Rent Experiment in Terror (1962)

Glossy Noir (spoiler). - Experiment in Terror review by Steve

Beautiful looking late period film noir with the familiar premise of a vulnerable woman terrorised by a menacing, unknown male assassin. Lee Remick works in a bank and lives with her school age sister (Stefanie Powers). An assailant who can only be identified by his asthmatic breathing says they will be brutally murdered unless Remick robs her employer of $100,000. And don't tell the cops.

The panicked clerk immediately calls the FBI and Glenn Ford throws a huge team behind her protection, which climaxes with the wheezy psycho gunned down on the outfield of the LA Dodgers.

The first casualty of the investigation is logic. It's incredible that the FBI would commit such extensive, round the clock resources to the protection of a single tax payer for a crime that hasn't yet happened. And it's implausible that the maniac who threatens to kill her if she tells a single person, and has her entire life staked out, doesn't notice there are a dozen G Men watching her every move 

Unfortunately this also undermines the suspense as it makes the stalker a bit of an idiot. However, the film is an eyeful with imaginative camera set ups and impressive locations (including the set piece at Candlestick Park) and the b&w photography is sensational. It never gets as tense as is promised in the early scenes but this is still an entertaining thriller with attractive stars.