The "regeneration" of blacklisted director
Edward Dmytryk was expedited when he was hired by producer
Stanley Kramer to helm the location-filmed melodrama The Sniper. In the interests of political expediency, Dmytrk was required to direct
Adolphe Menjou, one of the most virulent Red-baiters of the HUAC hearings. Shorn of his trademarked mustache, and with his famous expensive wardrobe replaced by a humdrum business suit, Menjou turns in one of his best performances as a world-weary San Francisco detective assigned to track down a mad sniper. From the beginning, the audience knows that the criminal is psycho Eddie Miller (
Arthur Franz), who is possessed of the notion that he must kill every beautiful brunette woman who crosses his path. Some audience sympathy is elicited by Miller's pathetic attempts to rid himself of his obsession, but this never gets in the way of the film's suspense. The excellent supporting cast includes
Richard Kiley as a police psychiatrist,
Marie Windsor as Miller's first victim, and
Mabel Paige as the sniper's snoopy landlady. An unbilled
Wally Cox shows up briefly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide