Experiment In Terror (1962)
The Movie
Director Blake Edwards surprised many when he followed his sophisticated, light-hearted and endearing Breakfast At Tiffany's with the taut black and white noirish thriller Experiment In Terror. They were obviously unaware of his work as creator of the 1958 - 1961 TV series Peter Gunn, a crime thriller with a knockout music score by Henry Mancini. Edwards brought Mancini on board for this movie and it is so much the better for it. First rate acting and suspense aplenty combine across the streets of San Francisco to keep the viewer on edge throughout. The movie was based on the book Operation Terror by Gordon and Mildred Gordon and was released in New York on April 13, 1962.
The Story
Bank teller Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) returns home late at night and is grabbed by a heavy-breathing asthmatic (Ross Martin) hiding in her garage. He threatens to kill her and her teenage sister Toby (Stefanie Powers) unless she steals $100,000 from her bank for him. He continues to torment her with threatening phone calls to her home and her work and seems to know that she has contacted F.B.I. agent John Ripley (Glenn Ford) who is sparing no resources to track him down. The frightened but resilient Kelly endures a series of harrowing close calls before the final climactic denouement at a crowded ball game.
(Watch the gripping opening of the movie here, accompanied by Mancini's chillingly edgy theme).
The Locations
- Across The Bridge San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge viewed from Yerba Buena Island
- Kelly's House 100 St. Germain Avenue, Clarendon Heights/Twin Peaks
- Kelly picks up Toby 206 Palo Alto Avenue, Clarendon Heights/Twin Peaks
- High School George Washington High, 600 32nd Avenue, the Richmond
- Parking Garage Lick Garage, 55 Lick Place (now the Crocker Galleria at 50 Post Street), Financial District
- Crocker-Anglo Bank (Now Wells Fargo Bank), One Montgomery Street, at Post and Market, Financial District
- Toby at the Country Club Marin Town and Country Club, Pastori Avenue, Fairfax, Marin County
- Dead Mannequin 2632 Larkin Street, Russian Hill
- Night Club Varni's Roaring Twenties, 807 Montgomery Street, Jackson Square
- The Wrong Man Car ride, Jackson Street - Sansome Street - Green Street
- The Search For Red Lynch (window view) Nob Hill skyline, --- Hyde Street at Lombard, Russian Hill --- West Harbor, Marina --- St. Francis of Assisi Church, 610 Vallejo Street, North Beach
- Reluctant Witness 647 33rd Avenue and 652 33rd Avenue, the Richmond
- Hospital Visit 38 bus stop at 2425 Geary, Kaiser Hospital at 2425 Geary, Anza Vista
- Powder Room Encounter Orange Grove Restaurant, 57 Lick Place (now the Crocker Galleria at 50 Post Street), Financial District
- Popcorn at the Country Club Marin Town and Country Club, Pastori Avenue, Fairfax, Marin County
- Kidnap at the Hangout 25th Avenue from Geary to Clement, the Richmond
- Rendezvous at Fisherman's Wharf Taylor Street between The Embarcadero and Jefferson, Fisherman's Wharf
- Showdown at Candlestick Park Candlestick Point, Bayview District