Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I purchased the DVD of "The Desperate Hours" many years ago, I think right after I saw the Michael Cimino 1990 remake, but then I completely forgot about it. Recently I was reminded of the film again after seeing the low-keyed and obscure thriller/drama "The Shadow on the Window". That film came out in 1957, two years after "The Desperate Hours" and unmistakably borrowed many ideas, scenes and character specifications from this film. It's based on a Broadway Play, like so many movies from the fifties that are considered to be great classics. The list is nearly endless and truly versatile in terms of genres as well, like "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Dial M for Murder", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and even "The Bad Seed". I think this is a prototype example of a simple and straightforward film that is only catapulted into the league of cinematic classics thanks to the stellar performances of the ensemble cast; and the two giant male lead stars in particular. William Wyler was a genius director and his work here is definitely competent as well, but you can't deny the direction often feels routine and mechanical. The plot is powerful as well, what with its themes of terror and paranoia lurking beneath the foundations of the typical American dream-family, but the scenario is never groundbreaking or controversial. No, instead, the true difference is made by each and every single one of the players. Humphrey Bogart masterfully returns to the type of character that he depicted repeatedly in the 1930s: a villain without redeeming features whatsoever. Bogart stated afterwards that he was too old for the role, and he may be right, but that doesn't keep him from giving away another unsurpassable performance. It may sound like a cliché, but actors of his caliber simply don't exist anymore nowadays. Speaking of clichés, Frederic March's character – the protective father – is very stereotypical, but he also manages to put down a monumental performance. It's not easy standing in the shadows of Bogart and March, and therefore I simply must also give a lot of separate praise to the rest of the cast. Dewey Martin and Robert Middleton are excellent as the accomplices, and I particularly wished to see more psychopathic outbursts of Middleton's character Kobish. Martha Scott is also memorable as the petrified mother and even the seemingly miscast Gig Young is more than adequate.

"The Desperate Hours" is about a randomly chosen family held hostage by three escaped criminals. The Hilliard family is an upscale "Typical American Family" whose home is suddenly taken over by Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart), his brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and the brutish Sam Kobish (Robert Middleton).The father Dan Hilliard (Fredric March), mother Ellie (Martha Scott), daughter Cindy (Mary Murphy) and son Ralphie (Richard Eyer) are living in fear for their lives at the hands of the convicts. It seems that Glenn Griffin is out for revenge against the cop who arrested him years earlier (Arthur Kennedy).Producer William Wyler creates a suspenseful couple of days within the Hilliard household. The family is allowed to function normally with Dan and Cindy going to work and Ralphie to school while Ellie remains at home the prisoner of the men. Cindy's boyfriend Chuck Wright (Gig Young) suspects that something is wrong. Dan is forced to comply with Griffin's demands in order to protect his family.This film is arguably the best of Bogart's later films. His character of Glenn Griffin is not unlike his portrayal of "Duke" Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" (1936) where he holds a group of people hostage in a remote diner. I believe that Spencer Tracy was originally supposed to play the March role but withdrew due to illness.Although both March and Bogart were a little too old for their respective roles the scenes between them are electric as each tries to outsmart the other. The character of the daughter Cindy is supposed to be 19 years old so you might say that Gig Young in his forties at the time, was also too old to be her boyfriend. Minor faults as the actors convincingly carry off their respective parts.Others in the cast include Alan Reed, Ray Teal, Ray Collins and Whit Bissell as various cops and Beverly Garland, Joe Flynn and Burt Mustin in smaller roles.An excellent thriller.

