Experiment in Terror [Grip of Fear] **** (1962, Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Ross Martin, Stefanie Powers) – Classic Movie Review 6,859

Blake Edwards makes a first-rate job of his excellent 1962 San Francisco location-shot suspense thriller Experiment in Terror [Grip of Fear].

Director Blake Edwards is best known for his farcical comedies and especially the Pink Panther movies, but here in his 1962 film Experiment in Terror [Grip of Fear] he makes a first-rate job of this excellent San Francisco location-shot suspense thriller.

Lee Remick stars as a bank teller called Kelly Sherwood, who is forced by sinister crook ‘Red’ Lynch (Ross Martin) into helping him steal $100,000 from her bank to stay alive.

Glenn Ford is effectively cast as ‘Rip’ Ripley, the FBI agent she hopes will be able to save her, and Stefanie Powers plays her teenage sister Toby, who is kidnapped by the asthmatic bad guy man who has attacked Kelly at home and forced her into helping him.

The stars (particularly Remick) work it up into an exciting lather, and Edwards jazzes it along with stylish, odd-angled visuals in Philip H Lathrop’s outstanding black and white cinematography. A sweaty-palm movie is tautly handled for a full measure of suspense and heart-pounding tension.

Edwards’s regular composer, Henry Mancini, also comes up with something special for the score. The satisfying screenplay is written by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon (as The Gordons) from their 1961 novel Operation Terror.

Also in the cast are Roy Poole, Ned Glass, Anita Loo, Patricia Huston, Gilbert Green, Al Avalon, Clifton James, William Bryant, Dick Crockett, James Lamphier, James T Callahan, Harry Evans, Mike Foran, Frederic Downs, Fred Coby, Claire Griswold, Edward Mallory, Judee Morton, Bill Neff, Karen Norris, Richard Norris, William Remick, William Sharon, Audrey Swanson, David Tomack and Ken Wales.

Experiment in Terror (aka Grip of Fear in GB) is directed by Blake Edwards, runs 123 minutes, is made by Geoffrey-Kate Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon, based on the novel Operation Terror by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon, is shot in black and white by Philip H Lathrop, is produced by Blake Edwards, is scored by Henry Mancini, and is designed by Robert Peterson.

Release date: April 13, 1962 (New York).

The film was released in the UK as The Grip of Fear.

Edwards and Remick also made Days of Wine and Roses together in 1962.

In thriller mode, Edwards also made Gunn, a 1967 neo noir mystery film, scripted by Edwards and William Peter Blatty and directed by Edwards with Craig Stevens reprising the title role from the private eye TV series created by Edwards.

The cast

The cast are Glenn Ford as John “Rip” Ripley, Lee Remick as Kelly Sherwood, Stefanie Powers 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, and Don Drysdale as Himself.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,859

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