52 reviews
Yes
Despite the distinction of being Grace Kelly's first film, (and she is quite good here), this film holds up with the best of the genre. It's one of those films that is incidentally seen by the casual channel surfer and, given five minutes, impossible to turn away from. This film is amazingly innovative in its premise and relies on character, (New York being as important as any other), and story to set the flow and tempo. There are deliciously cunning and unique character moments throughout a film that is, at the same time, full of contrivance and stereotypical sorts. (Do we really need to see another Irish-american policeman being negligent in his duties?). Yet, somehow all the parts equal a very solid whole and a very tense, sharply focussed and surprising film.
If you see this one on late-night tv as you flick through with your remote, be sure to stop and take a look. This one is a definite "yes".
If you see this one on late-night tv as you flick through with your remote, be sure to stop and take a look. This one is a definite "yes".
- watercrake
- Oct 10, 2002
- Permalink
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.
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.
- Handlinghandel
- Jan 8, 2007
- Permalink
Despite flaws, a fine little gem
Although this film traffics in some of the worst movie clichés (the good-hearted, potato-nosed Irish-American cop; the conventional--and tacked-on--Happy Ending(tm)), it manages to rise above them, thanks to fine acting, a gripping story, and excellent production values. (You feel teleported to the Manhattan of 1951.) The chemistry between Paul Douglas (as Officer Dunnegan) and an incredibly young Richard Basehart (as the suicidal young man) really drives the film. Basehart plays his part with a combination of brittleness and patrician airs that make his character believable. Douglas thankfully doesn't overplay his role; he has to be father-confessor to the young man while attempting to steer him away from thoughts of self-destruction. Some years after seeing this film, I read the non-fiction article that it is based on in an anthology (the article was originally published in The New Yorker as "The Man on the Ledge"). Let us just say that the ending of the article and the film diverge somewhat.
- WilliamTelevision
- Feb 23, 2005
- Permalink
Earnest And Well-Meaning...Only Partially Successful (SPOILER)
He Ain't Superman
A movie like this presents a real challenge. After all, the producers have got what amounts to a single set, two main characters, and 90 minutes to fill. So to please ticket-buying customers, they better come up with something good. Fortunately, they do. The plot is a literal cliffhanger or maybe skyscraper is more apt--- will a suicidal young Richard Basehart jump from his 20th floor ledge or not. He certainly has audiences on both sides of the screen glued to the suspense, at the same time city police try to convince him it's better to be an unhappy bi-ped than a bird without wings. Good thing that the producers also come up with one of the best young actors of the time--- Basehart, who acts just foggy enough to teeter on a ledge and play Hamlet. Then there's that genial roughneck Paul Douglas as the cop who tries to persuade him that it's really better to be than not-to-be.
Note how ace studio director Hathaway keeps the hotel room bustling so that the static ledge shots don't become boring. Also, note how TV is competing with radio coverage at a time when the tube was just beginning to take off. Then there're the subplots that take the pulse of the city. The cynical cabbies do offer comic relief. But, frankly, I could have done without the young lovers, Paget and Hunter, who appear better suited to a Pepsi commercial, or the Grace Kelly soap opera that comes across as trite and unimaginative. But I guess the producers figured a variety of relief was needed. Also, I can see from the close-ups why Hitchcock liked Barbara Bel Geddes (Virginia). She pulls off the really difficult task of being sweetly wholesome without drowning the part in sugar.
All in all, there's enough skill and craftsmanship in this TCF production to keep even digital- age audiences on the edge of their seat.
Note how ace studio director Hathaway keeps the hotel room bustling so that the static ledge shots don't become boring. Also, note how TV is competing with radio coverage at a time when the tube was just beginning to take off. Then there're the subplots that take the pulse of the city. The cynical cabbies do offer comic relief. But, frankly, I could have done without the young lovers, Paget and Hunter, who appear better suited to a Pepsi commercial, or the Grace Kelly soap opera that comes across as trite and unimaginative. But I guess the producers figured a variety of relief was needed. Also, I can see from the close-ups why Hitchcock liked Barbara Bel Geddes (Virginia). She pulls off the really difficult task of being sweetly wholesome without drowning the part in sugar.
All in all, there's enough skill and craftsmanship in this TCF production to keep even digital- age audiences on the edge of their seat.
