There are few plays or musicals from the Broadway stage that end up becoming a Hollywood film the very same year, but one of those rare examples is the Tony Award winning play "The Desperate Hours" which spawned several imitations on film the very same year, most obviously "The Night Holds Terror". But as well done as the imitator was, it is the original that deserves praise, giving Humphrey Bogart his most sinister sociopathic criminal since "The Petrified Forest" and giving fellow Oscar Winning actor Frederic March an equally good role to sink his teeth into as the patriarch of the family whom escaped convicts Bogart and his gang terrorize. Martha Scott, an underrated actress of stage, screen and TV, best known for character parts (in spite of a leading lady career of such classics as the original film version of "Our Town" and "Cheers For Miss Bishop") plays his terrified, but ultimately brave wife, determined to do everything she can to protect teenaged daughter Murphy and precocious pre-teen son Richard Eyer. She even risks her own life at one point in a powerful scene where her frustration takes over her common sense.
Bogart's fellow escapees include his younger brother (Dewey Martin) and the coarse Robert Middleton, a large human monster who seems to take glee in the terror he poses on his victims, and in one of the more horrific scenes, drives an innocent elderly junk man to a presumed death. The terror on the junk man's face is powerful, briefly overcome by the determination to survive, and from that moment on, the audience is in the grips of the desire to see Middleton's character disposed of in the most violent of ways. Martin is a bit more sympathetic and gentle than his brother and Middleton, at one point stopping Middleton from attacking the attractive Murphy. But he's as much in this as the other two escapees, so his fate is sealed as far as the audience's desire is concerned. Bogart is the smartest of the trio, utilizing every precaution to ensure their survival, and suspicious of every little move that the family they are holding hostage (while still allowing them to go through their outside daily routines with the knowledge that housewife Scott will be in peril if anything should arise) to the point of even checking out Eyer's homework project just on the suspicion that he should be trying to alert his teacher to their situation.
The always outstanding March delivers another fierce performance, at one point telling his concerned secretary (Helen Kleeb) to mind her own business when she expresses concern over his apparent nervousness. Murphy's boyfriend (Gig Young) becomes concerned over her sudden distance, even on a date, while a local cop (Arthur Kennedy) who was involved in Bogart's initial arrest, nervously fidgets during these desperate hours with the knowledge that Bogart will be coming after him for Kennedy's having struck and scarred Bogart with the butt of his gun when arresting him. The little details all add up to make a truly intense hour and a half of gripping terror that showed society at its worst. The fact that this is an apparently true story makes it all the more suspenseful, brilliantly written for the screen by its own playwright Joseph Hayes and superbly directed by the legendary William Wyler. Pretty much everything about this film is outstanding. I originally saw this as a double bill with the same year's "We're No Angels" (also from Paramount) where Bogart played a more comical prison escapee who hides out in the home of store owners unaware of whom they are playing host to. The common denominator between the two films of the lives of escaped convicts has stood the test of time with me, so it is difficult to think of one film without thinking of the other.
Bogart's fellow escapees include his younger brother (Dewey Martin) and the coarse Robert Middleton, a large human monster who seems to take glee in the terror he poses on his victims, and in one of the more horrific scenes, drives an innocent elderly junk man to a presumed death. The terror on the junk man's face is powerful, briefly overcome by the determination to survive, and from that moment on, the audience is in the grips of the desire to see Middleton's character disposed of in the most violent of ways. Martin is a bit more sympathetic and gentle than his brother and Middleton, at one point stopping Middleton from attacking the attractive Murphy. But he's as much in this as the other two escapees, so his fate is sealed as far as the audience's desire is concerned. Bogart is the smartest of the trio, utilizing every precaution to ensure their survival, and suspicious of every little move that the family they are holding hostage (while still allowing them to go through their outside daily routines with the knowledge that housewife Scott will be in peril if anything should arise) to the point of even checking out Eyer's homework project just on the suspicion that he should be trying to alert his teacher to their situation.
The always outstanding March delivers another fierce performance, at one point telling his concerned secretary (Helen Kleeb) to mind her own business when she expresses concern over his apparent nervousness. Murphy's boyfriend (Gig Young) becomes concerned over her sudden distance, even on a date, while a local cop (Arthur Kennedy) who was involved in Bogart's initial arrest, nervously fidgets during these desperate hours with the knowledge that Bogart will be coming after him for Kennedy's having struck and scarred Bogart with the butt of his gun when arresting him. The little details all add up to make a truly intense hour and a half of gripping terror that showed society at its worst. The fact that this is an apparently true story makes it all the more suspenseful, brilliantly written for the screen by its own playwright Joseph Hayes and superbly directed by the legendary William Wyler. Pretty much everything about this film is outstanding. I originally saw this as a double bill with the same year's "We're No Angels" (also from Paramount) where Bogart played a more comical prison escapee who hides out in the home of store owners unaware of whom they are playing host to. The common denominator between the two films of the lives of escaped convicts has stood the test of time with me, so it is difficult to think of one film without thinking of the other.