"The Desperate Hours" is a tense drama about the ordeal that an ordinary family goes through when their home is invaded by a group of convicts who have just escaped from prison. Their predicament and the desperation that they feel is immediately understood by audiences everywhere and this is what gives the movie so much power and potency. The family understandably feel indignant, violated and quite helpless but also recognise that they need to be resourceful and co-operative if they are to have any hope of survival.Joseph Hayes' well written screenplay was adapted from his own novel, which was in turn inspired by a real-life incident that received a great deal of press coverage in 1952. The knowledge that this type of hostage situation actually took place gives "The Desperate Hours" added credibility and despite the strict censorship standards that applied at the time, this movie undeniably still packs a powerful punch.When a group of three escaped convicts travel through a respectable suburban estate in their stolen car, their leader Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart) notices one home with a child's bicycle outside its front door and decides that this is the ideal type of residence for the men to hide out in because, if the residents have children, they will obviously be easier to control. The gang members break into the house in which housewife Eleanor Hilliard (Martha Scott) is busy at work and park their car in the Hilliards' garage.Glenn, who's accompanied by his younger brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and Sam Kobish (Robert Middleton), is armed and orders Eleanor to disclose where her husband keeps his gun. Hal then takes charge of the husband's gun and Glenn forces Eleanor to make a telephone call to his girlfriend Helen Miller, to arrange for her to deliver some money to the house later that night. When Dan Hilliard (Fredric March) and his grown up daughter Cindy (Mary Murphy) return from work and ten-year-old Ralphie (Richard Eyer) returns from school, they walk into a horrific situation and all immediately become hostages.Glenn and local Deputy Sheriff Jesse Bard (Arthur Kennedy) had crossed swords in the past and because of this, Jesse is put in charge of the manhunt. Glenn tells Dan that the gang will leave as soon as his girlfriend arrives with the money. Police checks identify where Helen is and Jesse arranges for her to be followed, so that she can lead them to the convicts. These arrangements go wrong when Helen gets stopped for committing a traffic violation and the Hilliards' plight from that point on, gets progressively worse.Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March both give strong performances as two men who are polar opposites and regard each other with nothing but contempt. Bogart, as the vicious criminal, shows the level of strain he's under as he tries to evade the attentions of the police whilst also having to control not only his hostages but also his other gang members who both become unpredictable and dangerous at times. March is very believable as the conventional department store executive who's frightened by the predicament he's in and determined to protect his family at all costs. The quality of the acting by the supporting cast is also extremely good and contributes greatly to the success of this very intense and claustrophobic thriller.

In the 1950s, Hollywood was bound by the Hayes Code and the iron-clad rule that Crime Does Not Pay. There was very little wriggle room, however much the audience might want it and movie executives might want to cater to that desire. So, in pretty much every gangster film, you know who is going to win in the end. That isn't giving anything away.But that didn't keep Hollywood from giving nods to what many people wanted to see - a movie in which the audience is given some affirmation about the dangers of criminals - or of the police. It's subtle, but "The Desperate Hours" is full of those nuances.The plot is very simple - three escaped convicts, led by Humphrey Bogart, have escaped from prison, killing a guard and taking his gun in the process, and the manhunt is on. The killers need somewhere to crash for a while until they tie up some loose ends. They choose the most normal-looking suburban house they can find and take the family hostage.Given the rules of the game, we know how the film has to end. What makes a film like this stand out are the performances and the complications along the way. The performances are superb, especially Bogart and Fredric March as the hostages' family patriarch. Overall, everything is done in a very civilized manner, and the gang's fate is determined largely by their own choices.The interesting part to me, though, is the attitude displayed toward the police. They in many ways are portrayed as being as dangerous to the family as the criminals, in fact, in some ways more so. March and family have many opportunities to contact the police and get them involved, but it seems so obvious to everybody that this is a bad idea that Bogart practically dares the hostages to do so. But nobody does. Why not? There's where the film's interesting psychology comes into play - the police apparently are viewed by everybody, criminals and hostages alike, as dangerous intruders into the situation. This is displayed most pointedly toward the end, where March has to fight to maintain control of the situation to protect his family after the police get involved and, just as Bogart has warned, have set up machine guns across the street and seem insufficiently concerned about the family's fate. It is almost as if the cops are just another gang to avoid if at all possible.Things get very dicey for the hostages only because of the police involvement, because their priorities differed. The police wanted the criminals captured - the hostages simply wanted the criminals to leave. One could argue that the police were necessary to resolve the situation - but maybe not. An interesting situation, of the kind that kept gangster films interesting.Bogart displays such cool intelligence and leadership that it is easy to wonder why he wound up a criminal in the first place. If he has a weakness, it is over-confidence. Staying in the same house for so long seems like a strange choice, especially given the claustrophobic portrayal of this "normal" 1950s neighborhood, with its intrusive neighbors and nosy family friends. But traveling on the open road with everybody watching didn't seem that appealing an option, either.Crime doesn't pay! Bogart's final decision, suicide by cop, seems to sum that up. A fine film that gives an interesting look into 1950s psychology.