The Desperate Hours
by William Wyler
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Actor: Arthur Kennedy, Dewey Martin, Fredric March, Humphrey Bogart, Martha ScottDirector: William Wyler
Brand: BOGART,HUMPHREY
Cinematographer: Lee Garmes
Producer: William Wyler
Editor: Robert Swink
Producer: Robert Wyler
Writer: Joseph Hayes
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-06-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Desperate Hours
DVD Review: Could have been something more
Summary: 4 Stars
In 1936 a then lesser known actor named Humphrey Bogart appeared as a gangster for the first time in the classic film The Petrified Forest which included screen legends Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. The plot was simple, a notorious gangster. Duke Mantee (Bogart), holds people hostage in a service station in the middle of nowhere awaiting his girlfriend. What made The Petrified Forest so great is it's handling of multiple ideas; Patriotism, freedom, art, philosophy, and the pursuit of your dreams no matter what they are. Most films can't handle more one or two ideas without falling apart and Forest managed to handle more than that and succeeds; Truly a timeless film.
Fast forward to 1955 and Bogey, now a screen legend, stars in his penultimate film, The Desperate Hours. Basically, a rip-off of The Petrified Forest with some minor differences. Instead of an assembly of interesting characters being held hostage, or ones with backgrounds contributing to a important themes, we get a standard suburban family. This was a strictly A-to-B plot, gangsters hold the family hostage, they sweat it out with some events occurring and all the bad guys are gunned down at the end. Fredrick March plays the father of the family being held hostage and though he gives a good preformance, you never feel much for him. I will admit there is some suspense and actually enough to sustain the film but it's ultimately formulaic; A shame since more could have been explored with this material. A couple of times Bogart exposes why he hates March so much: He hates the upper class, the ones on the parole board that said he can't live with "decent folk". If only the writers took advantage of this friction. Also another good idea that was wasted was Bogart's relationship towards his younger brother who looked up to him. I never read the play or book this film was based on but chances are it could have more psychological depth then the film. The trend in Hollywood by the 1950's was to make gangsters more one-dimensional then they used to be portrayed in the 1930's. Both Eddie G. Robinson and Jimmy Cagney were playing gangsters at the time who totally lacked humanity.
Overall, I'd say Desperate Hours, despite it's formulaic nature, holds up today. If you want fun distraction, pick it up.
Description of The Desperate Hours
Escaped criminals hold a family hostage.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 12-DEC-2003
Media Type: DVD
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