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"THE TRAP" is the first major Anglo-Canadian co-production. It is a dramatic, often savage story of life in the wilds of mid-nineteenth century Canada, a constant battle for survival by man against loneliness and nature in the raw.

Oliver Reed gets his biggest opportunity to date a lust French-Canadian fur trapper Jean La Bete, with Rita Tushingham completing the off-beat casting as Eve, the mute orphaned bondswoman he takes as bride to his shack amidst the mountains and lakes. These two superb British artistes are ably supported by a largely Canadian cast.

From a story and screenplay by David Osborn, Sindey Hayers directed "THE TRAP" in Panavision and Eastmancolor entirely on location in the mountains and forests of British Columbia, Canada, and at the Hollyburn Film Studios, West Vancouver, and at Pinewood Studios, London, England. A George H. Brown Production for Parallel Films, "THE TRAP" id distributed world-wide by the Rank Organisation.

Oliver Reed has been on the brink of stardom fir the last three years. However, it took the foresightedness of veteran British producer George H. Brown to finally dispel the 27-year-old actor's former image in horror films and cast him as lusty French-Canadian fur trapper 'Jean La Bete' in his production of "THE TRAP".

It is a bold stroke which has paid off handsomely. Reed, sporting a luxuriant black beard, is La Bete. He fills out the role to perfection, a physical giant, superbly capturing every mannerism of this figure who has grown accustomed to the loneliness of his existence.

When La Bete seeks a soul-mate, he travels to the settlement and buys himself a reluctant bride - a young hard-working orphaned mute named Eve. She at first resents her 'husband', his crude shack and rough-and-ready manners. How she grows to tolerate and even love La Bete and his way of life is the story of "THE TRAP".

Finding the right actress to bring the important role of 'Eve' to screen life was no easy task. The final selection of 23-year-old Rita Tushingham certainly proved a happy choice. Her recent performances in "Girl With Green Eyes" and the 1965 Cannes Film Festival top award-winner, "The Knack" had firmly put Liverpool-born Rita on the international screen map. With only five previous films to her credit, "THE TRAP" emerges as a celluloid milestone in her remarkable career.

Producer Brown is equally enthusiastic about the performances of his young stars. "My approach to casting is that somewhere there is a person who personifies the part in the story", he believes, "and both people playing these roles, to me, do that."

"If one had been able to wave a magic wand and invent two people to play the roles of 'Eve' and 'Jean La Bete' - then Rita Tushingham and Oliver Reed are the two whom one would have invented".

For their roles in the picture, Rita and Oliver travelled to Canada where they spent three arduous months filming on location amidst the scenic grandeur of the vast country's timeless beauty.

In the natural surroundings of towering mountains and shimmering lakes, it was not difficult for the 65-strong Anglo-Canadian unit to recreate the Canada of 1849, the period in which one-time trapper David Osborn's screenplay is set.

The main part of the location movement was t Bowen Island, where an authentic settlement was constructed for the film. Other important scenes were shot at picturesque Birkenhead Lake, near Pemberton. This was a village with a total population of 174 persons some hundred miles further on.

While the principals acted out their dramatic scenes against this background, a second unit camera crew was concurrently shooting nature scenes of wild life such as grizzly bears, wolves and cougars deep in the heart of British Columbia's forest region.

Location scouting into virgin territory was not without its hazards for the unit. "Find me a lake where no man has been before", was just one of many similar requests made by George H. Brown which his assistants had to meet.

Other scenes were completed at Canada's modern Hollyburn Film Studios, in West Vancouver. In addition to British starts Rita Tushingham and Reed, a predominantly Canadian supporting cast included Barbara Chilcott, Rex Sevenoaks, Linda Goranson, Jon Granik, Reginald McReynolds, Jo Golland, Brian Fairman, Merv Campone and Walter Marsh.

All the rugged beauty of the Canadian wilderness has been brilliantly captured on celluloid by the Panavision and colour cameras of that master of cinematography, Australian-born 'Oscar'-winner Robert Krasker, who brought "Romeo and Juliet", "El Cid", "The Fall Of the Roman Empire", "The Heroes of Telemark", and many others to screen greatness.

Locations completed, the cast and main unit returned to London and Pinewood Studios where extra interior scenes, dubbing and editing took place. A fine musical score, strongly evocative of the vast land and its early settlers, was composed and conducted by Ron Goodwin, one of Britain's foremost film composers.

The result of the long location trip has proved very worth while. They have completed a dramatic outdoor adventure, brilliantly acted amidst splendid authentic backgrounds which could not have been reproduced on any studio sound stage.

"I was always impressed with the potential of this vast country" says George Brown. "It is a scenic Mecca for the film-maker. Years ago I vowed I would make a picture in Canada if ever I found a story as exciting as the place. When I read "THE TRAP", I knew I'd found one".

The fim is certain to make world stars of Rita Tushingham and Oliver Reed. Cinema-goers will welcome it as entertainment of a high order. For the youthful cast, producer Brown and his talented director, Sidney Hayers, "THE TRAP" is a rare and memorable achievement.