BatBanks Smith
The movie is boring, but Ross Martin is good as the mysterious psychopath who terrorizes Lee Remick. He threatens her t-out the movie to kill her teenager sister. His character made Robert Mitchum's Max Cady in Cape Fear look like a mouse; He should've been nominated for an Oscar that year. It had good performances by the cast; but it not your typical fast-paced suspense.
Zipper69
First off - did anybody else notice the close resemblance of James Lanphier who played the Landlord and Ross Martin? When Lanphier walked into frame I thought for the longest time that HE was a probable suspect... (Do a Google image search for James Lanphier to see what I mean)Anywhoo, a good solid, police procedural with a number of plot holes that didn't spoil the fun.Lee Remick, was gorgeous and gave a convincing show of terror, Stefanie Powers when SHE was menaced in turn turned into a shivering wreck.Glenn Ford was personable and believable as an FBI agent and from telling somebody he'd "never had to shoot anybody" managed to up his body count by the movie's end.The final crowd scenes at Candelstick Park added tension but kinda telegraphed what the finale would be...
JohnHowardReid
This faithful adaptation of a roman policier with a screenplay by the Gordons themselves, seems a big strange when transplanted to American soil, hearing American accents instead of British, English dialogue instead of French. In this sort of film, the actor who plays the detective is all important and Glenn Ford just doesn't display the magnetism and the vitality for the part – especially when viewed against say, Jack Hawkins or Jean Gabin. He is just glum, old, ever-plodding Glenn Ford, never smiling, and just going through his paces like a dead-pan automaton. Lee Remick is no better as the heroine. Furthermore, she is not very attractively made up or costumed, and her whiny, raspy accent is a considerable irritation. The rest of the players, however, are definitely a decided improvement. Ross Martin, for instance, delivers a stand-out performance as the asthmatic psychopath; Stefanie Powers can look frightened most effectively; and there are some engrossing characterizations by Ned Glass, Patricia Huston and Al Avalon. Next to the acting, the second most important feature in this type of film is the milieu – and this comes across well. Location filming is a major asset here, plus the dynamic film editing with abrupt cutting from one scene to another that's totally unexpected and keeps everyone in the audience right on their toes – which as just as well, for the plot itself offers little that is exciting and almost nothing that could be described as terrifying. You might argue that time has taken the edge off this excitement, but I saw this film on first release, and I felt about it then as I do now, namely that as an experiment in terror, it is a fizzle. True, it does have suspense and tension – but not enough!Fortunately, there are compensations: Ross Martin's engrossing portrayal and Phillip Lathrop's cinematography. Plus an atmospheric music score by Henry Mancini that – aside from the credit suspense theme – is not heard to its best advantage in the movie itself. This blunder will certainly disappoint his fans like me, who have heard this great music on his sound track recording.
JasparLamarCrabb
A tightly wound thriller from director Blake Edwards. Lee Remick is a teller terrorized by an unseen madman into stealing money from her bank. FBI agent Glenn Ford is on the case. This procedural thriller is extremely entertaining, very well acted (particularly by Remick) and features a great jazz infused score by Henry Mancini. Edwards shot the film on location in San Francisco and the film benefits greatly from it. The film hits the ground running and still manages to feature fully fleshed out characters. Ford is a bit wooden but efficient and the supporting cast includes Ross Martin, Stefanie Powers (as Remick's younger sister), and the great Ned Glass as "Popcorn," a not so trustworthy police informant.
AD
