Agrega una trama en tu idiomaAn inventor looking for backing for his television invention gets involved with a crooked businessman and gangsters who try to steal his invention.An inventor looking for backing for his television invention gets involved with a crooked businessman and gangsters who try to steal his invention.An inventor looking for backing for his television invention gets involved with a crooked businessman and gangsters who try to steal his invention.
- Dirección
- Guionistas
- Elenco
Mary Blake
- Miss Walsh, Secretary
- (sin créditos)
Wade Boteler
- J.W. Greggs - Collection Agency Manager
- (sin créditos)
Harry C. Bradley
- Telephone Man
- (sin créditos)
Eddie Fetherston
- Heckler at Football Game
- (sin créditos)
Robert Gordon
- Delivery Boy
- (sin créditos)
William Gould
- Member of Paragon Board of Directors
- (sin créditos)
Chuck Hamilton
- Policeman
- (sin créditos)
Howard Hickman
- G.P. Tucker - Board Member
- (sin créditos)
Russell Hicks
- J.F. Howland - Board Member
- (sin créditos)
Boyd Irwin
- William S. Tully, Board Member
- (sin créditos)
Opiniones destacadas
Trapped by Television equates to a bit more than most 30's cinematic potboilers. It may include a number of the tropes that genre films from that decade usually have but it is distinct in that it is quite historically interesting. The reason for this is that it depicts a 30's view of television – a technology that hadn't actually happened at that point in time yet. Interestingly, the film speculates that these devices would not only be able to receive signals but to transmit them as well. To this end we have an inventor devise an elaborate art deco TV that can do just this. The plot-line surrounding this has him needing financial backing and going to a shady businessman, while a gang of criminals gets involved seeing this new invention as a potentially massive money-maker.
It's actually quite a decent premise for one of these flicks, given that, as we all know perfectly well, television would soon go on to be perhaps the most successful and influential technological development of the 20th century and the depiction of how it could work in this movie is charming and entertainingly quaint. Aside from all this, the plot-line still has the usual requisite elements seen in umpteen films from the period such as a male/female duo, a comedy-relief character – in this case a science-loving debt collector and dastardly villains. And to top it all off, it rounds off with a satisfying extended fight sequence and there's really nothing wrong with that either.
It's actually quite a decent premise for one of these flicks, given that, as we all know perfectly well, television would soon go on to be perhaps the most successful and influential technological development of the 20th century and the depiction of how it could work in this movie is charming and entertainingly quaint. Aside from all this, the plot-line still has the usual requisite elements seen in umpteen films from the period such as a male/female duo, a comedy-relief character – in this case a science-loving debt collector and dastardly villains. And to top it all off, it rounds off with a satisfying extended fight sequence and there's really nothing wrong with that either.
This is NOT just an ordinary 30s' 'semi-sci-fi' about some revolutionary invention, throwing in some pseudo-scientific terms, and otherwise concentrating on the battle about the patent rights. This is - apart from being a very lively, entertaining and well-acted story of poor inventors, poor bill collectors, and poor product promoters (none less than Mary Astor!) on the one side, and ruthless crooks wanting to get rich with a stolen invention on the other side - a VERY realistic depiction of the 'battle' that was ACTUALLY going on at the time for the development and patent rights of television - a device that has literally changed the world.
And it's no phony, either: the names of the components for the device Fred Dennis (Lyle Talbot) is developing are well-researched - the cathode ray tube, which is so expensive and vital for the machine to work that Dennis initially can't afford to buy it was IN FACT the 'heart' of the first television sets that were really able to broadcast clear moving pictures! So this suspenseful as well as entertaining movie today is a TRUE time document - and you'll enjoy and cherish it even more if you try to watch it the way the astonished audience must have watched it back then; and say, agreeing with Dennis' friend, bill collector Rocky (Nat Pendleton): "Gee, ain't science great?!"
And it's no phony, either: the names of the components for the device Fred Dennis (Lyle Talbot) is developing are well-researched - the cathode ray tube, which is so expensive and vital for the machine to work that Dennis initially can't afford to buy it was IN FACT the 'heart' of the first television sets that were really able to broadcast clear moving pictures! So this suspenseful as well as entertaining movie today is a TRUE time document - and you'll enjoy and cherish it even more if you try to watch it the way the astonished audience must have watched it back then; and say, agreeing with Dennis' friend, bill collector Rocky (Nat Pendleton): "Gee, ain't science great?!"