- dougdoepke
- Mar 7, 2009
- Permalink
Suspense & Despair On The Ledge
- seymourblack-1
- Jun 9, 2011
- Permalink
Suicide drama in Manhattan
Henry Hathaway is the director of Fourteen Hours, which stars Richard Baseheart as Robert Cosick, the young man threatening to jump from a Manhattan skyscraper. Paul Douglas is police officer Charlie Dunnigan who discovers the man and tries to talk him into coming off the ledge. The drama and setting are enhanced by the massive crowd of onlookers who are attracted by the great media circus playing out.
Douglas is supposed to be an older man but in fact was only seven years older than Baseheart, who at 37 played the role of a younger man. Douglas was a highly-competent supporting actor from the fifties who would have gone on to greater roles except for his death in 1959 at age 52. Other supporting actors are Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Cosick (the mother), Robert Keith (the father), Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, Martin Gable, Barbara Bel Geddes (the girlfriend) and others. Baseheart was something of a Hollywood idol in his day and died after completing the narration for the opening ceremonies of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
The story captures the skyline of New York, its people and media as the drama gives an air of immediacy to the suspense of whether or not the man will jump from the building. There are a number of close calls as various characters try to persuade the young man to come in off the ledge. It is Saint Patrick's Day and people have gathered in the streets for the parade but find themselves watching the disturbed character high above them. Day becomes night and one couple fall in love during the viewing of the ordeal. We learn about the boy's history, his upbringing, the parents, and the girlfriend.
The media show presents the young man as a sympathetic character with crowds warning him about the police as they move towards him overhead and women calling radio stations with proposals of marriage...a slice of New York at mid-century. The movie is still great entertainment today, if not quite up to the calibre of the movie The Naked City, made three years earlier.
Douglas is supposed to be an older man but in fact was only seven years older than Baseheart, who at 37 played the role of a younger man. Douglas was a highly-competent supporting actor from the fifties who would have gone on to greater roles except for his death in 1959 at age 52. Other supporting actors are Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Cosick (the mother), Robert Keith (the father), Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, Martin Gable, Barbara Bel Geddes (the girlfriend) and others. Baseheart was something of a Hollywood idol in his day and died after completing the narration for the opening ceremonies of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
The story captures the skyline of New York, its people and media as the drama gives an air of immediacy to the suspense of whether or not the man will jump from the building. There are a number of close calls as various characters try to persuade the young man to come in off the ledge. It is Saint Patrick's Day and people have gathered in the streets for the parade but find themselves watching the disturbed character high above them. Day becomes night and one couple fall in love during the viewing of the ordeal. We learn about the boy's history, his upbringing, the parents, and the girlfriend.
The media show presents the young man as a sympathetic character with crowds warning him about the police as they move towards him overhead and women calling radio stations with proposals of marriage...a slice of New York at mid-century. The movie is still great entertainment today, if not quite up to the calibre of the movie The Naked City, made three years earlier.
They sure made the most of an incredibly simple plot.
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?
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?
- planktonrules
- Jan 9, 2010
- Permalink
The script isn't as incisive as it should have been, though the narrative is tightly wound...
Nervous young man visiting New York City stands on the ledge outside his fifteenth-floor hotel room window threatening to jump; the first cop on the scene, a "flat foot" working stiff, establishes a connection with the kid just before the whole incident boils over into a media circus. Despite a disclaimer at the beginning, this was indeed based upon a true story, and John Paxton's screenplay (expanded from an early draft by Joel Sayre) admirably wastes little time at setting the viewers' nerves on edge. Unfortunately, the budding confidence the cop initiates with the suicidal man isn't really developed--and, possibly in an editing mistake, he seems to know more about the guy's situation than he should be privy to. Paxton sets up several story threads within the large crowd gathering below on the street, but these relationships (particularly between the jaded cab drivers) are equally tepid. Strong central performances do bolster the melodrama, particularly by Paul Douglas as the good-hearted traffic officer (it's really Douglas' movie), Richard Basehart as the man on the ledge, and Howard da Silva as the police chief. Many famous, likable character actors pop up in support, as well as Grace Kelly in her film debut. Involving and intense, though sharper attention to detail and character might have turned the proceedings from good to great. **1/2 from ****
- moonspinner55
- Nov 4, 2009
- Permalink
Paul Douglas carries this film
- donofthedial
- Jan 26, 2009
- Permalink
Huge and familiar cast can't rescue mechanical jumper-on-a-ledge drama
On St. Patrick's Day, Richard Basehart orders a room-service breakfast in a Manhattan hotel. He isn't very hungry, though. While the waiter fumbles for change, Basehart scrambles out onto the window ledge where he'll spend the next 14 hours threatening to jump. That it's St. Patrick's Day has little to do with much of anything except to make us wonder how he could light his cigarettes, using matches no less, several stories up in the air in a midtown canyon on March 17.
