With few readily recognizable titles in his oeuvre, and
no flashy signature style to speak of, filmmaker Andrew L. Stone's impact on Hollywood during his lengthy career might be deemed negligible. The serious noirhead will look back a bit more fondly though, recalling the flurry of well-crafted and often location-shot thrillers Stone wrote, directed, and collaborated on with his wife - editor and producer Virginia Stone.

Having spent decades helming musical comedies and biopics, Stone spent most of the 50s immersed in Noir, creating several tasteful pop thrillers that reward viewers with their crisply efficient screenplays, and his blissfully un-self-concious direction.

'The Steel Trap' (1952) Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright.
A crackerjack nail-biter, and Stone's third noir after the harsh 'Highway 301' and little-seen 'Confidence Girl', 'Trap's lean plot concerns happily married bank manager Jim Osbourne's fall-from-grace - the result of his exiting work one Friday with quite a bit more than pilfered paper clips. Long-surpressed temptation finally gets the best/worst of Jim (Cotten), so he sets into motion a contrivance which if successfully executed will land he and mislead wife Laurie (Wright) in balmy Brazil - where the extradition laws will make them untouchable. With obstacles and speedbumps littering his path, the novice absconder narrowly dodges detection while attempting to keep his wholesome Laurie in the dark long enough to get away - but the authorities are not what Jim must fear most..

Perhaps less intrinsically dramatic than noirs featuring protagonists who succumb to self-destructive criminal impulses out of lust or desperation (see 'Try And Get Me'), 'Trap' remains an engrossing slice of audience-friendly noir, and boasts the presence of two immensely likeable leads.

'A Blueprint For Murder' (1953) Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters. Stone's second collaboration with Cotten resulted in a winner as well. In 'Blueprint' he's Whitney 'Cam' Cameron, a brother-in-law who grows suspicious of his late brother's attractive widow Lynne (Peters) when he learns that her step-daughter has died under shady circumstances - and that the 'untimely' loss of her other stepchild would bring her a big pay-day. Long-smitten with the raven-haired beauty, Cam now struggles with the notion that she may in fact be a sociopathic murderess - with his beloved young nephew in her sights. So fearful of her intentions, Cam goes to extreme and dangerous lengths to cast light on what he believes to be the awful truth, and save the innocent boy.

Another dry, linear thriller from the filmmaker who would go on to make the tense hostage flick 'The Night Holds Terror', and the exiting woman-in-peril yarn 'Julie', 'Murder' hits the ground running and flows in almost real time. We quickly grow to like and support Cotten's urbane Uncle Cam, and feel his bittersweet pain when his longing for Lynne surfaces.
The underappreciated Peters ('Niagara', 'Pickup On South Street') shines here, and her performance never for a moment slips into ham-and-cheese 'bad girl' histrionics. Her measured portrayal complements the low-key Cotten's, and elevates this 'b' production to a B+.

'Blueprint' is now available on commercial dvd, but 'Trap' is a film that can presently only be obtained in bootleg form (not that I would know anything about that..)