It may not be a complete success, but this semi-experimental murder mystery is well worth checking out. The fragmentarily-edited opening scene of the killing of a prowler signals that the filmmakers won't be telling this tale in straightforward fashion. Instead they use a constant parade of off-kilter angles, Freudian dream and point-of-view sequences, jagged cutting and bizarre settings, along with existential dialog, to paint their lonely abstract world.
The film fits into that sub-genre of thrillers/melodramas of the late 50s/early 60s involving psychologically damaged protagonists, with touches of the "Dementia"-style avant-garde. On the down side, much of the method-style emoting is over the top, the key to the mystery is telegraphed a bit too obviously, and the score is disappointingly melodramatic (plus, the boom mike makes many unfortunate appearances at the edges of the frame). But there's a fine cast of eccentrics, most notably Elisha Cook Jr. as the protagonist's creepy evangelist father, and ever-loony King Moody (channelling Timothy Carey) as a voyeuristic/exhibitionist conceptual artist who really can't handle rejection. As in "Blade Runner" and Joseph Losey's "M", L.A.'s Bradbury Building makes a welcome, surrealistic appearance in one of the dream sequences. And you won't believe where the climactic stand-off takes place. The title may be an homage to "The Glass Menagerie", but reminds me more of "Ride the Pink Horse". Save this one for 2:00 in the morning.
