Fourteen Hours (1951)

An unhappy man threatens suicide by standing on the ledge of a high-rise building for 14 hours.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

John Paxton (screenplay), Joel Sayre (story)

Stars:

Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Douglas	...	Police Ofcr. Charlie Dunnigan
Richard Basehart	...	Robert Cosick
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Virginia Foster
Debra Paget	...	Ruth
Agnes Moorehead	...	Christine Hill Cosick
Robert Keith	...	Paul E. Cosick
Howard Da Silva	...	Deputy Police Chief Moskar (as Howard da Silva)
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Danny Klempner
Martin Gabel	...	Dr. Strauss
Grace Kelly	...	Mrs. Louise Ann Fuller
Frank Faylen	...	Room Service Waiter
Jeff Corey	...	Police Sgt. Farley
James Millican	...	Police Sgt. Boyle
Donald Randolph	...	Dr. Benson

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

ledge | suicide | police | reporter | policeman | 

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Taglines:

From the edge of the ledge he defied them all!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quatorze heures

Filming Locations:

Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The production used a real bank building in New York (The Guaranty Trust Co.) and they planned to film all of the outdoor crowd scenes over Memorial Day weekend. However, the ledge on the bank building turned out to be too narrow, so an extension was built (12 inches deep, 42 feet wide)) and filming ended up taking two weeks. The entire bank building was dressed with curtains, a new entrance canopy, metal nameplates, and marquee. The replica of the hotel ledge that was built on Fox's Stage 8 cost $32,000.

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Goofs

Stock rear projection footage of normally-moving motor traffic while Cosick is on ledge is not consistent with huge traffic jam shown in area surrounding hotel where he is threatening suicide leap.

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Quotes

Robert Cosick: If those cops come near me... I'll jump!

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Connections

Referenced in That Girl: Leaving the Nest Is for the Birds (1967)

User Reviews

Absolutely Superb -- and What a Cast!

If I were in emotional distress, I would want someone like Paul Douglas to try to help me out. He was one of the best actors in Hollywood during his too-shirt career. Here he is superb as a compassionate traffic cop.

Richard Basehart plays a man threatening to jump from the ledge on a high floor of a hotel. Basehart was another of the best actors of the late 1940 and the fifties. He pulls off an almost totally stationary role very well. This is particularly intriguing given his vibrant, physical performance in "La Strada" a few years after this.

I had never heard of "Fourteen Hours" till it appeared at my neighborhood video store yesterday. Now, it is one of my top noirs. And that is saying a great deal.

Agnes Moorehead, another superb performer of the period, plays Basehart's mother. She engages in the same sorts of hysterics that are so memorable in "Citizen Kane" and particularly in "The Magnificent Ambersons." It's a very fine performance. What a shame that to the degree that she is known at all today, she is primarily known for her (admittedly mildly amusing role in the "Bewitched" series! Robert Keith is just the kind of father (in this role) who might have a confused, possibility suicidal son. Here he plays a mousy businessman. Two decades later, he was to be memorable in a totally different kind of role, in Don Siegel's "The Lineup"! Debra Paget is very appealing in a very small role that gets her fourth billing. Jeffrey Hunter is likable as the man in the crowd outside the hotel who falls for her.

This was Grace Kelly's first film role. She looks gorgeous and seems very poised. Her store, that of an onlooker on her way to divorcing her husband, is extraneous. Yes, it sets up a different kind of relationship to others and to the world from what the Basehart character has. But it is far from integral.

Barbara Bel Geddes is very likable as the girl who loves Basehart. She has a small but very significant role.

The movie is very sad. In a way, it is as if Tennessee Williams had written a very fine script for a thriller. We like many of the characters and are put off by others. But we're deeply moved by what goes on.