MovieChat Forums > Experiment in Terror (1962) Discussion > Confused

Confused

posted 14 years ago by out-of-towner
10 replies | jump to latest

I've watched this movie twice but maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. I'm still unclear about a few things:

No attempt is made to explain how Kelly Sherwood, a young single bank teller, can afford to live in a nice little house high on a hill in S.F. This seems unlikely even at 1960's real estate prices. And why is her teenage sister Toby living with her? What happened to their parents?

Who is Nancy Ashton, the woman who was murdered in her apartment? What was her connection with Kelly and Red?

Also, I've noticed that Experiment In Terror has much of the same style, mood and "feel" as the movie Bullitt. Some of the scenes and even the music are quite similar. Except for the venue, both films have essentially the same climactic ending.

[–] kevdun22 14 years ago

i assumed the two daughters inherited the house on the hill from their dead parents. i guess blake didn't see the need to explain this portion of the story.
when you say "except for the venue" not sure if you realize Bullitt was filmed in san fran too.

[–] out-of-towner 14 years ago

Thanks for clearing up the part about the dead parents.

Yes, I realize that Bullitt was also filmed in S.F. My point about the final scenes of both movies being nearly identical was that they both consist of a police chase on foot through a crowded public area. The scene in Bullitt was filmed at the airport and the scene in Experiment in Terror was filmed at Candlestick Park.

[–] amer9001 10 years ago

hit the damn spoiler button ..

[–] pdmh48 14 years ago

I had read the book "Operation Terror" by the Gordons that it was based on. The two sisters' parents had died and Kelly had been left the house and the guardianship of her younger sister,Toby. The director assumed that the audience would know that the sisters were orphaned. Nancy Ashton, who was a friend or whatever of Red Lynch, had contacted the FBI when she had learned of his plan. Contacting the FBI obviously cost her her life.
Many movies have copied the scene of the FBI guys finding Nancy Ashton, which Blake Edwards copied (or should I say gave an "homage" to "Killers Kiss" one of Stanley Kubrick's first movies.)

[–] franzkabuki 14 years ago

Why would Edwards have assumed "the audience would know that the sisters were orphaned"? Most likely he just had little concern for such irrelevant pedantry.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] A_Ruz 9 years ago

‘Facts are stupid things – stubborn things, should I say. - http://oupacademic.tumblr.com/post/60397790031/misquotation-facts-are-stupid-things#sthash.XKyUSDW3.dpuf

Reagan was quoting John Adams and had a slip of the tongue, as you see in the correct quote. Just to keep the record straight.

[–] chester-copperpot-1 12 years ago

Also, I've noticed that Experiment In Terror has much of the same style, mood and "feel" as the movie Bullitt. Some of the scenes and even the music are quite similar.

Interestingly, I felt the same thing. There's a hard cut between two scenes, where the first scene cuts into the second quite abruptly with an ambulance mid transit with sirens on full alarm. That hard cut felt quite similar to the one used in Bullitt, after that cop got shot in the hotel room.

There's quite a few hard cuts in this film, with abrupt changes and disharmonic sounds and music. Creates quite a disturbing feeling...

[–] SueBee55 11 years ago

The scenes at the baseball field reminded me of the segment in Dirty Harry when Clint shoots the killer. Didn't the killer live in a room at the baseball site? (Sorry I don't know the official name!)

P.S. That nightclub - the Roaring 20's - was one of the craziest I'd ever seen. People of all ages (no bad thing), what sounded like New Orleans jazz, women on swings...! Bonkers. (And according to Google Earth, it's still there and still has the same name.)

[–] westal_sage 11 years ago

Yeah it reminded me of Dirty Harry, too. Pretty cool - even the nifty helicopter pull-away shot. Ahead of its time.

[–] derfball 10 years ago

Harry shot the psycho on the field of 'old' Kezar Stadium (built 1922), when it had lights (before it was redesigned/rebuilt, circa 1989); it's at the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park. That was a GREAT scene in 'Harry' as the camera pulls back into the fog. The nut had squirreled himself away in the bowels of the place. But the idea was clearly 'lifted' from 'Terror', though who'd admit it. BTW, both the 49ers and Raiders played in Kezar before moving on to bigger venues.