Alerted by a hair-raising shriek from a woman across the way, traffic cop Paul Douglas is the first on the scene. He strikes a rapport with Basehart and tries to talk him down (or rather in), but when the bumbling police arrive in force, under Howard Da Silva's command, he's dismissed. But Basehart wants him back. As the 14 hours tick by, an assortment of people traipse in and out of his room: his shrew of a mother (Agnes Moorehead), his defeated father (Robert Keith), his former fiancee (Barbara Bel Geddes).
Down in the street and in the surrounding buildings things happen, too: cabbies make book on when he'll jump, a young couple meets and falls in love. Grace Kelly's screen debut circles the plot like a remote satellite: she's on her way to finalize her divorce but, caught up in the drama of the would-be jumper, changes her mind. (Why that plot strand didn't end up on the cutting room floor remains a puzzle.) Meanwhile (as in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole/The Big Carnival of the same year), a three-ring media circus gets underway.
There's enough going on in Henry Hathaway's movie to keep you watching, but your heart stays well south of your throat. The big-town microcosm stays strictly by the numbers and resolutely conventional. There are plenty of characters, but not much glue to stick them together. (Screenwriter John Paxon's best days Murder My Sweet, Cornered, Crossfire were behind him.)
Basehart made something of a speciality of the clean-cut misfit (He Walked by Night, Tension) but he never gnaws close to the root of his crisis it wasn't written for him. Bel Geddes, Moorehead and especially Kelly try to cope with the sketched-in roles they're given. That leaves the ever reliable and amiable Douglas to bring some warmth and characterization to this impersonal and mechanical movie. He succeeds, even though the perverse Paxon, who omits the obligatory sequence when the crowd starts chanting `Jump! Jump! Jump!,' gives the line to Douglas instead. And of course, according to the mainstream logic of the screenplay, that kick in the pants is just what Basehart needed, as though he were an unruly kid screaming for attention.
Alerted by a hair-raising shriek from a woman across the way, traffic cop Paul Douglas is the first on the scene. He strikes a rapport with Basehart and tries to talk him down (or rather in), but when the bumbling police arrive in force, under Howard Da Silva's command, he's dismissed. But Basehart wants him back. As the 14 hours tick by, an assortment of people traipse in and out of his room: his shrew of a mother (Agnes Moorehead), his defeated father (Robert Keith), his former fiancee (Barbara Bel Geddes).
Down in the street and in the surrounding buildings things happen, too: cabbies make book on when he'll jump, a young couple meets and falls in love. Grace Kelly's screen debut circles the plot like a remote satellite: she's on her way to finalize her divorce but, caught up in the drama of the would-be jumper, changes her mind. (Why that plot strand didn't end up on the cutting room floor remains a puzzle.) Meanwhile (as in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole/The Big Carnival of the same year), a three-ring media circus gets underway.
There's enough going on in Henry Hathaway's movie to keep you watching, but your heart stays well south of your throat. The big-town microcosm stays strictly by the numbers and resolutely conventional. There are plenty of characters, but not much glue to stick them together. (Screenwriter John Paxon's best days Murder My Sweet, Cornered, Crossfire were behind him.)
Basehart made something of a speciality of the clean-cut misfit (He Walked by Night, Tension) but he never gnaws close to the root of his crisis it wasn't written for him. Bel Geddes, Moorehead and especially Kelly try to cope with the sketched-in roles they're given. That leaves the ever reliable and amiable Douglas to bring some warmth and characterization to this impersonal and mechanical movie. He succeeds, even though the perverse Paxon, who omits the obligatory sequence when the crowd starts chanting `Jump! Jump! Jump!,' gives the line to Douglas instead. And of course, according to the mainstream logic of the screenplay, that kick in the pants is just what Basehart needed, as though he were an unruly kid screaming for attention.
Superb but oddly underrated little thriller.
"I don't mind losing you, but I don't want a whole daisy chain of cops sailing out that window."
