Cry Panic

I managed to get a copy of this movie many years ago on VHS. For some reason, this TV Movie of the Week was stuck in my head for years. It was very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. The scene where Forsythe discovers the body of Mr. Gaines in the meat locker was pretty scary. I'll never forget that. Claudia McNeill ("A Raisin in the Sun")is superb as Mr. Gaine's housekeeper. She does a good job lying for the cop, played by Earl Holliman. This movie is rare to be seen today as most of the TV movies of the '70's are pretty much forgotten but there are a few gems, this being one of them. Try to get it on ebay if you can!

Sometimes movies can seem better because the appearance of an actor recalls past roles that expand the scope of the story.

In this case, we have a short TeeVee movie that isn't incompetent. For the era, that was a major deal.

Its based on "The Chase" with Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando, plus an already famous Rod Serling -type twist. A driver kills a drunk pedestrian in a remote town, then the facts become all contested by those in that town.

We are supposed to be sustained by the depth of the characters; compared to other TeeVee fodder, they are deep. But if you watch it today, you won't have that, so you have to rely on the twist and threat to carry you, and they just aren't that powerful.

But it features Ann Francis in a key role, a mysterious beautiful woman who represents the mystery.

This is the same woman who at 26 played the teenage daughter of a Prospero in perhaps the greatest pure science fiction movie ever, "Forbidden Planet." Her face has changed (here at 43), but she has that distinctive mole that transports us back to the planet every time we see her here.

In "planet" she was a sort of representative of uncontrollable urges that represent the larger part of life.

If you know that, and can read it into this thin construction, it is enriched.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Motorist John Forsythe, taking the back roads to San Francisco for a job interview, hits a man standing in the middle of the street; believing he's killed a pedestrian, Forsythe goes for help--but when he returns with the local sheriff, the body has been taken away (the lawman doesn't believe clear-thinking Forsythe, per the usual backwater sheriff in these type of movies, and accuses him of being drunk). Everything that follows is a con job on the poor driver, and it takes Forsythe a while to get the message he's being used as a patsy in an unexplained plot that involves everyone from a bartender to a motel clerk to a garage mechanic to a housekeeper anxious to get out of town. TV drama keeps the suspense level high, even when our hero acts stupidly (finding a body in a freezer, Forsythe cries and panics, which I guess is where the title comes into play). Jack B. Sowards' script doesn't always play fair with the audience (Anne Francis' mystery lady appears out of nowhere in a bar...and vanishes just as easily), however Forsythe's nightmare is an intriguing one...at least until the finale where (intentionally) nothing is solved. This must be the writer's definition of irony.

This is the first time I recall seeing this film - happy to run across it one night. It's one of the strangest films I've seen in a long while - a compliment, I love the odd.

The story is about a man named David Ryder - he's going to California for a job interview. During his trip, he accidentally hit a man, got out of the car to see about him but found him what he thinks is dead. Ryder does the right thing and finds a nearby house to call the police to report it. Things gets weird when the police show up and no dead body at the scene - leaves the question: did the man die and someone move the body or was the man still alive and got up to walk away? The film follows Ryder on the mission to find out the answers.

8.5/10

While on a long trip, David Ryder (John Forsythe) hits and kills a man with his car. After calling the local Sheriff, David heads back to the accident site. However, when he returns to the scene, the Sheriff (Earl Holliman) is there, but the victim is gone. This is only the beginning of a very strange, unsettling experience for David.

CRY PANIC is a disorienting made-for-TV mystery-thriller. Forsythe is quite convincing as the everyman caught in what appears to be a web of deception and conspiracy. As the story unfolds, we are just as confused as David, and just as suspicious.

Holliman is the perfect lawman, who just might not be on the up-and-up. Ralph Meeker is the town mechanic who seems to be hiding something. Anne Francis plays a woman who might know what's really going on.

This movie makes you hold on, right up to the closing credits!...