Warning: The following reveals some plot elements.
James Mason does little and Inger Stevens (as Mason's wife) a lot until near the end when Mason climbs down the cable of an elevator shaft. The hard-driving
music and the voice-overs of Stevens (and, eventually, Mason) seem
unnecessary and stilted to me. The villains (especially the benzedrine wacked- out Neville Brand, but also the mastermind Steiger and the cold-blooded Angie Dickinson) are menacing enough without reports of fears from the victims. The child is exceptionally, unbelievably inert (well-behaved?) in captivity, and I have difficulty believing that an impression from chewing gum and canvassing
dentists could lead to where Mason and his daughter are being held. The FBI/ police conduct is hokey and the ending predictable, but Stevens's resolve and ingenuity are within the realm of possibility and impressive. The New York
backdrops are effectively used and some of the technology (the fabric chute for deplaning and automobile car fins, in particular) are quaint.
James Mason does little and Inger Stevens (as Mason's wife) a lot until near the end when Mason climbs down the cable of an elevator shaft. The hard-driving
music and the voice-overs of Stevens (and, eventually, Mason) seem
unnecessary and stilted to me. The villains (especially the benzedrine wacked- out Neville Brand, but also the mastermind Steiger and the cold-blooded Angie Dickinson) are menacing enough without reports of fears from the victims. The child is exceptionally, unbelievably inert (well-behaved?) in captivity, and I have difficulty believing that an impression from chewing gum and canvassing
dentists could lead to where Mason and his daughter are being held. The FBI/ police conduct is hokey and the ending predictable, but Stevens's resolve and ingenuity are within the realm of possibility and impressive. The New York
backdrops are effectively used and some of the technology (the fabric chute for deplaning and automobile car fins, in particular) are quaint.