A normal beat cop, Officer Charles Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), is tasked with talking a would-be jumper off a ledge fifteen floors above the New York streets.
Overall, Fourteen Hours is an entertaining film with plenty of drama and tension. There are a couple of things that made the movie stand out to me. First, I was incredibly impressed with the way the film was put together by director Henry Hathaway. Fourteen Hours featured far more action than I expected from a film set on a 2'X4' ledge. All of the comings and goings in the hotel room attached to the ledge and everything going on on the street below help keep things interesting and moving. It's an amazing amount of activity for a little piece of concrete. And I was equally impressed with some of the camera work. There were moments filmed from the ledge looking down to the street below that made me feel as if I were there. My vertigo actually kicked in.
Second, the acting is superb. Paul Douglas, in particular, is excellent. He's so believable trying to talk the man off the ledge, all the while conveying the fact that he has no idea what he's doing. And you can see the real care in his voice and face as each new idea is brought forward. Really strong piece of acting. The rest of the cast is just as good, including: Richard Basehart as the confused man on the ledge and Agnes Moorehead as the overwrought mother. I also enjoyed spotting a few uncredited faces in the cast, like Russell Hicks, Harvey Lembeck, and Ossie Davis (especially proud of myself for this one).
Fourteen Hours is also known for being Grace Kelly's first film role. She's fine and all, but her storyline could have been cut without harming the film at all. That extra five minutes weren't really necessary. I won't say the same about the subplot featuring Jeffery Hunter and Debra Paget. Their "cute" little story made for a nice contrast to the drama on the ledge.
7/10
Overall, Fourteen Hours is an entertaining film with plenty of drama and tension. There are a couple of things that made the movie stand out to me. First, I was incredibly impressed with the way the film was put together by director Henry Hathaway. Fourteen Hours featured far more action than I expected from a film set on a 2'X4' ledge. All of the comings and goings in the hotel room attached to the ledge and everything going on on the street below help keep things interesting and moving. It's an amazing amount of activity for a little piece of concrete. And I was equally impressed with some of the camera work. There were moments filmed from the ledge looking down to the street below that made me feel as if I were there. My vertigo actually kicked in.
Second, the acting is superb. Paul Douglas, in particular, is excellent. He's so believable trying to talk the man off the ledge, all the while conveying the fact that he has no idea what he's doing. And you can see the real care in his voice and face as each new idea is brought forward. Really strong piece of acting. The rest of the cast is just as good, including: Richard Basehart as the confused man on the ledge and Agnes Moorehead as the overwrought mother. I also enjoyed spotting a few uncredited faces in the cast, like Russell Hicks, Harvey Lembeck, and Ossie Davis (especially proud of myself for this one).
Fourteen Hours is also known for being Grace Kelly's first film role. She's fine and all, but her storyline could have been cut without harming the film at all. That extra five minutes weren't really necessary. I won't say the same about the subplot featuring Jeffery Hunter and Debra Paget. Their "cute" little story made for a nice contrast to the drama on the ledge.
7/10
- bensonmum2
- Dec 13, 2020
- Permalink
The Scriptwriter should have jumped...
- JasparLamarCrabb
- Sep 30, 2006
- Permalink
A marvelous little unsung film.
I came across this film while changing channels. What stopped me was seeing such a young Richard Basehart. What kept me was the tense story. Most of it was confined to the building ledge and the room behind it. The background film was extraordinary. I think I've been able to pinpoint within 2 blocks where on Broadway this hotel was supposed to be. Another thing was the cast.
It seemed like they hadn't gone for "stars", just good actors. Ossie Davis, Jeffrey Hunter, Howard Da Silva (before the black- list), and Grace Kelly in her first film. I wish I could see it from the beginning.
It seemed like they hadn't gone for "stars", just good actors. Ossie Davis, Jeffrey Hunter, Howard Da Silva (before the black- list), and Grace Kelly in her first film. I wish I could see it from the beginning.
"I'm holding up the parade, I guess."
- classicsoncall
- Nov 24, 2016
- Permalink
How to entertain an entire metropole for a day?
Based on an incident that really took place on 26th of July 1938, "Fourteen Hours" is the story of something that can only be described as a mere footnote in the history of New York City. I don't want to sound insensitive, but one single suicide - tragic as it may be - in a metropole like NYC is hardly a newsworthy event. The circumstances and media circus that came with it, however, are definitely newsworthy.
