Cry Terror!

source: Cry Terror!

Cry Terror!

The story packs a punch. OK, as suggested in the summary, there are far more global forms of terrorism now. But this sort still exists and still is awful. Neville Brand stands out as giving the best performance. Rod Steiger is good too but maybe a little studied. James Mason turns in an extremely atypical performance, right from our first view of him. He seems more dithery than a James Mason character ought to, even under the tense circumstances involved. Angie Dickinson is very good as a nasty, tough participant in the plot against Mason, his wife, their little daughter, the passengers of an airline, and the country. But Inger Stevens, the wife, is so shrill it's hard to view her as a heroine. It's a strange production. All the cars are from the Chrysler Corporation. This happened a lot in TV shows of this time but less frequently in movies.

This movie is simply superb. The acting, direction, editing, camera work, suspenseful plot, locations - everything works and is top notch! So why isn't it better known?? The cross-cutting between all the different characters is incredibly well done. I especially love Inger Stevens performance as the young wife. The tense scenes when she is driving in a car to bring the ransom money to the gang members and is going in the wrong direction was thrilling. Rod Steiger is great as a "mastermind criminal". The late 1950's look of the movie is a treat. The psychological use of black & white cinematography is superb. This is an MGM movie but MGM wasn't what it used to be by 1958, "Gigi" excepted. This is Andrew Stone's very best movie. TCM shows it from time to time and it is not to be missed!

Nothing like a perfect cast to make a wonderful movie. Rod Steiger, as a sinister plotter to extort money from an air-line, by having a bomb constructed is perfect. He reminded me so much of his excellent No Way to Treat A Lady. Neville Brand, as his drug addicted, killer, emotionally unbalanced as they come,gives an eerie, chilling performance with those eyes. James Mason, the honest man, who unwittingly made the bomb for the Steiger Gang, and along with his wife and child, kidnapped by the group, who uses the wife to collect the money. Angie Dickinson is also around as a moll, involved up to her neck in the scheme. Jack Klugman, another cohort of theirs, is equally good.

I enjoyed this picture. No, not perfect, but if it comes on at 1:15 AM and you can't sleep, is kinda fun... full of nostalgic views of the world of 1958, when things seemed simpler, and everything in view was American Made! Yes, Chrysler cars everywhere.. Furnishings of 1958 were a particular delight, full-wall-length draperies, long-low "moderne" couches, vacuum-tube electronics abound, (25" black and white TV's), Cute Women in dresses, real-world locations shot to see the life of '58 USA as it really looked. Gives one a feeling of wanting to go there and live a life of blissful ignorance of any racial, economic, religious, disease caused strife, and just relax with a gang of Psycopaths and enjoy the cool cars, and snappy dialog... FUN.

With a ruthless if wildly implausible plot full of coincidences and catastrophes averted by just seconds, 'Cry Terror!' doesn't quite match the elegance of most of Andrew & Virginia Stone's other location-shot thrill rides, but you probably won't care too much as a superb cast, magnificent location photography and Howard Jackson's creepy 'psychological' score all do their stuff under the baton of maestro Stone. The acting as in all Stone's films is consistently good. Rod Steiger's gang are a seriously mean bunch, and it speaks volumes that even Neville Brand - explicitly identified as both a drug addict and a convicted rapist - is frightened of Steiger.

A genuine nail biter, from start to finish! This film is guaranteed to keep you in suspense from beginning to end! Led by Rod Steiger, who gives a riveting performance as the psycho-kidnapper, the rest of the cast performs most ably, lending considerable credulity to the storyline. Acting honors must go to the underrated Inger Stevens, whose career was tragically shortened by her untimely death. She lends just the right note of hysteria as the wife and mother whose family is being held, as she is made to follow the demands of the kidnap gang members in order to secure their safe release. The film also gives us some great shots of the NYC of the period, particularly the West Side Highway and other notable spots in the city.

A splendidly over-the-top performance from Rod Steiger as the maniac who holds a family hostage as part of the extortion plot that involves putting a bomb on a plane, is the main reason to see Andrew L Stone's thriller, "Cry Terror!". It's all a bit daft but it's got a good cast, (even if James Mason is wasted as the poor dupe who made the bomb in the first place). Inger Stevens is very good as his wife and Neville Brand, Jack Klugman and Angie Dickinson are suitbaly nasty villians while Stone always knew how to keep the suspense on the boil. Minor but watchable.

Fairly grisly for the 50's, with the subjects of rape, child-killing and mass murder right out in the open. One of the greatest casts ever: James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens, Angie Dickenson, Neville Brand, Jack Klugman! Wow! Exciting scenes of NY streets as Inger takes the ransom money to Steiger. Some of the other scenes are duds (the elevator shaft did nothing for me), but many are electric, and the generic evil generated by over half the cast takes up the slack.