(1) The Money Trap was the last traditional black-and-white noir film, with classic plot, visuals, and casting, to land in American theaters (in February 1966). No one could have known it at the time, but this was the end of the line; and that tail-end feeling comes through very strongly in the film itself, both as regards its casting of the middle-aged and (deliberately) tired-looking Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in lead roles, and the plotting. Everyone winds up dead or with nothing to look forward to. The jig is up.
(2) Although nowhere near as good a film as Brainstorm, The Money Trap inhabits the same visual universe (both shot in greater Los Angeles, and I would bet any amount of money that they were shot on the same film stock; stocks have "looks") and aural universe (blaring Sixties "jazz," bongo drums). As it happens, I love that world, just on the edge of irrevocable change; I get off on "Mad Men" partly for that reason. The early Sixties is not the "Sixties," which started to emerge around 1966. There is a key hint of what's coming embedded in this film: the surprise appearance of a whopping stash of heroin.
(3) The casting of Ford and Hayworth, implicitly evoking memories of their teaming in the classic noir Gilda (1946), is a self-conscious, backward-looking gesture of the same type as casting Dana Andrews in Brainstorm. Part of the point, of course, is that 19 years (the time difference between the two films) does a lot to people; seeing Hayworth as a down-on-her-luck waitress is intended to shock (and it does, to an extent). Times have changed greatly in this respect: Ford and Hayworth were 48 and 46, respectively, when The Money Trap was shot, and are portrayed as borderline-old; Clive Owen and Julia Roberts in the just-released Duplicity were 46 and 41 during shooting, and are portrayed as absolutely in the prime of their hotness: not twentysomethings, to be sure, but nonetheless smokin'. It is a good change (says this boyish 50-year-old).
(4) Ford's cliffside house in The Money Trap -- which is way beyond his cop's salary and is paid for by his young heiress wife Elke Sommer's money -- is a nice piece of mid-century Los Angeles architecture; it would be interesting to know the actual house used for the exteriors, and if the same property was used for the interior and back-yard shooting. I suspect it might have been, since the swimming pool (which is used very focally, especially at the beginning and ending of the movie) is certainly real and unlikely to have been constructed on a set.
(5) Is the Ford-Sommer marriage en-masculating or e-masculating? That's an issue here. On the one hand, she wants him (it's clear), and he's twice her age, so that's gratifying. On the other hand, he's not paying for anything, and in the mid-Sixties, that must have been even harder for a guy than it would be today.
(6) Fun location footage of a no-doubt identifiable amusement park (the IMDB is very scanty with information on this film). I can't hack riding roller coasters even in a movie.
(7) Menswear Moment: Ford and Hayworth talk about his taste in suits; Ford: "You know I always liked nice clothes." He's in French cuffs throughout.
POSTSCRIPT: A poster at The Blackboard answered my question about the amusement park:
I can answer #6 without any reservations. It’s POP (Pacific Ocean Park) from which the old Santa Monica pier amusement park morphed in the late 50’s. I was fortunate enough to have visited it several times during my teen years. For more info check out the following sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean_Park
http://www.westland.net/venicehistory/mapsdocs/poppier-map.htm
Breakfast is being served
2 years ago
