Fourteen Hours

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Fourteen Hours

1951,

1h 32m,

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

63%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Preparing to jump from the ledge of a skyscraper, Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart), a depressed young man, is spotted by police officer Charlie Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), who attempts to talk him down. Bringing in his dysfunctional parents (Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith) and girlfriend Virginia (Barbara Bel Geddes) only seems to exacerbate the situation. Meanwhile, the number of onlookers increases as the spectacle unfolds, profoundly affecting some in the crowd.

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Aug 26, 2006

4/5

A remarkably compact motion picture... those who have no memory of that or any similar case will find gripping suspense, absorbing drama and stinging social comment in this film.

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Vernon Young

Arizona Quarterly

Jan 22, 2024

Fourteen Hours offered the best opportunities for clean movie action and editing, but Henry Hathaway, the director, and Joe McDonald, cinematographer, were both inhibited by Paxton’s script which failed to establish a coherent point of view.

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André Bazin

L'Obs (France)

Dec 8, 2021

It all unfolds with too calculated an ease to qualify as a valid treatment of the subject.

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Manny Farber

The Nation

Nov 24, 2020

This spellbinder script by John Paxton is crammed with tricks and messages the size of dinosaur bones.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Sep 26, 2006

3/4

Simple yet strangely compelling...

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Sep 6, 2006

B-

It follows along the lines of Ace in the Hole by building most of the tension from the reaction shots of the bystanders.

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Feb 1, 2019

The best thrilling movie ever made!

Rey R

Aug 25, 2018

Paul Douglas (as underappreciated an actor as there ever was!) really holds down this drama about NYCPD's efforts to save a jumper on the 16th floor of a building in downtown Manhattan. Rich Basehart plays the jumper with loads of anxiety and the great Agnes Moorehead as his neurotic mom, demonstrating where the kid got it from. Decent.

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Henry Hathaway

Director

Paul Douglas

Ofcr. Charlie Dunnigan

Richard Basehart

Robert Cosick

Barbara Bel Geddes

Virginia Foster

Debra Paget

Ruth

Agnes Moorehead

Christine Hill Cosick

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Synopsis

Preparing to jump from the ledge of a skyscraper, Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart), a depressed young man, is spotted by police officer Charlie Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), who attempts to talk him down. Bringing in his dysfunctional parents (Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith) and girlfriend Virginia (Barbara Bel Geddes) only seems to exacerbate the situation. Meanwhile, the number of onlookers increases as the spectacle unfolds, profoundly affecting some in the crowd.

Director: Henry Hathaway
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter: John Paxton, Joel Sayre
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 1951, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2018
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.37:1)

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