Early one morning, just after having ordered breakfast service, twenty-something Robert Cosick decides to open the widow of his room on the fourteenth floor and stand on the ledge overlooking New York. Random traffic cop Charlie Dunnigan is the first person who tries to talk Cosick out of the idea of jumping, and for the next fourteen hours Dunningan is also the only person Cosick wants to listen to, despite an army of police superiors and specialized doctors rushing to the scene. Meanwhile, below on the streets, a mob gathers to get a good view on the spectacle.
"Fourteen Hours" works most effectively as a biting social satire. Hardly any New Yorker truly cares about what drove poor Robert Cosick to his despair, or even whether he will jump or not. They just seek sensation, and the kick of being able to say "they were there" when that guy jumped. Bizarre social behavior manifest itself among all types of audiences; taxi drivers place bets, journalists only interview the most hysterical people, religious nuts sneak into the hotel, and psychiatrists with enormous egos fanatically insist on sharing their theories. Heck, strangers in the crowd even meet and fall in love! The reactions and behaviors of the bystanders make "Fourteen Hours" a compelling and entertaining 50s film, because - quite honestly - the suspense and drama surrounding Robert Cosick himself isn't working too well. You never truly believe that he will jump, even though the person on who the story is based, actually did.
Early one morning, just after having ordered breakfast service, twenty-something Robert Cosick decides to open the widow of his room on the fourteenth floor and stand on the ledge overlooking New York. Random traffic cop Charlie Dunnigan is the first person who tries to talk Cosick out of the idea of jumping, and for the next fourteen hours Dunningan is also the only person Cosick wants to listen to, despite an army of police superiors and specialized doctors rushing to the scene. Meanwhile, below on the streets, a mob gathers to get a good view on the spectacle.
"Fourteen Hours" works most effectively as a biting social satire. Hardly any New Yorker truly cares about what drove poor Robert Cosick to his despair, or even whether he will jump or not. They just seek sensation, and the kick of being able to say "they were there" when that guy jumped. Bizarre social behavior manifest itself among all types of audiences; taxi drivers place bets, journalists only interview the most hysterical people, religious nuts sneak into the hotel, and psychiatrists with enormous egos fanatically insist on sharing their theories. Heck, strangers in the crowd even meet and fall in love! The reactions and behaviors of the bystanders make "Fourteen Hours" a compelling and entertaining 50s film, because - quite honestly - the suspense and drama surrounding Robert Cosick himself isn't working too well. You never truly believe that he will jump, even though the person on who the story is based, actually did.
Being and Nothingness.
- rmax304823
- Mar 19, 2009
- Permalink
Gazing into emptiness of life.
Paul Douglas and Richard Basehart carry the movie on their shoulders ;the movie has got the three unities: time,place and(almost) action :I write "almost" because two minor subplots(Grace Kelly's appointment and the Jeffrey Hunters/Debra Paget romance)are mostly filler.
All that remains is excellent:the film continues the tradition of the Freudian movie which thrived in the precedent decade with Hitchcock,Lang ,Tourneur and Siodmak and the actors direction is first class ;Douglas and Basehart hold the audience breathless and there's no lull:considering the limitations there are working under in space and in time,it's a true tour De force ;the interventions are brilliant:Mrs Moorehead is an actress who makes all her scenes count;even the sometimes bland Bel Geddes can play her game well.
Douglas ,when he suggest the suicidal young man go fishing with him,becomes a new father for him,just like Cooper and Tone were new fathers for Cromwell in "lives of a Bengal Lancer";in "souls at sea" there is another father/son relationship.
I have always loved Henry Hathaway's movies,from "Peter Ibbetson" TO "kiss of death" , from" the trail of the lonesome pine" to " true grit" (1969)and from "Niagara" to "legend of the lost" ."14 hours" is to be ranked among his best.
All that remains is excellent:the film continues the tradition of the Freudian movie which thrived in the precedent decade with Hitchcock,Lang ,Tourneur and Siodmak and the actors direction is first class ;Douglas and Basehart hold the audience breathless and there's no lull:considering the limitations there are working under in space and in time,it's a true tour De force ;the interventions are brilliant:Mrs Moorehead is an actress who makes all her scenes count;even the sometimes bland Bel Geddes can play her game well.
