What this forgotten gritty 1962 movie got right about San Francisco

San Francisco Chronicle​

16 hours ago

Blake Edwards is most remembered today for lighter fare, such as ' Breakfast at Tiffany's ' and 'The Pink Panther' movies. But he also deserves some recognition for directing one of the pivotal late noirs set in San Francisco, 'Experiment in Terror.'
At the suggestion of Chronicle reader Art Destin of Saratoga, I recently rewatched the 1962 film — released when JFK was president and the Beatles were still a secret outside of Britain. And I realized that, in one way, 'Experiment in Terror' does deserve its own modest slice of immortality.
No, it's not a great movie, but it's a good movie and an exceptional San Francisco movie. Made at a time when film production was still mostly studio based, 'Experiment in Terror' deserves to be known in this part of the country for its use of San Francisco.
Instead of phony backdrops or awkward edits that have stars unrealistically traveling from the Legion of Honor to Fort Point and Mission Dolores, this film utilizes the city's streets and locales in realistic yet imaginative ways, informed by an understanding of how San Francisco works.
For example, while San Francisco noirs such as John Huston's 'The Maltese Falcon' (1941) and Delmer Daves' 'Dark Passage' (1947) use the city's pervasive fog in an atmospheric way, 'Experiment in Terror' makes it part of the story. At one point, police efforts at surveillance are thwarted by the fog rolling in and making it impossible for them to see past a few feet.
The movie begins with a shot of the Bay Bridge at night, and that single image sets the tone. This isn't going to be of those picturesque Golden Gate Bridge movies, but a grittier film. Sure, like most people, I prefer the Golden Gate Bridge, with its beauty and architecture blending into its natural setting. But I respect any movie that leads with the city's least glamorous bridge, because it indicates an intentional willingness to make a movie about the real San Francisco, not the one of dreams.
Lee Remick plays a bank teller named Kelly who gets home after a long day and parks her car in the garage of her home at 100 St. Germain Ave. (since demolished) in Clarendon Heights. As soon as the garage door closes, she hears the heavy breathing of a maniac, who seizes her from behind and tells her that he'll kill her if she doesn't embezzle $100,000 and bring it to him.
TCM host Eddie Muller, who has written a number of books about film noir, has said that the villain in 'Experiment in Terror,' played by Ross Martin ('The Wild Wild West'), was a harbinger of the villains we'd see in the 1970s and ever since — irrational, terrifying entities motivated more by malevolence than self-interest.
In terms of actual story, 'Experiment in Terror' is spare — we have the central situation, and the plot serves to pile on the pressure and the sense of menace. Kelly calls the FBI, and the question is whether G-man Glenn Ford is going to be able to catch the criminal before he hurts somebody.
In the meantime, the action moves from the Crocker Bank (now Wells Fargo), where Remick works, at One Montgomery; to George Washington High School in the Richmond; to Varni's Roaring Twenties nightclub (now the Arnold Laub Building) at 807 Montgomery; to St. Francis of Assisi church at 610 Vallejo St.; to 25th Avenue and Clement Street; to Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf — with plenty of driving scenes throughout the city in between.
All of it leads to a big moment at Candlestick Park.
That climactic scene was actually filmed during a real game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers, so the baseball crowd that day got to see how the movie ended as it was being filmed.
Also worthy of noting, 'Experiment in Terror' fits the pattern of San Francisco noir: no matter how dark it gets, moral order is almost invariably restored. If you want to make a hopeless, nihilistic noir, stage the climax at Dodger Stadium. In San Francisco, there's always hope.