Fourteen Hours (1951) User Reviews (51)

Absolutely Superb -- and What a Cast!

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 9 January 2007]

If I were in emotional distress, I would want someone like Paul Douglas to try to help me out. He was one of the best actors in Hollywood during his too-shirt career. Here he is superb as a compassionate traffic cop.

Richard Basehart plays a man threatening to jump from the ledge on a high floor of a hotel. Basehart was another of the best actors of the late 1940 and the fifties. He pulls off an almost totally stationary role very well. This is particularly intriguing given his vibrant, physical performance in "La Strada" a few years after this.

I had never heard of "Fourteen Hours" till it appeared at my neighborhood video store yesterday. Now, it is one of my top noirs. And that is saying a great deal.

Agnes Moorehead, another superb performer of the period, plays Basehart's mother. She engages in the same sorts of hysterics that are so memorable in "Citizen Kane" and particularly in "The Magnificent Ambersons." It's a very fine performance. What a shame that to the degree that she is known at all today, she is primarily known for her (admittedly mildly amusing role in the "Bewitched" series! Robert Keith is just the kind of father (in this role) who might have a confused, possibility suicidal son. Here he plays a mousy businessman. Two decades later, he was to be memorable in a totally different kind of role, in Don Siegel's "The Lineup"! Debra Paget is very appealing in a very small role that gets her fourth billing. Jeffrey Hunter is likable as the man in the crowd outside the hotel who falls for her.

This was Grace Kelly's first film role. She looks gorgeous and seems very poised. Her store, that of an onlooker on her way to divorcing her husband, is extraneous. Yes, it sets up a different kind of relationship to others and to the world from what the Basehart character has. But it is far from integral.

Barbara Bel Geddes is very likable as the girl who loves Basehart. She has a small but very significant role.

The movie is very sad. In a way, it is as if Tennessee Williams had written a very fine script for a thriller. We like many of the characters and are put off by others. But we're deeply moved by what goes on.

Yes

[watercrake · 7/10 · 11 October 2002]

Despite the distinction of being Grace Kelly's first film, (and she is quite good here), this film holds up with the best of the genre. It's one of those films that is incidentally seen by the casual channel surfer and, given five minutes, impossible to turn away from. This film is amazingly innovative in its premise and relies on character, (New York being as important as any other), and story to set the flow and tempo. There are deliciously cunning and unique character moments throughout a film that is, at the same time, full of contrivance and stereotypical sorts. (Do we really need to see another Irish-american policeman being negligent in his duties?). Yet, somehow all the parts equal a very solid whole and a very tense, sharply focussed and surprising film.

If you see this one on late-night tv as you flick through with your remote, be sure to stop and take a look. This one is a definite "yes".

Despite flaws, a fine little gem

[WilliamTelevision · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

Although this film traffics in some of the worst movie clichés (the good-hearted, potato-nosed Irish-American cop; the conventional--and tacked-on--Happy Ending(tm)), it manages to rise above them, thanks to fine acting, a gripping story, and excellent production values. (You feel teleported to the Manhattan of 1951.) The chemistry between Paul Douglas (as Officer Dunnegan) and an incredibly young Richard Basehart (as the suicidal young man) really drives the film. Basehart plays his part with a combination of brittleness and patrician airs that make his character believable. Douglas thankfully doesn't overplay his role; he has to be father-confessor to the young man while attempting to steer him away from thoughts of self-destruction. Some years after seeing this film, I read the non-fiction article that it is based on in an anthology (the article was originally published in The New Yorker as "The Man on the Ledge"). Let us just say that the ending of the article and the film diverge somewhat.

Suspense & Despair On The Ledge

[seymourblack-1 · 7/10 · 10 June 2011]

"Fourteen Hours" is a low budget offering with a simple plot and a relatively short running time but it's also an incredibly gripping drama about a disturbed young man who threatens to commit suicide by jumping off a skyscraper window ledge.

The story's based on the real life incident which involved John Wilson Warde who on 26 July 1938 leapt to his death from one of the highest window ledges of the Hotel Gotham in New York City. Director Henry Hathaway filmed the action in a style which was very realistic and made good use of some strikingly effective camera angles. His approach was also one which avoided any tasteless sensationalism or sentimentality.

Shortly after delivering breakfast to a hotel guest, a service waiter suddenly realises that the young man has stepped out onto the ledge outside of his room and is threatening to jump. The waiter reports what's happened to the hotel manager and at the same time, traffic cop Charlie Dunnigan (Paul Douglas) who is working on the street below, alerts his colleagues to what's going on before swiftly going up to the would be jumper's room. There Dunnigan poses as another hotel guest and starts a conversation with the troubled Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart) who despite Dunnigan's encouragement, refuses to step back into his room.

Soon, the police, newspaper reporters and a couple of psychiatrists arrive, Dunnigan is ordered back to his traffic duty and outside a large crowd gathers and radio and television crews quickly set up their equipment. The psychiatrists discover that Robert is unwilling to speak to anyone but Dunnigan and so he's duly called back to the scene by Deputy Chief Moksar (Howard Da Silva).

The police locate the young man's divorced parents but Robert only becomes more upset by the arrival of the hysterical Mrs Cosick (Agnes Moorehead) and also fails to communicate properly with his father (Robert Keith) from whom he's been estranged for many years. Next, Robert's ex-fiancée Virginia (Barbara Bel Geddes) is brought to the hotel but her intervention ultimately proves to be just as ineffective as that of his parents. Robert's predicament is eventually resolved but in a most unexpected way.

