The Trap
“A GREAT dramatic and scenic wonder picturing vividly how a man lost himself when fate played against him, only to find himself again through the love and affection of a little child.”
About The Trap
Gaspard, a French fur trapper, comes home to find Thalie with Benson, who has also taken Gaspard's mine on a legal technicality. Benson marries Thalie. Seven years later she dies and leaves a son. Benson loses the mine in a cave-in and drinks. Gaspard pushes the town bully into a fight; Benson shoots the man in self-defense, and Gaspard's testimony sends him to prison. Gaspard takes the boy to his cabin meaning to mistreat him, then comes to love him, and a schoolteacher welcomes them. When Benson is released, Gaspard cages a starved wolf against the cabin wall so the door will lock Benson in with it. The boy walks into the trap. Gaspard fights the wolf bare-handed, is badly hurt, and gives the child back. Benson shakes his hand. The teacher offers to teach Gaspard to read and write.
Cast & crew
More about The Trap
Robert Thornby directed. George C. Hull wrote the screenplay from a story by Lon Chaney, Lucien Hubbard, and Irving Thalberg. Virgil Miller photographed. Finished in September 1921 and released by Universal in New York on 9 May 1922. Runtime about 61 minutes. Working title Wolfbreed. Released in the United Kingdom as Heart of a Wolf. Reissued in the United States in 1926. The first Chaney picture shot on panchromatic stock.
Themes
Making
Shot in Yosemite. The wolf trap is a cage built against the cabin wall with a latch that locks the door from outside.
Reviews
Jon C. Mirsalis called it a dismal entry in Chaney's career, cited the titles written in a fake French accent, and said the melodrama probably seemed dated even in 1922.
Look
Virgil Miller photographed it in Yosemite on panchromatic stock, the first Chaney film to use that negative.
Technique
First Lon Chaney film photographed on panchromatic stock.
Preservation
Several prints exist. Universal restored it in 4K in 2023 from 16mm and 35mm elements. Issued on DVD and Blu-ray. Copies are on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Lon Chaney plays Gaspard. Alan Hale plays Benson. Dagmar Godowsky plays Thalie. Stanley Goethals plays the boy. Irene Rich plays the teacher.
- Creighton Chaney, later Lon Chaney Jr., makes his film debut as one of the children behind Gaspard in the opening scene.
- Chaney had already appeared in an unrelated 1913 film also called The Trap.
- This was his last Universal picture until The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- A lobby card survives, and a still of Chaney as Gaspard.
- Universal made a 4K restoration in 2023 from 16mm and 35mm elements.
Scenes
- Gaspard testifies so Benson goes to prison, then taunts him through the bars about the cave-in.
- The boy springs the wolf trap meant for his father, and Gaspard wrestles the animal in the dark.
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheTrap_861)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Trap (1922).webm)
