The Hostage (1967)

Director:

Russell S. Doughten Jr.

Writers:

Henry Farrell (novel)
Robert Laning (screenplay)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

An Outrageous Kidnapping ... and a town is gripped with FEAR!

Plot:

Pesky little boy Davey Cleaves stows away on a moving truck that's driven by volatile psychopath Bull and his meek partner Eddie. Naturally, Davey finds himself in considerable danger after he's discovered by the two no-count criminals. |

Plot Keywords:

Exploitation | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Don Kelly	...	Bull (as Don O'Kelly)
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Eddie (as Dean Stanton)
John Carradine	...	Otis Lovelace
Danny Martins	...	Davey Cleaves
Ron Hagerthy	...	Steve Cleaves
Jennifer Lea	...	Carol Cleaves (as Jenifer Lea)
Ann Doran	...	Miss Mabry
Raymond Guth	...	Sam Morton
Nora Marlowe	...	Selma Morton
Shirley O'Hara	...	Mrs. Primus
Mike McCloskey	...	Bartender
Dick Spry	...	Mr. Thomas
Leland Brown	...	Glenn
Pearl Faessler	...	Olive
James Almanzar	...	Officer-in-charge
Joanne Brown	...	Receptionist
Marion Cowper-Rae	...	Mrs. Kanditch (as Marion Cowper Rae)
Bo Cleveland	...	Woman on the street
William Bonner	...	Detective
Robert Kane	...	Man in the park
Rosa Chagnon	...	Mrs. Dunn

Directed by
Russell S. Doughten Jr.

Writing credits
Henry Farrell		(novel "The Hostage")
Robert Laning		(screenplay)

Produced by
Russell S. Doughten Jr.	....	producer
Dick Talarico	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Jaime Mendoza-Nava

Cinematography by
Ted V. Mikels		(director of photography) (as Ted Mikels)

Film Editing by
Gary Kurtz
Ron Honthaner		(uncredited)

Casting by
Virginia Martindale

Production Design by
Ray Storey

Makeup Department
William Condos	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ron Honthaner	....	post-production supervisor
Gary Kurtz	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Kurtz	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mike McCloskey	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Austin McKinney	....	boom operator
Lee Strosnider	....	sound supervisor
Marvin Walowitz	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Steve Karkus	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Richmond L. Aguilar	....	chief electrician (as Richmond Aguilar)
Robert Maxwell	....	assistant camera
John C. Murray	....	best boy (as John Murray)
Tom Ramsey	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marion Elmquist	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Ronald Hanna	....	composer: song "The Hostage Theme"
Jaime Mendoza-Nava	....	conductor

Other crew
Brianne Murphy	....	continuity (as Bri Murphy)

Production Companies

• Crown International Pictures
• Heartland Productions (uncredited)

Distributors

• Crown International Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• BCI Eclipse (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Company:

Crown International Pictures

Trivia:

This was the first feature length film to be shot in Iowa.

Soundtrack:

The Hostage Theme

Camp B Movie With Misleading Title

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 ?