''Experiment in Terror'' is a 1962 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. It was directed by

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts ...

and written by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon based on their 1961 novel ''Operation Terror''. The film stars

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-born American actor. He was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of th ...

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (; December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film ''Days of Wine and Roses (film), Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962) and was nominated fo ...

Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...

and Ross Martin. The musical score was composed by Henry Mancini.

Plot

A sadistic killer, Garland "Red" Lynch, uses a campaign of terror to force

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

bank teller Kelly Sherwood to steal $100,000 from the bank for him. Despite Lynch's threat to kill Sherwood or her teenage sister Toby if she goes to the police, Sherwood contacts the

office of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, where agent John Ripley takes charge of the case. Ripley interviews another woman who implies that she is involved in some way in a serious crime, but before she can give Ripley the details, Lynch murders her. Sherwood continues to be terrorized with phone calls, an

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

tic condition making the unseen Lynch's voice all the more sinister. The FBI identifies the criminal, noting that Lynch has a record of convictions for statutory rape, forgery, criminal assault, armed robbery and murder. They track down his girlfriend, Lisa Soong, whose six-year-old son has just had a hip replaced. Lynch is paying all the hospital bills. Because of this, Lisa refuses to believe that Lynch is a criminal and will not cooperate with the investigation. Ripley nevertheless manages to get some information about "Uncle Red" from the boy. Lynch finally gives Sherwood a time and date to steal the money, and just to make sure that she does, he kidnaps her sister Toby and holds her captive. The climax is a chase through

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium located in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Hunters Point area of San Francisco, California, United States. It was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 S ...

after a nighttime baseball game between the rival

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. On-field action includes several closeups of Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale. Ripley and his men ultimately surround Lynch on the infield of the stadium. As Lynch takes aim at a police helicopter, Ripley shoots him and he dies on the pitcher's mound.

Cast

as John "Rip" Ripley *

as Kelly Sherwood *

as Toby Sherwood * Ross Martin as Garland Humphrey "Red" Lynch * Roy Poole as Brad * Ned Glass as "Popcorn" * Anita Loo as Lisa Soong * Patricia Huston as Nancy Ashton * Gilbert Green as Special Agent * Clifton James as Captain Moreno * Al Avalon as Man Who Picks Up Kelly * William Bryant as Chuck * Dick Crockett as FBI agent #1 * James Lanphier as The Landlord * Warren Hsieh as Joey Soong * Sidney Miller as Drunk * Clarence Lung as Attorney Yung * Frederic Downs as Welk * Sherry O'Neil as Edna * Mari Lynn as Penny * Harvey Evans as Dave * William Sharon as Raymond Burkhart * Don Drysdale as Himself

Production

''Experiment in Terror'' was filmed on location in

. Kelly Sherwood's house is at 100 St. Germain Avenue in the Clarendon Heights district (now demolished). Kelly works at the Crocker-Anglo Bank (now Wells Fargo Bank) located at One Montgomery Street. The climactic chase at the end of the film was filmed at

; other nearby filming locations included Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach. Herb Stein reported on the film's five weeks of production in the Bay Area. Following the Giants-Dodgers game filming, "Later the picture gang rented Candlestick to shoot reaction In the stands, hired about 1000 extras from the unemployed here—their take running from $25 to $50 a night. Notwithstanding the fact that Candlestick Park is probably the windiest stadium in the country, the Hollywood company brought its own wind machines from the studios just in case the Giants home grounds disappointed. Also hauled were fog machines, in the event the Twin Peaks locale, famous for its fog, was clear the nights the company planned to shoot….Cost of the location runs to $50,000 a day which, over a five week stretch, adds up."

Release

The film opened in New York on April 13, 1962. The film was originally released in the UK under the title ''The Grip of Fear''.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews, with an average score of 8.40/10. It has been shown on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller.

Awards

Ross Martin was nominated for a 1963

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Supporting Actor.

Notes

External links

* * * used as a television "Creature Feature" theme {{DEFAULTSORT:Experiment In Terror 1962 films 1960s crime thriller films 1960s psychological thriller films American black-and-white films American crime thriller films American psychological thriller films Columbia Pictures films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Henry Mancini Films about kidnapping in the United States Films about bank robbery Films based on American thriller novels Films directed by Blake Edwards Films set in San Francisco Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area Films shot in San Francisco American police detective films Films with screenplays by the Gordons Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation American neo-noir films 1960s American films English-language crime thriller films