At T/P/O--Manhattan Island, 1965. One of the last black and white films shot at a big studio during the Sixties, this Hitchcockian thriller begs to be remade again. It was tried a second time as Jigsaw. Puzzling. I would have simply called it "The Cost Accountant." Watch the movie--you'll understand. The script propels the picture forward at a fascinating pace. It builds tension slowly. Fragments are revealed by quirky, off-beat characters. I greatly enjoyed the scenes between Gregory Peck and the abrasive psychiatrist. Peck finds him through a salesgirl's recommendation: a textbook written by a deceased author. Hit man House James Jr. has a great line of dialogue while poking a gun in Peck's ribs: "There ain't no Social Security in this line of work." In fact, every word that passes his lips is gold. Another great scene involves Peck, Diane Baker, and a cute little girl with a tea set. Prescious. George Kennedy is on hand to deliver some pain. Walter Mathau desires Dr. Pepper soft drinks and peanut butter sandwiches. He steals every scene he enters. Quincy Jones' score shows an abstract feel for what was to come later in the decade. Movie geek alert: I came up with 10 points of common ground between this film and Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor. For example: both films have characters called "The Major." And, yes, that is "Mr. Willis" from the "Jeffersons", touting the virtues of a bird called the Ginko to a class of children. George would be proud.