect their victims to reach the point where they can't take it any more.

Pitfall ends - well, not really. Johnny comes clean about every nasty detail in the whole affair to his wife and the District Attorney and is spared criminal charges since Smiley was an intruder. Sue seriously considers divorce but decides she is willing to work to salvage their marriage. Will Sue and Johnny be able to make it work? We see a combination of resignation and determination on Sue's face. Mona's fate is up in the air. If Mac dies, she will be charged with murder. Mac didn't know Mona as well as he thought. All this mayhem because a wrong guy fell for a right gal.