The Desperate Hours (1955)

Why so much hype?

One of my all time favorites.

Memorable, crazy movie

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

In "The Desperate Hours", we have Humphrey Bogart in his second-to-last film as hardened criminal Glenn Griffith, who has escaped from prison with his brother and a brute named Kobish. They happen upon the typical American family, the Hilliards, and invade their home with great brutality for a 1955 film."Man must protect his family" has become a very long-lived genre to this very day, and this movie is a fine entry in it. Fredric March's Dan Hilliard is realistic and even inspiring, in an early scene he explains to his son that he is afraid, and he's not ashamed of it. Through his dialogue and thoughtful acting, we are able to believe in Dan Hilliard as an honest everyman doing the best he can in a difficult situation, which keeps these sorts of movies from become unrealistic flights of fantasy. The pacing is very good, with nary a dull moment as the desperate hours tick by. Bogart's tremendous acting kill any chance of audience boredom, as you see his character's interesting clash between the desperate honest man and the desperate criminal. The soundtrack is almost nonexistent, rare for Hollywood in this era, but it's quite welcome, as it adds to the gritty, desperate feel of the film.This is really a very fine thriller that has stood the test of time. It may not have explosions or death-defying stunts, but the emotional conflict is what these movies are based on, and this movie has it in spades.

"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.

The Desperate Hours is an intelligent film that has brought fourth cerebral comments on IMDb. Moreover, it is a turning point in character study contextualised within suburbia that became a blue print for film adaptations such as A Clockwork Orange (1971) in which gang culture ravages suburban life and its automated, docile acceptance of routine.Therefore, whilst being a prism for highlighting the conservative lifestyle of suburban America, The Desperate Hours is a rude awakening of the human condition. In other words, Glenn Griffin (an adeptly accomplished role by the great Bogart) and his criminal gang on the lam rudely awaken the consciousness, and as such re-install the human which was lost to the clockwork robots of suburban families as in the example of the Hilliards.As in The Stepford Wives (1975), the suburban woman submit to being chattels, as portrayed via home-maker and wife Eleanor Hilliard (Martha Scott). Indeed Eleanor's subordinate position is highlighted when her husband Dan Hilliard (the brilliant Fredric March) informs Griffin that his wife is not Griffin's servant. Note, Hilliard doesn't say "a servant" and thusly implies that his wife is actually HIS servant. This also implies the 'ownership' of women by men, in a patriarchal family.Another commentator has suggested that Griffin is regretting his criminal lifestyle and envying the suburban secure,lifestyle of the Hilliards. Conversly, why would Griffin want Hillard's humdrum suburban lifestyle? Indeed, it is Hilliard that envies Griffin's courage to be insubordinate, albeit perhaps not the apparent immoral methods he utilises in this process. Indeed, the lacking of opportunity has culminated in a rebelliousness within the context of felony by Griffin and his cohorts, which has usurped Hilliard's perceptions and pre-conditioned comprehension of criminals propagated by the media.Perhaps Hilliard views Griffin's none-conformity to the suburban ways of the middle classes as a punishment, as opposed to any criminal act the latter has committed. Accordingly, Hilliard should be thankful for awakening his consciousness. Can this family ever be the same again? At least they should be less conformist, and at most rebellious.The Desperate Hours is a showcase of lamented talent as in Wyler for his outstanding direction, and Bogart and March for their equally brilliant leads. There is also some resplendent turns by the supporting cast with particular mention to Walter Baldwin (the refuse collector) for his convincing portrayal of the frightened 'everyday man' of suburbia. Special mention should also go to Robert Middleton in the part of psychopathic murderer,Sam Kobish.The Desperate Hours is deeply intense, and intelligently realised and brought to fruition by all involved.

Humphrey Bogart's final take on a crook's role is his finest as such and in a way closes the circle that opened almost twenty years earlier as Duke Mantee in 'The Petrified Forest'. A rare opportunity for an actor to show his gathered experience and professionalism so vividly and a treat for viewers. Some doubts have always been made about him to be maybe too old for the role but I don't think so. All I see is great acting and a believable bad guy. He is smart and ruthless in his wheeling and dealing. He provokes and observes, loves to control the situations and the family. While trying to fix himself money to resume the escape his time of hiding starts to seem like a twisted analysis of what makes an ordinary family tick. A kind of family he has obviously never had and feels betrayed and angered about it. He does have a younger brother and a half-witted partner with him, but they do not connect except on the means of escaping the law. In the end I got a feeling that during the time spent in the house in his own way he has already got a small portion of the sort of freedom he always wished for. With that point of view the final fast close shot of his face is thought provoking. A flashing example on effects of Bogart's expressive face and little gestures of his that were able to make grand suggestions to the scenes.March is almost equally impressive in his ways as a man running his family gently but firmly, a total opposite to Bogart's Griffin. He can also be equally menacing in defending his home specially in the last scenes. But his urge to use violence and brutality are strictly controlled by his care for his family. That love becomes his power as well as his weakness at handling the desperate incident. During the growing tension his role becomes something like a family man version of Jekyll and Hyde, of him being forced to adapt himself some aspects of his worst enemy to overcome the situation. Just watch March's and Bogart's expressions changing to and fro as they exchange threats. One can sense signs that in other circumstances the places could in fact change rather easily in their battle of wills. Although it's the acting that most impresses me in this movie, the director's work must also be very much appreciated. Wyler has used the house and its two floors with setups, camera angles and lighting effectively to stage and express the power play and threat. The tension keeps growing up by building situation upon situation and it never lets go, even when we're elsewhere out of the house or seeing what the law enforcement is up to at the same time.An excellent crime and hostage drama that hasn't lost none of its power in 52 years. A family unit as a representative of normal society colliding with outside terror is, after all, still a very active and contemporary subject.