Fourteen Hours
| Fourteen Hours | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Sol C. Siegel |
| Screenplay by | John Paxton |
| Based on |
The Man on the Ledge 1949 short story by Joel Sayre |
| Starring |
Paul Douglas Richard Basehart Barbara Bel Geddes Debra Paget Agnes Moorehead Robert Keith |
| Music by | Alfred Newman |
| Cinematography | Joe MacDonald |
| Edited by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Fourteen Hours is a 1951 Film Noir drama film directed by Henry Hathaway, which tells the story of a New York police officer trying to stop a despondent man from jumping to his death from the fifteenth floor of a hotel.
This won critical acclaim for Richard Basehart, who portrayed the mentally disturbed man on the building ledge. Paul Douglas played the officer, and a large supporting cast included Barbara Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith, Debra Paget and Howard Da Silva. It was the screen debut of Grace Kelly and Jeffrey Hunter, who appeared in small roles.
The screenplay was written by John Paxton, based on an article by Joel Sayre in The New Yorker describing the 1938 suicide of John William Warde.
Early one morning, a room service waiter at a New York City hotel is horrified to discover that the young man to whom he has just delivered breakfast (Richard Basehart) is standing on the narrow ledge outside his room on the fifteenth floor. Charlie Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), a policeman on traffic duty in the street below, tries to talk him off the ledge to no avail. He is ordered back to traffic patrol by police emergency services deputy chief Moksar (Howard Da Silva). But he is ordered to return when the man on the ledge will not speak to psychiatrists summoned to the scene. Coached by a psychiatrist (Martin Gabel), Dunnigan tries to relate to the man on the ledge as one human to another.
The police identify the man as Robert Cosick and locate his mother (Agnes Moorehead), but her overwrought, hysterical behavior only upsets Cosick and seems to drive him toward jumping. His father (Robert Keith), whom he despises, arrives. The divorced father and mother clash over old family issues, and the conflict is played out in front of the police. Dunnigan seeks to reconcile Robert with his father, whom Cosick has been brought up to hate by his mother. Dunnigan forces Mrs. Cosick to reveal the identity of a "Virginia" mentioned by Robert, and she turns out to be his estranged fiancee.
...
Wikipedia