The Desperate Hours

Amazon.com

Humphrey Bogart is at his villainous best in William Wyler's taut home-invasion thriller, The Desperate Hours. Sharply adapted by John Hayes from his own fact-based novel and Broadway play, this marked a slight departure for Wyler, whose celebrated versatility is on ready display as Bogart--leading a panicky trio of escaped convicts--seizes control of a suburban family in the (dis)comfort of their own home. The domestic terror (similarly dramatized in the 1954 potboiler Suddenly) escalates as cautious patriarch Frederic March waits for an opportunity to retaliate, while the police (led by Arthur Kennedy) close in for an ambush. Viewers may recognize the home's exterior from TV's Leave It to Beaver, while its interior gives Wyler a sealed chamber for nail-biting advances and setbacks--and Bogey was rarely better at portraying ruthless, unpredictable menace. Poorly remade in 1990, The Desperate Hours remains a potent precursor to the many similar films (like Panic Room) that followed its enduring example. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Stop..You're Making Me Hungry.......2007-06-11

Hammy and cheesey. Very midcentury family values. Home invasion movies were somewhat popular then. Sort of a fantasy of average man rising to the occassion. That's not necessarily a bad thing just a sign of the times. Bogie snarls and March glares and acts indignant. Not a bad movie but only for Bogie fans.

Tension from start to finish! .......2007-04-28

What a pair: Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March face to face as mortal enemies. Good vs. evil. We know who will win but we don't know how. The excellent twists and turns keep us forever surprised. Spencer Tracy originally declined the role opposite Bogart because he refused second billing.

All acting is superb, though a bit of overkill with the 2 hysterical women captors. The child actor is a marvelous spunky character who never rose to deserved fame as did other kid actors.

As one reviewer wrote, What indeed would we do in this same situation, where Bogart & his 2 prison cronies hold a suburban family hostage. Fredric March, with his "clickety-clickety" mind, as Bogey calls it, is constantly trying to outwit the brutal escaped convicts once they escape from their jail like uncaged lions.

This is actually a great family action film where true loyal family values dominate, unlke today, and the starring family actually sits down for meals together and lovingly communicate with one another.

As a point of interest, the story is loosely based on the eponymous novel. The original story was covered in Time Magazine. The family held hostage sued Time - apparently there was never a settlement - but the lawyer representing the family was none other than Richard Nixon, an attorney in private practice between campaigns.

Terrible!.......2007-03-14

Unlike many other reviewers, I found this movie TERRIBLE! If it were newly released today, I think people would laugh at it, as I often did during its playing time.

The story is HIGHLY contrived, and, unless you leave your brains somewhere else, you can't help see the countless illogical occurrences in it. These contrivances make the story increasingly unbelievable--so much so that you can't suspend your belief that this is a movie. It's one plot hole after another--characters being forced to do this and that to obtain a particular effect. And on and on of the same foolishness.

The acting is pure ham--especially bogart, who is a highly overrated actor, who does not act. He just plays himself and presents what he believes the character should sound like. He does not, and cannot, enter deeply into any character he plays (except those who resemble his own life character). In other words, he presents a stereotype or charicature of a character, never really understanding it. His tough guy personna is the same old Humphrey but with a tough-guy tone and accent. It's laughable. Even the lowest level TV actor on the soaps today is far better.

The other actors are just as characaturish--the brave, concerned mom, the tough dad, the cutsy kid, the pretty daughter. Just a perfect household of nice goody-goody people who don't have a flaw in them, supposedly making them worthy of being rooted for. They don't feel their lines but try to act them, as if they were reading from a script. This makes them non-credible, hollow, distant. I felt no relationship with any of these so-called victims and didn't care if the cops saved them or not.

The directing was formulaic to the max, far below today's director standards. The name WYLER doesn't automatically mean good movie direction. There was nothing unique, awesome, or compelling about his style of moving from scene to scene.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS--IT IS HIGHLY OVERRATED. In its time it may have had some pizzaz or sparkle, but by today's standards it's an insult to anyone who uses even the least intelligence to follow the story.

