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46 out of 47 people found the following review useful:
Absorbing Mid-Fifties Noir, 4 March 2011

Author: jpdoherty from Ireland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

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.

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33 out of 45 people found the following review useful:
Tightly-wound thriller, based on true events, 20 December 2004

Author: Libretio

THE DESPERATE HOURS

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (VistaVision)

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

The patriarch of a middle-class suburban family (Fredric March) is forced to take action when they're held hostage in their own home by three escaped convicts, one of whom (Humphrey Bogart) is an experienced lifer with nothing to lose...

The first and only pairing of superstars Bogart and March is a tightly-wound thriller, written by Joseph Hayes (based on his novel and stageplay, inspired by actual events), and directed by Hollywood veteran William Wyler, distancing himself from the 'women's pictures' he had helped to popularize during the 1940's (THE LITTLE FOXES, MRS. MINIVER, THE HEIRESS etc.). Photographed in gleaming deep-focus VistaVision by Lee Garmes (SCARFACE, THE PARADINE CASE), the movie wrings incredible tension from the claustrophobic settings and frequent stand-offs between staunch family man March and embittered con Bogart. The movie's themes are fairly conservative and the outcome is never really in doubt, but this is a top-drawer thriller from Hollywood's 'golden age'. Also starring Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin and Gig Young in crucial supporting roles. Unmissable.

NB. Though nowhere near as dreadful as most critics would have you believe, Michael Cimino's remake DESPERATE HOURS (1990) isn't a patch on the original.

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20 out of 28 people found the following review useful:
Bogie's No Rourke and Yes That's a Good Thing, 6 January 2001

Author: Eric Chapman (caspar_h@yahoo.com) from Pittsburgh, PA

A lot of loopy comments out there about this one. "Predictable" is a very over-used adjective that I've certainly been guilty of myself, but what exactly is supposed to happen in a hostage-taking, domestic thriller like this? Are aliens supposed to land in the Hilliards' back yard and vaporize everyone? Is Bogart's escaped con supposed to dress up in drag at some point and decide he wants to become a chorus girl? Would that satisfy those who find this movie predictable?

"The Desperate Hours" keeps you on the edge of your seat; it more than passes the test as a thriller and it most certainly has not mellowed over time. The script is fine, intelligently examining how the respectably middle class but somewhat complacent father (Frederic March) draws strength and courage from the love of his wife and kids in handling the ordeal. Though each family member is formulating their own strategy for how best to resolve the crisis (their brains are always going "clickity-clickity-click" as Bogart mockingly keeps reminding them) they recognize March as the father and as such the captain of the ship. They look to him for leadership and he responds. It's telling that when the young son disobediently puts his ill-conceived plan into action, it undermines the father's nearly successful tactic. Though he had earlier suspected his dad of being cowardly for not taking a more aggressive stance, from this point on he begins to appreciate all the variables he must take into account and looks up to him once more. The idealized, but by no means wildly unrealistic domestic situation reflects the mood of the time. Why on earth would it possibly reflect cynically 90's attitudes and sensibilities, as some reviewers seem to desire?

There are casting decisions pertaining to age differences which raise an eyebrow, but do not seriously detract from William Wyler's (as masterful and dependable a director as Hollywood has ever cranked out) otherwise polished production. At 42 of course, Gig Young seems a tad old for the family's 19 year old daughter (beautiful Mary Murphy) but he's still youthful enough looking and he puts an interesting spin on what is usually the thankless role of the boyfriend who stumbles into things. One of the beauties of B&W photography is that it can always be used to make actors look as many as 5-15 years younger than they are. This comes into play with Bogart's character as well, as he's asked to be the older brother of 32 year old Dewey Martin, and it's something that I didn't have too hard a time buying. It's difficult to believe this was one of his last films, as he seems quite vigorous and robust in the part.

Tense, exciting, well-acted and directed; this is indisputably far superior to Michael Cimino's bloody and botched 1990 Mickey Rourke "star" vehicle remake.

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14 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Bogey's return to the Thirties, 10 October 2005

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Humphrey Bogart got his first real notice on the silver screen in The Petrified Forest, repeating a role he did on Broadway. As Duke Mantee, criminal on the run, he held the occupants of a diner hostage for several hours.

Here in The Desperate Hours, Bogey takes over a role that Paul Newman originated on Broadway. Bogart, Dewey Martin and Robert Middleton play three escaped convicts who drive to Indianapolis because Bogart wants to kill the officer that arrested him. Dewey Martin is Bogart's younger brother and Robert Middleton is their brutal partner in the escape.

Given the age difference between Bogart and Paul Newman, I'm sure the role of Glenn Griffin was played quite differently by Newman on stage. Similarly Karl Malden played Dan Hilliard on stage and Fredric March plays him for the screen. March is no hero here, he's just an ordinary family man trapped with his family in a terrible situation.

