

After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell emerges outside to find out a man he did not know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death — and that he can't remember the past two years of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye and a reluctant old flame, Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.
Acting
Walter Matthau steals every scene as the world-weary PI.
Direction
Dmytryk turns empty hallways and stairwells into psychological traps.
Writing
Screenplay by Peter Stone — same mind behind *Charade* — twisty and sharp.

Director
Edward Dmytryk
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Peck and Matthau became lifelong friends after this shoot; Matthau later called it his favorite early role.
Shot during peak Cold War paranoia, the film's corporate-military conspiracy mirrored real fears about nuclear scientists being co-opted — a theme Stone would revisit in *Charade* and *Arabesque*.