Fourteen Hours (1951) 7.1
An unhappy man threatens suicide by standing on the ledge of a high-rise building for 14 hours. Director:Henry Hathaway |
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Fourteen Hours (1951) 7.1
An unhappy man threatens suicide by standing on the ledge of a high-rise building for 14 hours. Director:Henry Hathaway |
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| 0Share... |
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Paul Douglas | ... |
Police Ofcr. Charlie Dunnigan
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| Richard Basehart | ... |
Robert Cosick
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| Barbara Bel Geddes | ... |
Virginia Foster
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| Debra Paget | ... |
Ruth
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| Agnes Moorehead | ... |
Christine Hill Cosick
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Robert Keith | ... |
Paul E. Cosick
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Howard Da Silva | ... |
Deputy Police Chief Moskar
(as Howard da Silva)
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| Jeffrey Hunter | ... |
Danny Klempner
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| Martin Gabel | ... |
Dr. Strauss
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| Grace Kelly | ... |
Mrs. Louise Ann Fuller
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| Frank Faylen | ... |
Room Service Waiter
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| Jeff Corey | ... |
Police Sgt. Farley
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James Millican | ... |
Police Sgt. Boyle
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Donald Randolph | ... |
Dr. Benson
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A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to make his girlfriend happy, rises on the ledge of a building with the intention of committing suicide. A policeman makes every effort to argue him out of that. Written by Tiziana Totaro <susannkey@hotmail.com>
FOURTEEN HOURS begins with Richard Basehart walking onto the ledge outside his hotel room. He's about to jump but can't quite bring himself to do it. A nearby cop (Paul Douglas) looks up and sees him on this ledge on the 15th floor and hurries over to the hotel to try to talk him out of jumping. Soon, his superiors come and relieve him--they'll work on trying to get Basehart down and Douglas simply isn't trained for this sort of thing. However, the so-called experts don't seem to get through to them, so they get Douglas back--after all, he had developed some rapport with the jumper. Soon, a series of family members are brought to help out, though in hindsight his mother (Agnes Moorehead) visiting was probably NOT the best idea. Does he jump or does he chose life? And, why in the first place did he decide to end it all? See for yourself to find out--you won't be sorry you did.
This film has one of the simpler plots I can think of--yet it all seemed to work very well. This is because the film was written so very well and the actors managed to make the most of it--especially Douglas as a sort of "everyman" cop. Taut direction, excellent lighting and a first-class production all around sure helped. Who would have thought such a deceptively ordinary idea could be handled so well?