Rounding out the Hilliard family is wife Martha Scott, daughter Mary Murphy and son Richard Eyer. Martha Scott had appeared with March before as his wife in One Foot in Heaven. She does well here also, but I do wonder where the real Mrs. March was, Florence Eldridge. It seems like a good joint project for both of them.

The Desperate Hours is a good suspenseful thriller that will keep you glued to your seat. These are real people here, not some Hollywood type situation comedy family. You will care about what the eventual outcome will be.

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15 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
The Badges Of Madison County, 23 December 1999
Author: Michael Coy (michael.coy@virgin.net) from London, England

Dan Hilliard and his family are perfect Americans, corresponding admirably to the bourgeois ideal. The two children are bright, good-looking and obedient. Cindy is about 20 and is going steady with an attorney who owns a sports car. Ralphy is eight or so, all plaid shirts, jeans and attitude. He has a baseball mitt and a bicycle. Ellie, Dan's wife, runs their spotless home with quiet efficiency. Everything is in its place. Trash collectors call at fixed times. Breakfast is a serene family ritual. The Hilliards' home life is as balanced, as regular and as dull as the barometer on the wall. As for Dan Hillier himself, he has attained that mythic status to which all 1950's bourgeois males aspired - he is an executive. The middle classes don't want adventure in their lives, they want predictability. And this is the perfect, dream-like state in which the Hilliards pass their anodyne existence, secure in their suburban womb - until the American Nightmare is unleashed upon them.

What if members of The Underclass, with their dirty, unshaven physicality and their sagging, torn clothes should irrupt into the suburbs? What if, by some catastrophic failure, the police and the prison service can't keep The Underclass in its designated containers? How will nice folks like the Hilliards cope if confronted by these alien beings?

There has been a jailbreak. The citizens of Indianapolis have been warned to watch out for three desperadoes - the two Griffin brothers and their accomplice Kobish. Little do the Hilliards realise as they go about their tranquil suburban lives, but the fugitives are about to choose the Hilliard home as a place to hole up ...

Like "Suddenly", made a year earlier, this is a 'bad guys invaded my home' movie. The downside of bourgeois affluence is the fear that the disenfranchised masses will come to take away your goodies.

Humphrey Bogart was in his late 50's and clearly ailing when he played the part of Glenn Griffin, the leader of the fugitive trio. He would make only two more films in the short time that was left to him. Dewey Martin, 26 years his junior, plays his kid brother Hal.

More than anything, "The Desperate Hours" is a film about social class. "You can't play ball with savages like that," opines a Madison County detective. Glenn holds his social superiors in equal contempt, calling them "smart-eyed respectable suckers". He warns Hal not to expect any favours from the class enemy: "Guys like Hilliard ever give you a fair shake?" Much play is made of linguistic markers which separate the educated from the rest ('whom' instead of 'who'), and contrasts in table manners between the refined Hilliards and their thuggish captors. Glenn lashes out against the tea tray, that emblem of middle-class gentility, and the virginal Cindy, whom he urges Hal to 'take'.

Dire though the Hilliards' predicament may be, they are not alone. They are exactly the kind of people the forces of law and order exist to protect and serve, and it is not long before Madison County's finest and the FBI are closing in on the fugitives. And the cops have science on their side. They can tap the phone of Glenn's girlfriend in Pittsburgh, and tail her across America as she heads for the rendezvous. In the police station, the humming wires never rest as technology narrows down the bad guys' options.

Middle-class sensibility is all-pervasive. Chuck and Cindy argue near the sports car, but break off abruptly when two people pass by. No matter how deeply the emotions may run, it isn't seemly to fight in front of the neighbours. Dan's secretary can tell, from nuances of his behaviour, that something is very wrong. Similarly, the trashman senses that things are amiss with Ellie by the quality of her chat. We see Cindy admiring her curves in front of the hallway mirror, because it is important that she be sexually desirable (so that the fugitives will regard her as a chattle). Chuck, however, has to remain sexually thwarted, because his behaviour is bound by rigid bourgeois restrictions. We see him raise the arm-rest in his sports car in the hope of a grappling session with Cindy, then lowering it dejectedly when he realises that his luck is out. Dan's wave to Chuck to cross the threshold is a symbolic acceptance of him as a son-in-law. He has made it into The Family.

Light represents goodness. Cindy comes home after another chaste date with Chuck and is bathed in bright light on the doorstep. Dan and Ellie declare their love for each other, their bodies lit intensely in an otherwise black bedroom. The searchlights of the police, and the bad guys' vain attempts to eradicate them, show us figuratively what we yearn to see - that good will always triumph over social disruption.

