EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
The film "Experiment in Terror" was important to Lee Remick for many reasons. It was her first of two films with Blake Edward's and was also her first film as producer. "Experiment In Terror" is a special picture for me," Lee said, "because I'm co-producing it with Blake. It's called a "Geoffrey-Kate Production," after his son and my daughter."
But it was while filming "Experiment in Terror" that Lee had one of her most embarrassing movie-making moments. During the filming of "a scene in the Crocker-Anglo bank in San Francisco, Lee accidentally set off a burglar alarm system. Real policemen and motorcycle cops converged on the bank, rushing into the bank vault with drawn guns. It was impossible to tell whether the actors or the policemen looked more surprised and chagrined."
Blake Edwards felt that "Lee was perfect for the part" of Kelly Sherwood, the traumatized bank teller. "Can you think of a more apple-pie normal heroine to tie to the railway tracks?"
Edwards also mentioned that Lee herself became a bit traumatized by the film, saying, "Lee is like me - she gets very involved in what she's doing. Do you know, after a day's shooting she wouldn't walk out of the studio in the dark unless someone was with her?"
"It's true I did get worked up over this film," said Lee. "But I'm a naturally nervous person. I always look under the bed before getting in it."
Lee was happy with the results of the film, saying, "That movie still looks good. It's well made, tightly knit. But it wasn't a very interesting part-the character was a puppet, serving the purposes of the plot."
Still, the movie "is remarkably good cinematic entertainment and remains a superior thriller" even today.
Sources: Screen Stories, June, 1962; Films in Review, November, 1988
-- by Allison