Ridiculous thriller is compelling most of the way ... before coming undone by an unsatisfying conclusion and a plot that withers under even casual scrutiny.
One is asked to believe that not only does Gregory Peck succumb to amnesia the moment he sees his boss plunging 27 stories to his death from a skyscraper window, but that all the villains somehow KNOW he has succumbed to it, and decide to play games with him based on this fact.
So it's the behavior of the bad guys that makes the least sense here.
George Kennedy sees Peck in the basement of the building and decides to pretend he is a total stranger and send him on his way.
Diane Baker runs into Peck in the stairwell and for reasons that defy understanding, decides to flee from him and answer none of his questions.
Peck and Baker have several more scenes together, and even when she softens and asks him to love her, she provides no illumination to the mystery - zero - even though she could, easily, at a moment's notice. But she chooses not to.
Either of these two characters, and several others besides, could have cleared up the mystery for Peck in 2 1/2 minutes, but they chose not to ... simply because it served the plot ... simply because Peck HAD to be in a fog for the entire running time.
The movie plays out as if the villains somehow INDUCED Peck's amnesia in order to get him to do what they wanted, but at the end we find out this is not the case.
My score: 6
One is asked to believe that not only does Gregory Peck succumb to amnesia the moment he sees his boss plunging 27 stories to his death from a skyscraper window, but that all the villains somehow KNOW he has succumbed to it, and decide to play games with him based on this fact.
So it's the behavior of the bad guys that makes the least sense here.
George Kennedy sees Peck in the basement of the building and decides to pretend he is a total stranger and send him on his way.
Diane Baker runs into Peck in the stairwell and for reasons that defy understanding, decides to flee from him and answer none of his questions.
Peck and Baker have several more scenes together, and even when she softens and asks him to love her, she provides no illumination to the mystery - zero - even though she could, easily, at a moment's notice. But she chooses not to.
Either of these two characters, and several others besides, could have cleared up the mystery for Peck in 2 1/2 minutes, but they chose not to ... simply because it served the plot ... simply because Peck HAD to be in a fog for the entire running time.
The movie plays out as if the villains somehow INDUCED Peck's amnesia in order to get him to do what they wanted, but at the end we find out this is not the case.
My score: 6