The top-notch score by Mancini can do little to lift this thriller above the norm. Solid script, effective if unoriginal photography and directing. But shouldn't somebody have told Blake Edwards that loud ringing noises cease to startle an audience after the first couple of uses? In fact, I noticed a movie audience not unnerved but just annoyed by this early 30s cheap thrill effect.
The first scene, with Remick trapped in her garage by a man who tells her she must rob $100,000 for him from the bank where she works or he will "do something" to her or her younger sister, is a stunner, but it gives away any surprises (and thus the possibility of real suspense) the rest of the film might have had to offer. Even the conclusion, with Glenn Ford and the other FBI men tracking the killer through a crowd (looks murky, you can't even tell what's happening) and onto the center of the baseball field, is contrived and generates no suspense. I mean, what's less suspenseful than a bunch of cops shooting a guy down in the middle of a field?
One of the worst Blake Edwards movies I've seen (and I'm a fan, I LIKE his movies..... when they're good).
The first scene, with Remick trapped in her garage by a man who tells her she must rob $100,000 for him from the bank where she works or he will "do something" to her or her younger sister, is a stunner, but it gives away any surprises (and thus the possibility of real suspense) the rest of the film might have had to offer. Even the conclusion, with Glenn Ford and the other FBI men tracking the killer through a crowd (looks murky, you can't even tell what's happening) and onto the center of the baseball field, is contrived and generates no suspense. I mean, what's less suspenseful than a bunch of cops shooting a guy down in the middle of a field?
One of the worst Blake Edwards movies I've seen (and I'm a fan, I LIKE his movies..... when they're good).