Die Menschenfalle (1961)
10KDie Menschenfalle: Directed by Edmond O’Brien. With Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Stella Stevens, Elaine Devry. Two Korean War veterans re-unite to pull off a heist at a San Francisco airport but find themselves running for their lives.
“This film noir isnu0026#39;t bad … but itu0026#39;s based on a novel by John D. MacDonald, so it should be great. The first half of the film closely follows the novel, with some minor adjustments. The movieu0026#39;s second half swerves drunkenly all over the highway, ending up at a similar finale.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe novel depicts Jerry as a borderline nice guy with buried criminal tendencies. The movie portrays Matt (Jeffrey Hunteru0026#39;s renamed character) as a swell guy who keeps getting dragged deeper into the heist scheme – almost as if the screenplay was written by his defense attorney. The desire to portray the protagonist in the most sympathetic light dilutes the storyu0026#39;s impact. Since the producers take liberties with the plot after the halfway mark, it no longer matters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI read the first half of John D. MacDonaldu0026#39;s SOFT TOUCH, put down the book and watched this film, then read the remainder of the novel. While the film aligns closely with the films in the beginning, I was surprised by the straightened plots twists and the discarded scenes in the second half.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou can watch this movie without spoiling the novelu0026#39;s surprises, although you may find yourself wishing they had stuck to the novel. Difficult to imagine how the producers could go wrong, when John D. MacDonald had mapped everything out.”
