The Steel Trap

The assistant manager at a Los Angeles bank steals nearly $1M from the vault and tries to get himself and his wife out of the country before the missing money is discovered. Written and directed by Andrew L. Stone, a compact filmmaker who parlayed suspense on the cheap, does his usual quick, efficient work, and Joseph Cotten is perfectly cast as the 'everyman' plotting nefarious business. With his anxious, pinched face, darting eyes and steely, monotone voice, Cotten nearly rivals his work in 1942's "Shadow of a Doubt", in which he co-starred with Teresa Wright (who plays his unsuspecting wife here). Cotten's grave voice-over isn't really effective (it's a filmmaker's short-cut, and a clichéd one), but there's plenty of tension to be had in the scenario. **1/2 from ****