Cry Terror! *** (1958, James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens, Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson) – Classic Movie Review 10,600

A lively cast are up to their necks in the plot twists of writer-director Andrew Stone’s unnerving 1958 black and white suspense thriller Cry Terror!. Rod Steiger stars as terrorist Paul Hoplin, who plants a bomb on a plane.

A lively cast are up to their necks in the plot twists of writer-director Andrew Stone’s unnerving 1958 black and white suspense thriller Cry Terror!.

Rod Steiger stars as terrorist Paul Hoplin who plants a bomb on a plane, kidnaps his ex-army electronics expert buddy, New York shop owner Jim Molner (James Mason), and his family (Inger Stevens, Terry Ann Ross) and holds them to ransom to extort money from the airline not to detonate a bomb he has planted on a US domestic plane.

Cry Terror! is filmed excitingly in New York, with more attention to speed and thrills than credibility. Steiger and Mason, naturally, are excellent value. It has a good visual style too, as Walter Strenge shoots in film noir-style black and white, bringing immediacy and urgency.

Also in the cast are Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson, Kenneth Tobey, Jack Klugman, Jack Kruschen, Terry Ann Ross, Portland Mason, William Schallert, Carleton Young, Mae Marsh, Barney Phillips, Harlan Warde, Ed Hinton, and Jonathan Hole.

Andrew Stone also produces with his wife Virginia Stone (who also edits).

Talking relatives, Portland Mason (26 November 1948 – 10 May 2004) was the elder child of actors James Mason and Pamela Mason. She had a debilitating stroke after her father’s ashes were spread in Vevey, Switzerland, in November 2000.

It was shot in New York City as The Third Rail from early August to early September 1957.

It cost $482,000, earned $1,020,000 worldwide, making a measly profit of $48,000 for MGM.

Cry Terror! runs 96 minutes, is made by Andrew L Stone Productions, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is written by Andrew L Stone, is shot by Walter Strenge, and is scored by Howard Jackson.

Release date: 2 May 1958 (US).

The cast are James Mason as Jim Molner, Inger Stevens as Joan Molner ,Rod Steiger as Paul Hoplin, Neville Brand as Steve, Angie Dickinson as Eileen Kelly, Kenneth Tobey as Agent Frank Cole, Jack Klugman as Vince, Jack Kruschen as FBI Agent Charles Pope, Carleton Young as Roger Adams, Barney Phillips as Dan Pringle, Harlan Warde as Bert, Ed Hinton as Operative Chet Huntley as himself, Roy Neal as himself, Jonathan Hole as Airline Executive, William Schallert as Henderson, Portland Mason as Patty’s Friend on Schoolbus, and Terry Ann Ross as Patty Molner.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,600

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