Cri de terreur

This is a really taught little thriller. I've heard it described as noir, but that isn't true. There is way too much daylight in this movie, but it doesn't in any way detract from the nail biting suspense. It's a somewhat convoluted plot about an evil psycho that lures an old army buddy into his plan to extort money from an airline by planting a bomb on one of their flights. I know that sounds like a tired plot, but this one has lots of twists. He gets the buddy to build the bomb by convincing him the Army is interested in it. He then kidnaps this guys family and forces the wife to pick up the ransom money! This is a fast paced movie and the tension just continues to build from beginning to end. There is also lots of stuff for the tech junkies.

The cast is also top notch. Rod Steiger plays the diabolical psycho, assisted by his evil henchmen played by Neville Brand (what a surprise), Jack Klugman (as a shlub), and a delicious Angie Dickenson in her most delicious prime. Inger Stevens plays the terrified wife who always seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but the big surprise is the buddy played by James Mason, of all people. Character development abounds as this story progresses. Jack Klugman begins to break down when he realizes they will have to kill the kid. Rod Steiger begins to lose his cool as the plan unravels. Neville Brand becomes crazier and more menacing by the minute. The family, on the other hand, gets stronger and more resourceful as time goes by. They seem to be able to draw on an inner strength none of them knew they had. The motive for this madness is perfectly logical. They were willing to blow up an airplane for half a million dollars. In light of 9/11 we can almost look back in nostalgia at a motive that rational.

1958 was a good year. This movie lets us look back on cars with tail fins, beer can openers, the West Side Highway, men who wore ties, and women who wore heels. It was also the tail end of an era where movies actually told a story - and this is a great one.

"Cry Terror," from 1958 is not a big-budget film, but it holds the viewer throughout. It's the story of a man, James Mason, who is duped into making small bombs which he believes are for government use.

Only later does he realize that he made them for a criminal who intends to extort money by placing them on airlines and threatening to detonate them if the money is not paid.

He and his family are kidnapped, and his wife (Inger Stevens) is used to collect the money so it seems as if he is the actual guilty party.

Rod Steiger is the bad guy, and Jack Klugman, Neville Brand, and the nearly unrecognizable Angie Dickinson make up his gang, each with their own part to play.

Without giving anything away, the story is preposterous at times but always suspenseful and effective. Steiger is terrific as a dangerous man whose quiet orders belie a violent temperament.

Dickinson is only 26 here and brunette but her sultry voice and gorgeous figure are the same. Brand does well as a scary psychotic, and Klugman is good as a man under Steiger's domination. Mason is appropriately harried.

The workhorse role belongs to Inger Stevens, a natural beauty who rose to fame in the TV series "The Farmer's Daughter" and who took her own life, after several unsuccessful attempts, in 1970.

In a way, one of her tries at suicide occurred during the filming of "Cry Terror" when she and Rod Steiger suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during a tunnel scene at the end of the film. She refused medical treatment, stating that she wanted to die.

Stevens gives an excellent performance in this movie, that of an hysterical, panicked, and ultimately nearly catatonic mother who fears for her husband and young daughter and her own assault by Brand.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that Steiger and Mason are so underplayed, she comes off at times as overacting. She was, however, a wonderful and appealing actress who might have gone on to a much bigger career had she lived. She had it all - or so it seemed.

This is a good movie loaded with the New York City atmosphere of the '50s, though in one scene, it looked as if Stevens was headed for Brooklyn using the Holland Tunnel. You'll never get there that way.

The airline is getting bomb threats. Chet Huntley reports. Mastermind Rod Steiger has an extortion scheme to collect half a million abetted by Klugman Dickinsom, and Brand. Steiger bamboozled Mason into building his bombs, then kidnaps his family to execute the plot. Interestingly, Stevens is overwrought (purposefully directed so)while nearly everyone else underplays it very effectively - UNTIL things start unwinding. Then Brand's psycho begins to freak out, Steiger's mastermind blows his cool, and Mason loses it - all very realistically done in semi-documentary fashion. I do not see the "routine" aspects others cite. These characters are quite different from the ordinary - especially Dickinson's matter-of-fact criminal who has no compunction about killing if necessary and has ice water running through her veins - a great performance. It makes fabulous use of its New York locations on a low budget. Stevens' race to make the ransom delivery on time despite being diverted by traffic miles in the wrong direction is a tour-d-force like I have seldom seen. The wrap-up is a bit melodramatic considering the tension that came before it - but only then did I breathe normally again. If you are from New York or interested in New York in the 50's, this is an edge-of-your seat treat.

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.

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.