Experiment in Terror 1962

 

Directed by Blake Edwards in a no frills black and white fashion and like some of his fellow directors of the period ie Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer started out in the golden age of television which served them well. In “Experiment” (which might be seen as an experiment in movie making) the plot concerns a scary bad guy who tries to force a bank teller to steal a lot of money for him. The taunt screenplay was written by the The Gordons a husband and wife mystery writing pair who based it on their novel “Operation Terror” who also did stuff for t.v.


Over the memorable opening credits we see the bank teller driving home from downtown San Francisco over the bay bridge played by the late great Lee Remick who delivers the goods. This was her first film with Edwards in 1962, she would later that year make “The Days Of Wine and Roses” with him which got Remick her only Oscar nomination, This is a beautiful opening that sets up the story nicely and has Henry Mancini's great jazzy menacing score over it. We are already getting tense with worry and also expectation.

As soon as Kelly/Remick enters her garage she is assaulted gently and warned harshly by the scary guy who gives her his plans for the robbery. He scares her and us. The fine black and white cinematography by Philip Lathrop has a t.v. Look to it, not cheap but certainly economical and also did notable work in the early years of television including Peter Gunn, Rawhide and Mr. Lucky.

Remick is warned not to go to the police so of course she immediately gets in touch with the F.B.I., and her call is interrupted by the scary guy who is in her house and attacks her, once again warning her. The scary guy also has asthma and speaks in a creepy raspy voice which ads to the scares and gives the F.B.I. An important clue to who it might be.

The F.B.I. Agent is played by Glenn Ford as John Ripley( believe it or not) who is strictly straight up and down and all business as he starts an investigation into the case. There are some subtle hints of flirtation between him and Remick but nothing comes of it, and this lack of romance works well for the plot.

Edwards uses lots of close-ups and shock like cut aways to give the audience some jolts most of them work well, and his use of the city is strictly non touristy. Remick who shares her house and life with her teenage sister played by Stefanie Powers tries to go on with her life, but the power that the scary guy has over her is never far away. There are some well remembered sequences including a nightmarish scene in a mannequin designers studio, a stake out in a singles pick up bar, a bit in a ladies bathroom where the scary guy enters in old lady drag and the final showdown at a baseball game played in Candlestick park that “B” boy Don Siegel would lift for his “Dirty Harry” another San Francisco scary guy thriller 9 years later. Important to the film is Henry Mancini one of the great film composers of the last century who scored many of Blake Edwards films and television shows. Oh yes the scary guy is played by Ross Martin. One of the ten best films of 1962.