...Trapped by Television, whenever they're running an Agnes Moorehead or Shirley Temple film festival, But this is a yarn about the race to corner the television market, before the WWII delay. Lyle Talbot is the idealistic young inventor, Janet Gaynor is the hapless entrepreneur who sees the potential to steal his work, but, you guessed it, she falls for the mug, his optimistic enthusiasm a contrast to her worldly cynicism.. Nat Pendleton and Joyce Compton play the leads' respective sidekicks with comic gusto. Bubbly little comedy from the Golden Age.
The early years of film are, for me, yet still a vast untapped resource of entertainment. I've seen a dozen or so of Chaplin's silent films, I've seen a couple of the classic Universal monster movies, and I've watched some of the classics (e.g. CASABLANCA), but the majority of those first few decades of film entertainment are almost completely unknown to me. So it's always a nice surprise when I get the opportunity to watch one I've never heard of and find it to be a fun, if ultimately forgettable, little romp. Such is the case with TRAPPED BY TELEVISION from 1936. It's a heart-warming, optimistic story in the world of science where Fred Dennis (Lyle Talbot) is an inventor who has nearly perfected a new form of television broadcast. He is putting the finishing touches on a system that will sent sound and images wirelessly across distances from the camera directly to the receiver unit. He almost hits a snag when a debt collection agency sends out an agent to collect on money owed for some of Dennis's equipment. But it just so happens that Rocky (Nat Pendleton), the collection agent, loves the idea of science; as he's overly fond of reminding people, it's his hobby. So instead of busting Dennis's kneecaps and taking the machinery back, the two of them become quick friends and partners, taking the invention to struggling investor Bobby Blake (Mary Astor) for financial aid. Bobby, seemingly more interested in Dennis than his television invention, agrees to help him shop it around and uses her connections to shop it to the Paragon Broadcasting Company, where its board members are contemplating entering the world of broadcast television. But another shady group of men have their eye on Paragon's investment funds and have no problem busting cathode ray tubes or faces to keep their plan in motion.
After watching TRAPPED BY TELEVISION, my first impression was just how happy a film it was. It's just so unapologetically optimistic and its characters are so lovable that you want them to succeed. The four main characters Dennis, Rocky, Bobby, and Mae (Bobby's personal assistant and best friend, played by Joyce Compton) are in this together with everything to lose. Dennis is obviously in dire times if he's got debt collectors sending hired muscle to wring the money out of him. Bobby and Mae are on the verge of poverty with her investment company going broke after a series of poor decisions (that automatic potato-peeler just didn't take off as she'd expected). Rocky's really the only one here with nothing to lose except his new best friend and his chance to be a scientist by proxy. They're all on the way to the poorhouse but they've got the spunk to keep going in search of their next big accomplishment. I loved all of them, especially the simple-minded Rocky. His enthusiasm for science and Dennis's project is contagious and I couldn't help but chuckle with the running gag of his interactions with Dennis's flustered landlady. When she discovers Rocky works for a debt-collector, she asks him to muscle the overdue rent out of Dennis while he's at it; he puts her fears to rest with a wink and a wag of his finger, over and over again, and it works every time. A little gesture of "don't you worry none, I've got this " It's minor and it's stupid but I loved it.
The struggle of perfecting the invention and getting the chance to present it to Paragon would've been enough of a plot to carry the movie because, like I said, the characters are enjoyable enough. But we've still got the added dilemma of some men hoping to manipulate Paragon into paying for their radio services. There's something about missing radio technicians and one of the Paragon board members in on the scheme. Anyway, it gives the film a little bit of a gangster vibe and some drama for the final act. Maybe unnecessary but it didn't hurt anything. The main problem with a quick-and- easy bit of fun like TRAPPED BY TELEVISION is that it's not all that memorable. There's nothing spectacular that's really going to set it apart from the droves of early films that were fun but tended to fade from memory pretty easily. It's got a quaintness to it from the fact that it comes from a period where television was still a technical marvel. The idea of wireless broadcast television was science fiction at the time and came in the form of an enormously bulky unit with dials and antennae but, of course, I can download and watch it from a phone that fits in my pants' pocket. The adorably outdated ideas, the fantastic cast, the upbeat vibes, and the painless hour or so runtime make TRAPPED BY TELEVISION an easy recommendation from me if you happen to stumble across it. It should be enough to elicit a few grins.
