Experiment in Terror (1962)

A man with an asthmatic voice telephones bank clerk Kelly Sherwood at home and coerces her into helping him steal a large sum from her bank.

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Gordon Gordon (novel) (as The Gordons), Mildred Gordon (novel) (as The Gordons)

Stars:

Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Glenn Ford	...	John 'Rip' Ripley
Lee Remick	...	Kelly Sherwood
Stefanie Powers	...	Toby Sherwood
Roy Poole	...	Brad
Ned Glass	...	Popcorn
Anita Loo	...	Lisa Soong
Patricia Huston	...	Nancy Ashton
Gilbert Green	...	Special Agent
Clifton James	...	Capt. Moreno
Al Avalon	...	Man Who Picks Up Kelly
William Bryant	...	Chuck (as Bill Bryant)
Dick Crockett	...	FBI Agent #1
James Lanphier	...	Landlord
Ross Martin	...	Garland Humphrey 'Red' Lynch

Storyline

When the bank clerk Kelly Sherwood arrives home after hours, she is intimidated by a stranger that knows her routine habit. He threatens Kelly and her sister Toby to force her to heist $100,000 from her bank; otherwise he will kill her. Kelly does not see his face but notes he is asthmatic. Kelly succeeds to lure the criminal and contacts the FBI agent John 'Rip' Ripley that advises Kelly how to behave and assigns a group of agents to keep Kelly and Toby under surveillance. But when Toby is abducted by the stranger, Kelly tries to stay calm to help the FBI to catch the criminal.

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Plot Keywords:

bank | asthmatic | extortion | disguise | policeman | 

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Taglines:

CHALLENGING! THE FASTEST TWO HOURS THE SCREEN HAS EVER SEEN! SHOCKING! IT PLUNGES YOU INTO A NEW DIMENSION OF FEAR! IMPORTANT! IT RATES WITH THE GREATEST SUSPENSE FILMS OF OUR TIME! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 June 1962 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Der letzte Zug

Filming Locations:

Candlestick Park - 602 Jamestown Avenue, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geoffrey-Kate Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kelly's car is a 1958 Ford Fairlane 500 Sunliner. Original MSRP was $2,774 ($23,800 in 2017). In excellent condition, at auction in 2017, this car could fetch $50,000 or more.

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Goofs

During the baseball game, the beer vendor is shown walking down the stairs with the cup holder at his waist. There are 5 cups of beer in the holder, but clearly, his cups are all empty.

The cups are empty because the bottles of beer are also in his holder. The beer vendors would pop open the beer bottles then pour into the cup when it came time to serve the spectators.

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Quotes

Garland Humphrey 'Red' Lynch: Your sister's all right.
Toby Sherwood: You said she was dying.
Garland Humphrey 'Red' Lynch: I had to find some way to get you here. Take off your clothes. You want me to take them off for you?
Toby Sherwood: [shakes her head]
Garland Humphrey 'Red' Lynch: Then take them off.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits only list one person, the actor who played the villain, followed by "The End"

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Connections

Referenced in Everyday: Episode #1.11 (1978)

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Soundtracks

Gwine to Rune All Night (De Camptown Races)
(uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster
Played at the Roaring Twenties nightclub

User Reviews

Above Average Thriller from the 60's

When the bank clerk Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) arrives home after hours, she is intimidated by a stranger that knows her routine habit. He threatens Kelly and her sister Toby (Stefanie Powers) to force her to heist $100,000 from her bank; otherwise he will kill her. Kelly does not see his face but notes he is asthmatic. Kelly succeeds to lure the criminal and contacts the FBI agent John 'Rip' Ripley (Glenn Ford) that advises Kelly how to behave and assigns a group of agents to keep Kelly and Toby under surveillance. But when Toby is abducted by the stranger, Kelly tries to stay calm to help the FBI to catch the criminal.

"Experiment in Terror" is an above average thriller from the early 60's in a noir style directed by Blake Edwards and with Glenn Ford, Lee Remick (whom we all miss so dearly) and Stefanie Powers on the lead roles. The story has flaws but the storyline is excellent and Ross Martin performs a great villain. When Lee Remick's character Kelly is attacked for the first time, her eyes are impressive even in a black- and-white film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Escravas do Medo" ("Slaves of the Fear")