The film gives us the most ruthless and disgusting gangsters the screen has yet seen..........2006-12-26

"The Desperate Hours" is a towering achievement in suspense films... It was cast to perfection, written and directed by a meticulous, serious artist...

Its basic situation - of a family trapped in their home for 36 hours by an utterly ruthless gang - was not new... What was new and immeasurably compelling was the fact that these were not simply "good guys" and "bad guys," but all were real, breathing, vulnerable human beings... They all knew how to hate and to be afraid, and to want to kill and want to love... There were no supermen either... They got hungry, and irritable, and tired, and they showed hesitation and uncertainty as well as pure courage...

It began as an ordinary day for the Hilliard family in their pleasant home in Indianapolis... Eleanor (Martha Scott) gave breakfast to her family and saw them off - husband Dan (Fredric March) to his job in a store, pretty daughter Cindy (Mary Murphy) to her office desk, and ten-year-o1d Ralphie (Richard Eyer) to school...

Turning on the radio, she paid little attention to the news item, about the escape of three desperate criminals from jail: ruthless Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart), his younger brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and the brutish Sam Kobish (Robert Middleton).

These three needed a safe hideout while they awaited the arrival of some expected money and they chose the Hilliard home... They were installed and completely in command when Dan and the two youngsters came home - and there the family was trapped, under the gangsters' order to "make it normal" and with no doubt of the consequences if they did not obey...

As the major tensions mounted - the money did not arrive and the police closed in - there was a fascinating interplay of lesser conflicts:

- The father urgently trying to repress his rage to save his family - until his final gamble...

- The schoolboy unable to believe that the guns and bullets are real - and unable to understand why his adored father is apparently submitting without a fight...

- The wife fighting hysteria in an attempt to live normally in such circumstances...

-The spitfire daughter and her boyfriend (Gig Young), whose impatient courtship almost causes disaster...

- The youngest criminal coming to see in the quiet normality of the lives he has invaded a message of the waste of his own...

- The deputy sheriff (Arthur Kennedy) leading the hunt and knowing he has been marked out for murder...

- The gang leader, played by Humphrey Bogart with an intelligence to match his deadly ruthlessness, with a shrewd instinct for discovering others' weaknesses... and torn when his own younger brother quits, finding himself as much a prisoner in the house as his hostages... Once before, in "The Petrified Forest," Bogart gave us such a man, but that performance was relatively restrained compared to this beast at bay...

Amazing movie that makes you think.......2006-06-07

This movie was amazing and makes you think what would you do if cold blooded killers took over your house and used your family as leverage. Bogart was excellent and the cast was to.

Average customer rating:

not too bad

Desperate Crimes
Starring: Denise Crosby , Van Quattro , Rena Niehaus , Traci Lords , and Franco Columbu
Director: Andreas Marfori
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Thrillers | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00002NDLH
Release Date: 1999-12-07

Description

Murder is the name of the game. Two rival "families" are at war for control of the lucrative prostitution and drug trade, killing anyone in their way. When an innocent young woman is murdered by one of the "families," her boyfriend comes looking for answers. With the help of a beautiful prostitute, he discovers the truth and sets out on a path of revenge... Denise Crosby, Franco Columbo, Van Quattro, Rena Niehaus, Traci Lords, Elizabeth Kaitan

Customer Reviews:

not too bad.......2004-05-14

An enjoyable, not-too-bad crime & action B-movie in a very Italian setting.
My only criticism concerns 'Desperate crimes' being presented as a Traci Lords vehicle. That's a fake I think, because Traci's part is small and non-substantial here. Playing a heroine addict doesn't suit her either, for she's too beautiful.

Average customer rating:

Desperate for Love
Starring: Christian Slater , Tammy Lauren , Brian Bloom , and Veronica Cartwright
Director: Michael Tuchner
Manufacturer: Cascadia Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000BWDP0Y

Product Description

Based on a true story. Cliff(played by Christian Slater)becomes an outcast in a samll Sourther town. He is infatuated with his childhood friend, Lily Becker. Cliff is unable to contain his feelings of jealousy when Lilly dates his best friend. His infatuation turns into a dangerous obsession that ultimately has deadly consequences.

DVD:

DVD

DVD