The overpowering of Ellie, the smashing of Ralphy's toy plane and the collapse of Cindy all happen on the same spot and are all filmed from the same low angle. These dramatic incidents show the Hilliards at bay, and the unusual vantage-point stresses the 'wrongness' of what is happening.

Implausibilities abound throughout the movie. How likely is it that the front door would be left unlocked, that Chuck would reach the house ahead of the cops, or that Dan would insist on carrying a gun, then empty its clip? Why would he hesitate to call the police in, once he got the upper hand? Why would everyone leave the family unattended, moments after the conclusion of a violent and dramatic siege?

And yet it works. Glenn's love of his brother breaks through his tough-guy facade, and after he gives his guns away he undergoes a tragic 'King Lear' moment of self-realisation. These are powerful moments in a powerful film.

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13 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
A finely honed narrative with exquisite twists that are all too believable..., 1 January 2007

Author: Roger Burke from Brisbane, Australia

Bogie had done films like this one before: The Petrified Forest (1936), High Sierra (1941), Key Largo (1948) and We're No Angels (1955) – all with Bogie as a gangster or victim of a gangster, in a desperate setting (although the last one is a comedic spoof). Desperate Hours, however, is different – this time out, Bogie (as Glen Griffin) has a whole suburban family as hostage as he tries to complete his run for freedom from the law. Is this the first such home invasion type movie? Perhaps Suddenly (1954)?

The story is simply superb. Every good narrative succeeds because of certain literary aspects: a believable story line, down-to-earth dialog that supports it, a good measure of irony at appropriate turning points, just the right amount of coincidence that can intrude on anybody's daily experience, a dogged police officer who just won't give up in the search for what he believes, and a family – an ordinary family – that finds within itself the courage, imagination, and strength to persevere in the face of the real threat of death.

I saw this film long ago when just a lad, so I didn't recall much of the story at all. But, being a Bogie fan, I looked forward to seeing it again when I got a hold of a DVD recently. I don't recall what movies were in the running for the Oscars that year, but I think this should have been a contender (apparently, it wasn't).

The cast was well chosen. Bogie, of course, was "made" for this part, having done so many like it in the past – and that's not a side-swipe at typecasting; Robert Middleton almost steals the movie with his portrayal of the psychopathic Kobish -- a chilling portrayal; Dewey Martin as Bogie's brother, Hal, provides a sense of decency that the other two lack, the only jarring note for me: why should he? He's on the run, and drops all pretense of humanity when he decides to cut and run by himself. And, we know what happens to anybody who cuts and runs, right? Frederic March as Dan Hilliard ably shows what can happen to your principles and behavior when lives are at stake: most of life's niceties go out the window as he tries to save his family. Understandable, given the desperate situation. Martha Scott as his wife and Mary Murphy as his daughter (Cindy) are suitably frightened most of the time, but they also summon the courage to oppose the bad guys when possible. The guy who isn't used so much is Arthur Kennedy as deputy sheriff Bard, but his role is pivotal in bringing the story to a satisfactory ending. Pity, because Kennedy was as fine an actor as Bogie or March. Gig Young, as Cindy's suitor, rounds out the main cast – he playing the puzzled hopeful who just won't go away when Cindy pleads with him to "stay away". It's just as well that he didn't...

The setting in small town America is just right, the picture perfect home of the Hilliards standing for the American dream that is about to threatened and even destroyed. Which gives rise to one of the best lines in cinema history, spoken by March near the end: "Get out – get out of my house!" he nearly screams at Bogie, thus cementing forever in film the idea of a man's home as his castle. Bogie visibly wilts before the stern and righteous wrath of March – but not only because of that does Bogie give it all up. You'll have to see the film to understand why.

Most of the action is within the confines of the Hilliard house (having been a stage play first, that makes sense) and the cinematography takes full advantage of all those nooks and crannies to enthrall the viewer and keep the suspense running. I liked particularly the reasonably long take of the camera behind the bad guys while they watch the old trash collector do his work and who seems to miss the presence of their stolen car in the garage. It's a priceless piece of work as the escapees faces keep looking at each other and then at the old man – and the viewer stays on edge, all the time, wondering: will he react?

The final showdown is simply a tour de force. It's fast and furious, ranging all through the ground floor, up the stairs and into the bedrooms, and then back again, as the protagonists fight it out for supremacy; I was reminded of Dustin Hoffman's running fight with the bad guys in Straw Dogs (1971). In the hands of an inept director, it would have been farcical but Wyler turns on the suspense and the irony as March overcomes his adversary – Bogie – in one of the coolest ways imaginable. No, I won't tell you, because that would spoil it for you.

