The Hostage (1967)

Memorable, crazy movie

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

THE HOSTAGE is a low budget, gritty drama of 1967 put out by Crown International Pictures. It's worth watching to see some quiet but engaging performances from the principal cast members, although the plot is long-winded which makes this feel more of a mood piece than anything else. The story has an annoying kid accidentally stowing himself away in a removal truck being driven by a psychopath. He becomes a hostage while his parents act frantically and the police pursue. There's really not too much here of interest, if I'm honest, but Don Kelly is an effectively sweaty, on-the-edge psycho, and Harry Dean Stanton is as likable as ever he was.

I never read the novel this movie was based on, but I'd be willing to bet that the author wasn't all that happy with the cinematic results.There's a germ of an interesting idea here, and it seems as if the director and cast are trying very hard to make it work as a movie, but the plot is just too thin and the sets, props, costumes, scenery and dialog are just too threadbare. And the soundtrack, especially the introductory song on the credits is laughably overwrought and weepy.A word about the child actor who has to carry the film...you can't criticize a little kid for an poor performance in a role like this. Either they have the charisma, talent and maturity to give the director what he wants or they don't, and it's not their fault if the performance fails...it's the fault of the director and the people who cast the child in the first place. Danny What's-his-name is OK in some scenes, stiff and affected in others, but he's not actively annoying the way some child actors can be, and he doesn't try too hard. But this movie needed a real prodigy in the central role to work, and Danny ain't it. And he never (apparently) got another chance, which probably was better for him anyway.Harry Dean Stanton and John Carradine are in this is fairly prominent roles, but they play weak characters with no inherently interesting qualities, and the movie wouldn't have been any better (or worse) if the producers had just cast non-entities in their places.I wouldn't bother with this one unless you really want to see every last drama ever made. It's not awful by any means...it just isn't very interesting.

When Davey gets in the way of his parents when they're trying to pack up their belongings to move to another house, he enters the removal truck and unknowingly gets locked it. The removalists Bull and Eddie happen to be criminals, and they use the truck to transport a dead body and Davey witnesses the two burying the body. Bull spots him, and they imprison him. Meanwhile his parents have grown worried over his disappearance, and their interfering neighbour claim to see him with a vagrant, which leads everyone chasing the wrong lead.Like the other user-commenter mentioned, this one does have a striking resemblance to Macauley Culkin's "Home Alone (1990)", but without comic humour. What eventuates from "The Hostage" is dry suspense leisurely springing from a reasonably old-fashion and simplified plot (taken off Henery Farrell's novel) of well-conceived episodic sub-plot developments to gradually lead up to its suspenseful closing. Really, this minimalist low-budget production is nothing out of the ordinary, but it was the name of character actor Harry Dean Stanton which drove my interest to watch it. His nervous performance was solid, as the scrawny, slow-witted criminal Eddie, but it was Don Kelly's ominously hammy turn as the "Oh, I can get so angry after a few drinks. So you better not cross me" browbeater villain Bull. A cranky looking John Carradine pops up as the bumming vagrant Otis P. Lovelace, who has plenty of caustic things to say about his situation. Danny Martins is rather decent in the child role, even though at times he got on my nerves, he was a true nuisance and portrayed a frighten face well enough. The rest of the performances are fine. Director Russell S. Doughten did a sturdily realized job, where his framework is taut and nicely demonstrates few moody and sinister images. Helping out on the smoky atmosphere, was Ted Mikels' stark photography of the locations of Des Moines, Iowa and a washed-out (I don't think it was on purpose) colour scheme. An overwrought and sappy soundtrack is a bit off-putting, and the music score sounds too generic to sustain or create any sort of feeling and tension. Certain moments in the black and white script can lead to some sequences stalling the pace, especially when it's not focusing on the two thugs and the kid."The Hostage" can feel forced and weepy, but it does have its effective spells and the acting is above-average to make you kinda glad you stole away for the ride.

A few minutes after seeing the very satisfying thriller BREAKDOWN I switched channels and sat down to watch THE HOSTAGE . I wasn't expecting it to be as intriguing or as thrilling as the Kurt Russell movie but long before we'd reached the halfway point I was very disappointed This movie starts with a trio of thieves falling out in which one of them is killed . So right away we've got it spelled out that one of them is a raging psycho and just to help of the hard of thinking audience his colleague says things like " You killed him " to which he replies " yeah I killed him and I'll kill you too if you give me any problems " . Just in case there's any deaf people watching Mr Psycho scowls his dialogue with an OTT expression so people know he's not to be messed with A few minutes later Stan and Ollie , oooppps I mean the two criminals come up with a scam that involves stealing someones furniture , and believe me if there's one thing worse than murder it's stealing someone's furniture . Being not very clever people ( I wonder if the criminals wrote this screenplay ? ) they accidentally drive off with a child in the back of their removal truck . So now they've got a hostage , but he's not really a hostage it's a kid they've accidentally brought along with them . But remember since only two minutes have elapsed since it was spelled out for a blind , deaf and dumb audience that these criminals aren't very nice , we're once again treated to yet more dialogue such as " I'll kill you if you cross me " etc . Long before the credit titles rolled I stopped being sorry for the kid who got abducted and started to feel very sorry for myself as I watched this movie THE HOSTAGE is very inoffensive but there's nothing I could take seriously . Everything about the movie is camp or contrived and you can't help thinking this might have worked better as a comedy . I also believe it was remade in the late 1980s with Macauley Culkin and Joe Pesci or was that just coincidence ?