Cry Terror!

Last updated

Cry Terror!
Cry terror lobby card small.jpg
Theatrical release lobby card
Directed by Andrew L. Stone
Screenplay byAndrew L. Stone
Produced by
Starring
Narrated byInger Stevens (in a brief scene)
CinematographyWalter Strenge
Edited byVirginia L. Stone
Music by Howard Jackson
Production
company
Andrew L. Stone Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • May 2, 1958 (1958-05-02)(United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$482,000 [1]
Box office$1,020,000 [1]

Cry Terror! (aka The Third Rail) is a 1958 American crime thriller film starring James Mason, Inger Stevens, and Rod Steiger. [2] The story was written and directed by Andrew L. Stone. The film also features Neville Brand, Jack Klugman and Angie Dickinson in supporting roles. [3]

Contents

Plot

Paul Hoplin (Rod Steiger) is a criminal mastermind with a sophisticated blackmail scheme. He intends to extort $500,000 ransom by threatening to blow up a crowded airline using an explosive device that electronics expert Jim Molner (James Mason) has unwittingly designed for him .

Hoplin calls giant 20th Century Airlines and tells them there is a bomb aboard one of their flights, then he and his gang take Molner, wife Joan (Inger Stevens) and young daughter Patty (Terry Ann Ross) hostage.

The plane lands safely and a bomb squad finds and disarms the powerful miniature device - just as intended, as Hoplin was only using the incident as proof of his ability to plant one anywhere without prior detection. He now intends to do it again and collect for real.

FBI agents gather in New York with airline representatives. Hoplin calls in another threat. Joan is forced to go alone to collect the ransom, while two of Hoplin's accomplices, a beautiful but hardened young mistress, Kelly (Angie Dickinson), and yes-man Vince (Jack Klugman), guard her husband and child in a mid-town penthouse apartment.

Hoplin and Steve (Neville Brand), the gang’s “muscle”, a benzedrine-addicted ex-con with a history of sexual assaults on women, hide out in a house in Riverdale, Bronx. With her husband and child’s lives in the balance, Joan barely makes it there with the money to beat Hoplin's deadline. She is then left alone with Steve. Forced to defend herself against an assault, she kills him with a shard of broken glass.

Hoplin then relocates the pair to a new hideout in lower Manhattan. Joan is reassured that her husband and daughter are still alive by speaking to them on the phone. Using dental records for Kelly, the FBI identifies her, then closes in on the group at her apartment. They wound Kelly and disarm Vince in a brief shootout.

Acting on her own, Joan makes a break for it and runs for her life. She darts into the nearest subway station. When Hoplin pursues her onto the tracks she falls and he steps on a third rail and is electrocuted. An oncoming train stops in time to avoid crushing her just as the police arrive.

Cast

Production

According to a February 1957 news item in The Hollywood Reporter , the film's original plot centered on a bomb extortionist being trapped in a subway. [4]

The production was shot under the working title of The Third Rail from early August to early September 1957, in locations in Los Angeles and New York City. [5] For James Mason, the picture marked a transition from playing male leads to character parts. [6]

Reception

Box office

According to MGM records, Cry Terror! made $340,000 in the US and Canada and $680,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $538,000. [1]

Has been shown on the Turner Classic Movies show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller.

Critical

The New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther was highly critical, calling the film a "pallid" thriller for low-brow audiences that relied on clichés and cheap thrills:

"People who have a particularly low and permissive frightening point may get a few chills from "Cry Terror," which came to the Victoria yesterday. For this strictly-for-kicks melodrama, which Andrew and Virginia Stone have made on an undisguised low budget for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is full of the sort of fast arm-twisting and menacing of innocent people with senseless perils that passes for ruthless realism among those patrons who don't like to use their heads." [7]

Ozus critic Dennis Schwartz was not able to suspend his disbelief in his 2005 review of Cry Terror!:

"Director-writer Andrew L. Stone presents an ill-conceived attempt at making a realistic thriller about a mad bomber extorting money in a terrorist plot via the 1950s. There are too many implausible occurrences for the narrative to handle and it all falls by the tracks in the climactic hysterical underground subway chase scene, which yields to Hollywood melodrama ... Unfortunately the story lacked the kind of tension it needed throughout and there were too many coincidences and contrived plot points to sustain interest." [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dressed to Kill</i> (1980 film) 1980 film by Brian De Palma

Dressed to Kill is a 1980 American erotic psychological thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen. It depicts the events leading up to the brutal murder of a New York City housewife (Dickinson) before following a prostitute (Allen) who witnesses the crime, and her attempts to solve it with the help of the victim's son. It contains several direct references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rodney Stephen Steiger was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played, which at times led to clashes with directors and co-stars. He starred as Marlon Brando's mobster brother Charley in On the Waterfront (1954), the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964) which won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and as police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967) which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The year 1958 in film in the US involved some significant events, including the hit musicals South Pacific and Gigi, the latter of which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The following is an overview of 1956 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inger Stevens</span> Swedish and American actress (1934–1970)

Inger Stevens was a Swedish and American film, stage and Golden Globe–winning television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Dickinson</span> American actress (born 1931)

Angie Dickinson is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, for which she received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Klugman</span> American actor (1922–2012)

Jack Klugman was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

<i>Drop Dead Fred</i> 1991 film by Ate de Jong

Drop Dead Fred is a 1991 black comedy fantasy film directed by Ate de Jong, produced by PolyGram and Working Title Films and released and distributed by New Line Cinema, starring Phoebe Cates as a young woman named Elizabeth Cronin and Rik Mayall as her imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred, with Marsha Mason, Carrie Fisher, Ron Eldard, Tim Matheson, and Bridget Fonda in supporting roles. It follows Elizabeth as she is haunted by Fred in adulthood. It received negative reviews from critics, but has since become a cult film.