Douglas ,when he suggest the suicidal young man go fishing with him,becomes a new father for him,just like Cooper and Tone were new fathers for Cromwell in "lives of a Bengal Lancer";in "souls at sea" there is another father/son relationship.
I have always loved Henry Hathaway's movies,from "Peter Ibbetson" TO "kiss of death" , from" the trail of the lonesome pine" to " true grit" (1969)and from "Niagara" to "legend of the lost" ."14 hours" is to be ranked among his best.
- dbdumonteil
- Mar 14, 2012
- Permalink
It's when the army said he was no good that made it official
- kapelusznik18
- Feb 1, 2016
- Permalink
Tight and engaging thriller
Unlike most films that considered 'noir', this one does not focus on the police or criminals; but on a man attempting suicide and the attempts by the authorities to talk him out of it. The film reminded me a lot of the 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon for it's portrayal of a media circus. The centre of the film is really very simple and most of the focus is on the lead character, meanwhile we learn more about him and watch the various attempts to stop him committing suicide. The film gets straight into its plot and we watch a man step out onto a hotel balcony. Somebody sees it and a local traffic cop makes the call to his higher ups. He also goes and sees the guy on the window ledge and has a little chat with him. More police and some doctors then turn up, but the man on the ledge insists he'll only talk to the traffic cop and so he's called back in to help the situation. The reasons for the attempted suicide are slowly unveiled; meanwhile we also get to see the reactions of the various people on the ground.
The film is very well directed by Henry Hathaway, who manages to constantly ensure that his simple plot is constantly fascinating. The dialogue between the central characters is good, and the psychology presented by the various doctors is also interesting. Richard Basehart takes the lead role and manages to convince the audience that he's going to commit suicide; although he does constantly sound drunk. He has a good rapport with Paul Douglas, who 'befriends' him during the ordeal. The support cast includes the likes of Agnes Moorehead and Grace Kelly. The central plot is fleshed out by some smaller stories of the people on the ground, and the film portrays some good that comes of the central situation. This is an interesting idea, though it has to be said that the way it is portrayed feels somewhat pretentious. The film flows well throughout and the running time passes quickly up until the ending, which is really quite predictable; but still it works well. Overall, Fourteen Hours is an excellent thriller and comes highly recommended.
The film is very well directed by Henry Hathaway, who manages to constantly ensure that his simple plot is constantly fascinating. The dialogue between the central characters is good, and the psychology presented by the various doctors is also interesting. Richard Basehart takes the lead role and manages to convince the audience that he's going to commit suicide; although he does constantly sound drunk. He has a good rapport with Paul Douglas, who 'befriends' him during the ordeal. The support cast includes the likes of Agnes Moorehead and Grace Kelly. The central plot is fleshed out by some smaller stories of the people on the ground, and the film portrays some good that comes of the central situation. This is an interesting idea, though it has to be said that the way it is portrayed feels somewhat pretentious. The film flows well throughout and the running time passes quickly up until the ending, which is really quite predictable; but still it works well. Overall, Fourteen Hours is an excellent thriller and comes highly recommended.
Don't Jump
First things first: "Fourteen Hours" is NOT a film noir. I don't know why numerous resources about film noir (including IMDb) include it.
It does have many of the characteristics of those police procedural docu-dramas from the late 40s and early 50s that so many noirs also shared, so maybe that accounts for it. This film, based on a true story, stars Richard Basehart as a man who threatens to jump from a city skyscraper. Paul Douglas is the cop who works overtime to prevent him from doing so. Over the course of the film, a whole bunch of psychobabble involving the man's childhood emerges to explain his actions, and late in the film, his one-time fiancée (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) shows up to shed even more light on the matter.
This is serviceable if not overly remarkable film-making. It will probably engage your interest, but I doubt it will linger in your mind. I will forever remember this film as the one I was watching when my wife went into labor with our son.
The movie received a rather random Academy Award nomination for its black and white art direction.
Grade: B
It does have many of the characteristics of those police procedural docu-dramas from the late 40s and early 50s that so many noirs also shared, so maybe that accounts for it. This film, based on a true story, stars Richard Basehart as a man who threatens to jump from a city skyscraper. Paul Douglas is the cop who works overtime to prevent him from doing so. Over the course of the film, a whole bunch of psychobabble involving the man's childhood emerges to explain his actions, and late in the film, his one-time fiancée (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) shows up to shed even more light on the matter.
