The Desperate Hours (film)
| The Desperate Hours | |
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The Desperate Hours film poster
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| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Produced by | William Wyler |
| Screenplay by | Joseph Hayes Jay Dratler |
| Based on | 1954 novel The Desperate Hours 1955 play The Desperate Hours by Joseph Hayes |
| Starring |
Humphrey Bogart Fredric March |
| Music by | Gail Kubik, Daniele Amfitheatrof (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Lee Garmes |
| Edited by | Robert Swink |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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October 5, 1955 |
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,388,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $2.5 million (US) |
The Desperate Hours is a 1955 film noir starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. The movie was produced and directed by William Wyler and based on a novel and play of the same name written by Joseph Hayes which were loosely based on actual events.
The original Broadway production had actor Paul Newman in the Bogart role but he was passed over for the movie because Bogart was a much bigger star. The character was made older in the script so Bogart could play the part. Bogart said he viewed the story as "Duke Mantee grown up," Mantee having been Bogart's breakthrough movie role in The Petrified Forest. Spencer Tracy was first cast to be in the film with Bogart, but the two friends both insisted on top billing and Tracy eventually withdrew. The role of Glenn Griffin was Bogart's last as a villain.
The Desperate Hours was the first black-and-white movie in VistaVision, Paramount's wide-screen process. The house used in the final seasons of the television series Leave it to Beaver was used for exterior shots of the Hilliards' home. In 1956, Joseph Hayes won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.
Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart) is the leader of a trio of escaped convicts who invade the Hilliard family's suburban home in Indianapolis and hold four members of the family hostage. There they await the arrival of a package from Griffin's girlfriend, that contains funds to aid the three fugitives in their escape.
Police organize a statewide manhunt for the escapees and eventually discover the distraught family's plight. Griffin menaces and torments the Hilliards and threatens to kill them. Later, the unfortunate refuse collector George Patterson (Walter Baldwin), who happens upon the situation after noticing Griffin's car in the garage, is murdered in order to silence him, after being forced to drive into the country.
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Wikipedia