<i>Young Billy Young</i> 1969 film by Burt Kennedy

Young Billy Young is a 1969 Western film in Deluxe Color starring Robert Mitchum and featuring Angie Dickinson, Robert Walker Jr., David Carradine, Jack Kelly, Deana Martin and Paul Fix. The story was based on a novel by Heck Allen titled "Who Rides with Wyatt" and the screenplay was by Burt Kennedy; the film was directed by Kennedy.

The 34th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1961, were held on April 9, 1962, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California.

<i>Terror in the Aisles</i> 1984 film by Andrew J. Kuehn

Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 American documentary film about horror films, including slasher films and crime thrillers. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn, and hosted by Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen. The original music score is composed by John Beal.

<i>The Incident</i> (1967 film) 1967 film directed by Larry Peerce

The Incident is a 1967 American neo noir crime-thriller film written by Nicholas E. Baehr, based on his teleplay Ride with Terror and directed by Larry Peerce. The film stars Tony Musante and Martin Sheen as two street hoods who terrorize 14 passengers sharing a New York City Subway car, played by an ensemble cast that includes Beau Bridges, Ruby Dee, Jack Gilford, Ed McMahon, Gary Merrill, Donna Mills, Brock Peters, Thelma Ritter, and Jan Sterling.

<i>Marty</i> (film) 1955 American romantic drama film directed by Delbert Mann

Marty is a 1955 American romantic drama film directed by Delbert Mann in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay, which was broadcast on The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse and starred Rod Steiger in the title role.

<i>Straight On till Morning</i> (film) 1972 British film by Peter Collinson

Straight On till Morning is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Rita Tushingham, Shane Briant, James Bolam, Katya Wyeth and John Clive. It was made by Hammer Film Productions. The screenplay concerns a reserved young woman who finds herself attracted to a handsome stranger, unaware of his psychotic tendencies.

<i>13 Hours by Air</i> 1936 film by Mitchell Leisen

13 Hours by Air is a 1936 American drama film made by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mitchell Leisen. The film stars Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Kenyon Nicholson and Bogart Rogers, based on story Wild Wings by Rogers and Frank Mitchell Dazey. 13 Hours by Air was also the forerunner of the disaster film, a genre featuring a complex, heavily character-driven ensemble cast, exploring the personal dramas and interactions that develop among the passengers and crew as they deal with a deadly onboard emergency.

<i>The Pawnbroker</i> (film) 1964 film by Sidney Lumet

The Pawnbroker is a 1964 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters, Jaime Sánchez and Morgan Freeman in his feature film debut. The screenplay was an adaptation by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin from the 1961 novel of the same name by Edward Lewis Wallant.

<i>State Trooper</i> (TV series) American crime drama

State Trooper is an American crime drama set in the American West of the 1950s, starring Rod Cameron as Lt. Rod Blake, an officer and chief investigator of the Nevada Department of Public Safety. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from 1956 to 1959.

Mending Fences is a television film premiered in Hallmark Channel on July 18, 2009. It stars Laura Leighton and Angie Dickinson.

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast is an American series of television specials hosted by entertainer Dean Martin and airing from 1974 to 1984. For a series of 54 specials and shows, Martin and his friends would "roast" a celebrity. The roasts were patterned after the roasts held at the New York Friars' Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger on screen and stage</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rod Steiger was an American actor who had an extensive career in film, television, and stage. He made his stage debut in 1946 with Civic Repertory Theatre's production of the melodrama Curse you, Jack Dalton!. Four years later, he played onstage in a production of An Enemy of the People at the Music Box Theatre. A small role in Fred Zinnemann's Teresa (1951) marked his film debut. In 1953, he played the title role in the teleplay "Marty" to critical praise. His breakthrough role came with the crime drama On the Waterfront (1954), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination, and subsequent appearance in Fred Zinnemann's musical Oklahoma!.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Eddie Mannix Ledger." Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study (Los Angeles).
  2. Cry Terror! at IMDb.
  3. Halliwell 1989, p. 237.
  4. "Review: 'Cry Terror!'." AFI, 2019. Retrieved: August 12, 2019.
  5. "Original print information: 'Cry Terror'!" Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: February 26, 2017.
  6. Maltin 1994, p. 574.
  7. Crowther, Bosley. "Movie review: Pallid shocker; 'Cry Terror' opens at the Victoria." The New York Times, May 15, 1958. Retrieved: February 26, 2017.
  8. Schwartz, Dennis. "Film review: 'Cry Terror!'" Archived 2015-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Ozus' World Movie Reviews, September 9, 2005. Retrieved: July 7, 2014.

Bibliography

  • Halliwell, Leslie. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. ISBN   978-0-06016-322-8.
  • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. ISBN   0-525-93635-1.