{"id":41087,"date":"2018-10-08T19:17:50","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T02:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41087"},"modified":"2020-11-27T23:02:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T06:02:27","slug":"desperate-hours-the-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41087","title":{"rendered":"Desperate Hours, The (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Yes, son &#8212; I&#8217;m afraid, and I&#8217;m not ashamed of it.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Poster-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Poster-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA trio of escaped convicts &#8212; ringleader Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart), his conflicted younger brother (Dewey Martin), and a portly psychopath (Robert Middleton) &#8212; hole up in the home of Mr. Hilliard (Fredric March), his wife (Martha Scott), and their two children (Mary Murphy and Richard Eyer), threatening to kill them if they reveal their presence before the arrival of a package of money from Bogart&#8217;s girlfriend. While a local detective (Arthur Kennedy) works on the case of the escaped convicts&#8217; location, Murphy&#8217;s boyfriend (Gig Young) grows increasingly suspicious that something isn&#8217;t right with his girlfriend.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Arthur Kennedy Films<\/li>\n<li>Fredric March Films<\/li>\n<li>Fugitives<\/li>\n<li>Gig Young Films<\/li>\n<li>Hostages<\/li>\n<li>Humphrey Bogart Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>William Wyler Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAdapted from the novel and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Desperate_Hours_(play)\">Tony-winning play<\/a> by Joseph Hayes (who based his story loosely on real-life events), this mostly-house-bound thriller remains a well-told cinematic outing, thanks to strong direction by Wyler, atmospheric b&#038;w VistaVision cinematography by Lee Garmes, and a tension-filled script. A chilling interlude involving Middleton and a hapless garbage collector (Walter Baldwin) unlucky enough to stop by the Hilliards&#8217; home on the wrong day shows us the stakes involved for the family: making a wrong move really could prove lethal. Watch for a randomly quirky moment, as a short-order cook laughs nervously at Young after Kennedy gives him his options: &#8220;You can hightail it out of here and maybe say a prayer, but nothing else &#8211; ya hear me? Nothing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strong direction by Wyler<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction-300x167.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction2.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction2-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Direction2-300x167.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lee Garmes&#8217; cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Cinematography-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Desperate-Hours-Cinematography-300x167.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended as a taut, well-directed thriller. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0047985\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/4525\/the-desperate-hours#articles-reviews?articleId=159315\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s856hours.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1955\/10\/06\/archives\/desperate-hours-for-a-nice-family-bogart-is-chilling-in-film-at.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Yes, son &#8212; I&#8217;m afraid, and I&#8217;m not ashamed of it.&#8221; Synopsis: A trio of escaped convicts &#8212; ringleader Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart), his conflicted younger brother (Dewey Martin), and a portly psychopath (Robert Middleton) &#8212; hole up in the home of Mr. Hilliard (Fredric March), his wife (Martha Scott), and their two children (Mary Murphy and Richard Eyer), threatening to kill them if they reveal their presence before the arrival of a package of money from Bogart&#8217;s girlfriend. While&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41087\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41087"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55406,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41087\/revisions\/55406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}