The Desperate Hours (1955)

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

. . . or a polemic against America's militarized police? THE DESPERATE HOURS end thanks to Dan's revolver being registered when it's found near Hal. They also end because as far back as 1955 (when DESPERATE came out) American cops could ape the East German border guards at the Berlin Wall at the drop of a hat. Within minutes any neighborhood in the U.S. could be cordoned off and turned into a killing box, complete with Kleig lights, snipers, and machine guns. I just heard on the news today about a 95-year-old WWII hero being gunned down in his nursing home this week by a trigger-happy cop. Since HE wasn't safe, NONE of us are. One of the doomed men in THE DESPERATE HOURS is mentally retarded, and mostly wants to play with toys. Another just desires a girl; the third, a cigar. It's not hard to sympathize with this hapless have-not trio. I read that if the names of all the Americans rubbed out by the police who "protect and serve" us were inscribed somewhere, that memorial would have to be nearly SIX times as big as the Vietnam War Wall, and the needed size expands daily. Many of these snuffed names would be those of "surviving" Vietnam War heroes. So it goes.

We were all rooting for Mr Hilliard and his family. A group of friends in 2014 crowded round a TV hoping 'desperately' that Mr Hilliard in 1953 could save himself and his family from the filthy and murderous criminals who had invaded their lovely sanctuary of a home. What made this such a fantastically gripping and emotional tale? The cast, the story, the cinematography? Or our modern, 'desperate' need for decency to prevail ? Yes, as we are nightly beleaguered by tales of international atrocities we must believe that the ordinary, decent (American and by extension 'civilised') family can always prevail against the forces of evil criminality. A fabulous film, totally gripping. A glimpse into awfulness redeemed by decency and courage. We love Mr. Hilliard!

The Desperate Hours is directed by William Wyler and adapted by Joseph Hayes from his own novel. Loosely based on real events, it had previously been a Broadway production. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer and Robert Middleton. Out of Paramount Pictures, it is the first black and white picture filmed in VistaVision with photography by Lee Garmes and music by Gail Kubik.Three escaped convicts take refuge at the suburban home of the Hilliard's, holding the family captive at gunpoint. But as the hours tick past, the three men start to come apart just as the Hilliard father begins to gain in confidence.An excellent, if a touch too long, siege drama tinted with film noir traits, The Desperate Hours asks us to feel the fear of home invasion at the hands of someone sick or desperate. To which Wyler and company achieve their aims. Most of the action operates out of one claustrophobic location, giving the picture a sweaty edge, which when coupled with the exterior shots that paint a harmonious picket fence Americana, dials us into some 1950s paranoia. The three criminals dynamic, the conflict within, is what puts the picture into the film noir arc, particularly with the leader Glenn Griffin (Bogart), who is losing his grip on all in the house by the hour. The rest is pure melodrama, but riveting and capable of having one perched on the edge of the seat.With two Best Actor Oscar winners in the cast, it's perhaps no surprise that the acting is high quality, with both Bogart (intense and moody) and March (two-fold characterisation of the father with a great transitional shift late on) reason enough to watch the film. Wyler, who also produces, has good sense for a stifling mood, and his action construction is high energised and thrilling, while to round things off the production value is mostly high. Some passages could have (and should have) been trimmed to cut the running time down to maybe an hour and half, and it does come close to being too stagy at times. However, film remains compelling throughout and it's very much a must see for fans of great classical acting and siege based dramas. 7/10

One of the last of the great film noirs came in 1955 in the shape of THE DESPERATE HOURS. Although it was filmed in Paramount's own widescreen process of Vista Vision it at once established itself and maintained its arresting noir look through its stylish use of black and white cinematography - courtesy of the great Lee Garmes - and masterful direction of William Wyler. Adapted by Joseph Hayes from his novel and play the picture also boasts a terrific cast headed by Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March and Arthur Kennedy. With a nod to his Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" (1936) Bogart, in his next to last film, is superb in the kind of role he knew so well, that of the hard boiled criminal.Three escaped and armed convicts, led by notorious Glenn Griffin (Bogart), take over a house in middle class suburbia and hold the Hilliard family at gunpoint until the mail arrives the following day containing their getaway money. In the meantime the terrorized family must carry on with their everyday routine without arousing anyone's suspicions. With the police hotly on the gang's trail and closing in - the family little by little - begin to make attempts to outwit their unwelcome guests, gain the upper hand and thwart their plans. After two of the convicts are shot dead by the police the picture ends in a stunning sequence with the husband (March) confronting and fooling Griffin with an empty gun before the police marksmen, under huge arc lights, gun him down in a hail of gunfire in Hilliard's own front lawn.Thanks to Wyler's adroit direction, his genius for camera angles and set-ups, brilliant crisp cinematography and great performances THE DESPERATE HOURS is more than a neat little thriller. Suspense is maintained throughout at a very high level. Wyler's film proceeds with commendable energy and intensity. Mesmerizing is Bogart as the unshaven dishevelled sneering and dangerous leader of the three fugitives. His Glenn Griffin is one of his great and most underrated performances and should have at least earned him a nomination. Excellent too is the wonderful Fredric March as the beleaguered husband and father Dan Hilliard (Spencer Tracy was originally slated to play this part but neither he nor Bogart would accept second billing). Also good is Martha Scott (Judah Ben Hur's mother in Wyler's 1959 epic) as the wife and mother, the likable and ill-fated Gig Young as the boyfriend of Hilliard's daughter (played by pretty Mary Murphy). And there's an extraordinary performance from the rotund Robert Middleton as Kobish the violent, unscrupulous and giggling puerile convict.One disappointing aspect of the picture though is the sparse music score by composer Gail Kubik! There is an impressive raw pounding theme over the titles but no more music is heard then until towards the end of the picture. Kubik, a noted conductor, violinist and teacher was more akin to scoring shorts and documentaries and had scored only one other feature "C-Man" in 1949. It is quite extraordinary that Wyler didn't use a more established movie composer. He had always made great use of music in his films i.e. Max Steiner for "Jezebel" (1938), Alfred Newman for "Wuthering Heights" (1939), Hugo Friedhofer for "Best Years Of Our Lives" (1946) and of course later with Jerome Moross for "The Big Country" (1958) and Miklos Rozsa for "Ben Hur" (1959). THE DESPERATE HOURS must be Wyler's shortest and least involving score. However the minimalist score not withstanding his DESPERATE HOURS remains a stunning evocation of the best that ever there was in crime movies. Taking the picture's main premise Michael Comino remade the movie in 1990. It was a valiant effort spoiled by the excessive and over stylized performance by the irritating Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role - diminishing the fine portrayals of Anthony Hopkins as the husband and the excellent characterization by David Morse in the Kobish role. Ultimately though the picture, lacking the required tension and atmosphere, was little more than a pale imitation of the original.