After watching TRAPPED BY TELEVISION, my first impression was just how happy a film it was. It's just so unapologetically optimistic and its characters are so lovable that you want them to succeed. The four main characters Dennis, Rocky, Bobby, and Mae (Bobby's personal assistant and best friend, played by Joyce Compton) are in this together with everything to lose. Dennis is obviously in dire times if he's got debt collectors sending hired muscle to wring the money out of him. Bobby and Mae are on the verge of poverty with her investment company going broke after a series of poor decisions (that automatic potato-peeler just didn't take off as she'd expected). Rocky's really the only one here with nothing to lose except his new best friend and his chance to be a scientist by proxy. They're all on the way to the poorhouse but they've got the spunk to keep going in search of their next big accomplishment. I loved all of them, especially the simple-minded Rocky. His enthusiasm for science and Dennis's project is contagious and I couldn't help but chuckle with the running gag of his interactions with Dennis's flustered landlady. When she discovers Rocky works for a debt-collector, she asks him to muscle the overdue rent out of Dennis while he's at it; he puts her fears to rest with a wink and a wag of his finger, over and over again, and it works every time. A little gesture of "don't you worry none, I've got this " It's minor and it's stupid but I loved it.
The struggle of perfecting the invention and getting the chance to present it to Paragon would've been enough of a plot to carry the movie because, like I said, the characters are enjoyable enough. But we've still got the added dilemma of some men hoping to manipulate Paragon into paying for their radio services. There's something about missing radio technicians and one of the Paragon board members in on the scheme. Anyway, it gives the film a little bit of a gangster vibe and some drama for the final act. Maybe unnecessary but it didn't hurt anything. The main problem with a quick-and- easy bit of fun like TRAPPED BY TELEVISION is that it's not all that memorable. There's nothing spectacular that's really going to set it apart from the droves of early films that were fun but tended to fade from memory pretty easily. It's got a quaintness to it from the fact that it comes from a period where television was still a technical marvel. The idea of wireless broadcast television was science fiction at the time and came in the form of an enormously bulky unit with dials and antennae but, of course, I can download and watch it from a phone that fits in my pants' pocket. The adorably outdated ideas, the fantastic cast, the upbeat vibes, and the painless hour or so runtime make TRAPPED BY TELEVISION an easy recommendation from me if you happen to stumble across it. It should be enough to elicit a few grins.
The inventor of an improved form of TV battles crooks and crooked broadcasters to remain alive and remain in control of his invention.
That sounds much more exciting than it is. This is a well made, well acted story that has a weird mix of humor and thrills. You have the crooks trying to steal the invention which is very good, and then you have things like the character of the dopey bill collector who seems to come from a very good broad comedy. The problem is that the two styles don't really blend and you end up with a movie thats neither, as well as being just sort of okay. Its a bland affair that never really held my attention.
Worth trying if you run across it, but probably not worth running out to get.
That sounds much more exciting than it is. This is a well made, well acted story that has a weird mix of humor and thrills. You have the crooks trying to steal the invention which is very good, and then you have things like the character of the dopey bill collector who seems to come from a very good broad comedy. The problem is that the two styles don't really blend and you end up with a movie thats neither, as well as being just sort of okay. Its a bland affair that never really held my attention.
Worth trying if you run across it, but probably not worth running out to get.
¿Sabías que…?
- TriviaMary Blake's debut.
- Citas
J.W. Greggs - Collection Agency Manager: [on the telephone] It ain't the policy of the Acme to threaten people. But if you don't kick in with that dough fast, I'm coming up there myself and smack you right on the button!
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Detalles
- Tiempo de ejecución1 hora 4 minutos
- Color
- Relación de aspecto
- 1.37 : 1
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By what name was Trapped by Television (1936) officially released in Canada in English?
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