Friday, April 24, 2009

4/24/09: The Desperate Hours (1955)

FIFTIES WEEK
In his penultimate film, Humphrey Bogart stars as one of a trio of convicts who terrorize Fredric March and his family in their two-story suburban home and hold them hostage for a tense couple of days. Unnerving and suspenseful, this is the kind of film where a man holds a gun to a child's head, something that just twists my stomach into knots. Fortunately, the ending has a satisfying payoff, and the film features many fine performances. It's hard to believe that this is the same Fredric March who only five years later would play Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind—he looks about 20 years younger (and 50 pounds thinner) in this movie. Rating: 4/5.

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