As the credits rolled by at the end, my immediate thought was that this type of story is so believable, it could happen to me, or you...

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13 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
home invasion 1955 style, 29 May 2002
Author: bengleson from British Columbia

The randomness of the home invasion portrayed in THE DESPERATE HOURS must have been a chilling experience for cinema goers in the mid fifties. This is a solid movie that unfolds well with each roll of the arbitrary dice. Bogart acquits himself nicely as the head heavy although he looks weary and shows signs of the illness that killed him a couple of years later. Fredric March is a shade too long in the tooth to be the father of that obnoxious little boy but he gives a sterling portrayal of a man protecting his home. Always amusing are the jurisdictional disputes that arise amongst competing police agencies. Stay away from the Mickey Rourke clone.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Class act by Bogie !, 26 February 2006

Author: steve-broadhurst from United Kingdom

Bogie starring in one of his last films plays a heartless villain on the run with his younger brother after breaking out of a local prison. They take a family hostage in their own home while they plan their getaway ....striking terror and fear into their hearts. The acting by all the players is brilliant...Bogie particularly excelling in his role as an ageing con with nothing to lose showing his hatred for all middle class American family values. Fredirc March plays the father who stands up to Bogart to protect his family from the callous murderers trying at every turn to outwit and out-think him as the Desperate hours tick away with nail biting consequences. A gem of a film !

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7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
"Clickety - Clickety - Clickety - Click", 11 October 2005

Author: theowinthrop from United States

The original THE DESPERATE HOURS is one of the best true suspense films that were ever made. The incident happened in upstate New York in 1953, when three escaped convicts invaded a private home, and then terrorized the family until they were captured and killed by the police. In fact, the story became a successful Broadway play that this film is based on (the family in the original incident brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against the dramatist for invasion of privacy).

Humphrey Bogart, his brother Dewey Martin, and that marvelous villain Robert Middleton play the three convicts, who having escaped prison take the Hilliard prisoners. Bogart is awaiting his girlfriend who is supposed to bring money and a car for their total getaway. In the meantime Bogart is doing his best to make the Hilliards as unhappy as possible. Not too difficult, as Martha Scott, Mary Murphy, and Richard Eyer are facing three thugs who are armed. And Fredric March is the family head, frightened at the most hideous prospect possible (his family being wiped out), but struggling to maintain his courage but also his head - he hates Bogart but must not do anything that will antagonize him. Bogart fully returns the dislike. A poor guy all his life, he turned to crime to make a living. When the younger and softer Martin tries to speak out for March/Hilliard, Bogart snarls out, "And what did the Hilliards ever do for you?" In truth not much, which is what this particular Hilliard is paying for now. After awhile, watching March's careful thinking of what to do, Bogart starts taunting him as though he's a machine he sees through - saying the line in the "Subject line" above.

There are several problems that gradually increase the tensions: 1) Richard Eyer is brave as a little kid who does not understand that guns can kill. He thinks his father is the bravest man in the world, and cannot understand why he doesn't take on and destroy the bad guys.

2) The family has to maintain the aura of normality - Bogart and Murphy have to go out to their jobs and act without stirring any notice. Hard in normal situations, it is driving Murphy to insanity because she can't talk to her boyfriend, Gig Young. And Young is beginning to wonder why.

3) If the surface is to look normal, you have to keep anything unusual hidden. The original getaway car is in the Hilliard garage (now closed). But the local garbage man (Walter Baldwin) finds it accidentally - leading to an ugly tragedy.

4) Bogart and Martin are brothers, but Martin is attracted to a normal life, not one of violence. He may eventually want not to stick to Bogart.

5) Middleton came along, but he really is not trusted by Bogart - and he has a weapon of his own.

6) Bogart's plans include killing the officer who sent him to prison, Arthur Kennedy. Kennedy and the state police are coordinating the entire search, and keeping a tight lid on top of the escaped prisoners (making their temporary safety more claustrophobic).

All of these elements build the pressure up and up and up until the last twenty minutes. The results are quite explosive and impressive, and memorable. This was Bogart's last film as a bad guy, and he made the most of it. It was also his only film with Fredric March, and the tension in their scenes together grows until it shatters at the conclusion. Martha Scott, Gig Young (whose character's independent actions throws the convicts' plans out of wack), Middleton (quite chilling), and Kennedy give first rate performances. Martin's performance is also good, and ultimately tragic. No lover of suspense films will be disappointed by THE DESPERATE HOURS.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
The Desperate Hours, 22 July 1999
Author: Tim Cox from Marietta, OH

Stunning camerawork by director Wyler and stellar performances by Bogart and March help move along the rather tame script, based on Joseph Hayes' novel and Tony Award winning play. Remade under Michael Cimino's direction in 1990 with Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins.

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