This is serviceable if not overly remarkable film-making. It will probably engage your interest, but I doubt it will linger in your mind. I will forever remember this film as the one I was watching when my wife went into labor with our son.
The movie received a rather random Academy Award nomination for its black and white art direction.
Grade: B
- evanston_dad
- Apr 2, 2009
- Permalink
14 Hours Very Good But Didn't He Have to Use the Bathroom? ***1/2
This is a gripping film noir built around a suicide jumper.
Based loosely on a real life suicide jumper who leaped 17 floors to his death from the ledge of the Gotham Hotel in New York City on July 26, 1938. I understand they consulted with both New York City Police and Fire Departments for techniques used in these cases and it showed. Largely procedural, this noir centers around a young man named
Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart) who we first see high up on the ledge of a high rise hotel in New York City. A hotel waiter finds him and both he and the local street cop,
Police Officer Charlie (Paul Douglas), rush into action. Charlie is the first cop to establish contact with the young jumper Robert. Initially he is sent away by the police task force who arrives and sets up shop in the hotel room with the closet window. But when Robert insists on only talking to the kind and honest Charlie they bring him back.
Charlie has some creative ideas and a real knack for talking to Robert. The tension is really built as the day and the hours stretch on...they bring in the shrinks, they bring in Robert's separated parents, and eventually they bring in a sweet young former sweetheart named Virginia. Meanwhile a massive crowd of looky-Lus assemble on the street below. The film is rounded out with some of these stories...in her first on screen performance Grace Kelly plays a wife and mother seeking divorce in the building across the street, cab drivers whose cars are trapped in the traffic mess below eventually agree to the pooling of money for a morbid bet on who can get closest to the hour the jumper jumps and the final story outside of the jumper is that of a young couple who meet thanks to the crowd...a couple who ordinarily would never have crossed paths as she goes to work at eight and he at eight thirty.
For me this was pretty unique for a noir and I really enjoyed seeing both the real New York street scenes as well as the actual techniques employed to rescue the jumper...but what really made this an excellent film was Paul Douglas. His character's sincerity and honest caring for Robert, including inviting him to meet his wife and go fishing, really make this film. I loved seeing his son at the end. The hug between the two is priceless.
I guess the truth is we don't always know the "why" and that would be my one complaint of the film. I like many want to understand why.
Charlie has some creative ideas and a real knack for talking to Robert. The tension is really built as the day and the hours stretch on...they bring in the shrinks, they bring in Robert's separated parents, and eventually they bring in a sweet young former sweetheart named Virginia. Meanwhile a massive crowd of looky-Lus assemble on the street below. The film is rounded out with some of these stories...in her first on screen performance Grace Kelly plays a wife and mother seeking divorce in the building across the street, cab drivers whose cars are trapped in the traffic mess below eventually agree to the pooling of money for a morbid bet on who can get closest to the hour the jumper jumps and the final story outside of the jumper is that of a young couple who meet thanks to the crowd...a couple who ordinarily would never have crossed paths as she goes to work at eight and he at eight thirty.
For me this was pretty unique for a noir and I really enjoyed seeing both the real New York street scenes as well as the actual techniques employed to rescue the jumper...but what really made this an excellent film was Paul Douglas. His character's sincerity and honest caring for Robert, including inviting him to meet his wife and go fishing, really make this film. I loved seeing his son at the end. The hug between the two is priceless.
I guess the truth is we don't always know the "why" and that would be my one complaint of the film. I like many want to understand why.
Fourteen Hours
Richard Basehart decides to throw himself off the ledge of major hotel. He is only prepared to talk to regular traffic cop - Paul Douglas. The painstaking effort to discover what Basehart's problem is begins whilst the crowd below gathers and we are privy to a number of separate little incidents and dramas.
Basehart is good in the lead, twitching convincingly as the man on the ledge, with Douglas doing his usual tough guy with a heart routine. Whilst it is largely unremarkable, it is well enough made and performed and makes a bit of a change from the usual Hollywood fare of the period. Note Grace Kelly in an early role.
Basehart is good in the lead, twitching convincingly as the man on the ledge, with Douglas doing his usual tough guy with a heart routine. Whilst it is largely unremarkable, it is well enough made and performed and makes a bit of a change from the usual Hollywood fare of the period. Note Grace Kelly in an early role.