In "Fourteen Hours", the despair of a solitary man on the ledge provides a stark contrast to the frantic activity of the large number of people in his hotel room. Similarly, this man's lonely and desperate life or death situation is seen as insignificant in a large city where the onlookers who watch him simply regard the whole incident as a gross inconvenience and even take bets on what time he'll jump.

The story's subplots which involve a couple meeting in the crowd and falling in love and a woman changing her mind about proceeding with her planned divorce also emphasise how the lives of the city and its people drive relentlessly on because one person's crisis is totally insignificant in this kind of environment.

Robert Cosick is a man with a history of mental problems and his instability at the time of his crisis on the ledge is explained as being caused by the inadequacies of his parents and the way he was treated by them.

This movie has a cast who turn in some good performances but it's the contributions of Basehart and Douglas which really stand out. Basehart looks genuinely tormented and anxious and it's understandable that the strongest bond that he forms is with a man who has the type of qualities which would normally be associated with those of a conventional good natured father figure. Douglas is also excellent as the kindly and modest man who puts his sound personal qualities to good use in what for him is a very challenging situation.

A marvelous little unsung film.

[Honora · 22 February 1999]

I came across this film while changing channels. What stopped me was seeing such a young Richard Basehart. What kept me was the tense story. Most of it was confined to the building ledge and the room behind it. The background film was extraordinary. I think I've been able to pinpoint within 2 blocks where on Broadway this hotel was supposed to be. Another thing was the cast.

It seemed like they hadn't gone for "stars", just good actors. Ossie Davis, Jeffrey Hunter, Howard Da Silva (before the black- list), and Grace Kelly in her first film. I wish I could see it from the beginning.

Earnest And Well-Meaning...Only Partially Successful (SPOILER)

[secragt · 6/10 · 14 April 2003]

Others have commented accurately about the pitfalls of this interestingly premised but thinly executed jumper negotiation picture. Basehart is adequate and the hall of fame supporting cast (Jeffrey Hunter, Grace Kelly, Barb Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorehead, Debra Paget, Howard Da Silva etal) struggles gamely to avoid the dive into the pavement the script soon takes. Worth special mention, however, is the splendid perfomance by usual character actor Paul Douglas as Charlie Dunningham, rescuing this otherwise mediocre flick and making it watchable. Watch for a young Jeff Corey as a uniformed cop who mugs shamelessly but has little to do. How eerie that Grace Kelly and Jeffrey Hunter would both be cut down tragically so early in life.

SPOILER WARNING: Once you've seen this movie, consider that the original ending featured Basehart succeeding in his suicide but because of the tragically similar suicide of one of the producers' children the week this picture opened, the studio quickly pulled and re-edited the movie to settle on the happier ending as a gesture of sensitivity. The original much bleaker version is not known to exist but if you watch the ending carefully, you'll notice that the actor on the net is NOT Basehart, who was not available for reshooting at the last minute. A shame that the original version may not exist; the writer was capable of stingingly fatalistic noir and this might have been a much different movie had it been left intact.

Suicide drama in Manhattan

[barryrd · 7/10 · 1 March 2009]

Henry Hathaway is the director of Fourteen Hours, which stars Richard Baseheart as Robert Cosick, the young man threatening to jump from a Manhattan skyscraper. Paul Douglas is police officer Charlie Dunnigan who discovers the man and tries to talk him into coming off the ledge. The drama and setting are enhanced by the massive crowd of onlookers who are attracted by the great media circus playing out.

Douglas is supposed to be an older man but in fact was only seven years older than Baseheart, who at 37 played the role of a younger man. Douglas was a highly-competent supporting actor from the fifties who would have gone on to greater roles except for his death in 1959 at age 52. Other supporting actors are Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Cosick (the mother), Robert Keith (the father), Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, Martin Gable, Barbara Bel Geddes (the girlfriend) and others. Baseheart was something of a Hollywood idol in his day and died after completing the narration for the opening ceremonies of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

The story captures the skyline of New York, its people and media as the drama gives an air of immediacy to the suspense of whether or not the man will jump from the building. There are a number of close calls as various characters try to persuade the young man to come in off the ledge. It is Saint Patrick's Day and people have gathered in the streets for the parade but find themselves watching the disturbed character high above them. Day becomes night and one couple fall in love during the viewing of the ordeal. We learn about the boy's history, his upbringing, the parents, and the girlfriend.

The media show presents the young man as a sympathetic character with crowds warning him about the police as they move towards him overhead and women calling radio stations with proposals of marriage...a slice of New York at mid-century. The movie is still great entertainment today, if not quite up to the calibre of the movie The Naked City, made three years earlier.

Superb but oddly underrated little thriller.

[Oblomov-2 · 9/10 · 22 September 2008]

1951 seemed to be a year for films depicting rescue of an individual in peril; there were three such films - ACE IN THE HOLE, THE WELL and of course, FOURTEEN HOURS. All three were very good films but I like the last mentioned best. The camera-work from several different perspectives is superb, the involvement of the onlookers just right and the rescue efforts looked quite realistic. I disagree with comments that some situations and characters were clichéd; many major cities did have beefy Irish-American beat cops in the early 50s and so Paul Douglas' character is perfectly acceptable. Likewise, the 'good ending' is not necessarily traditional; after all, the rescue attempt would have been in progress for hours and the police were pulling out all stops. The odd thing is that although the film is available on DVD, it remains relatively unknown even among connoisseurs of Film Noir.

"I don't mind losing you, but I don't want a whole daisy chain of cops sailing out that window."

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 14 December 2020]

A normal beat cop, Officer Charles Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), is tasked with talking a would-be jumper off a ledge fifteen floors above the New York streets.

Overall, Fourteen Hours is an entertaining film with plenty of drama and tension. There are a couple of things that made the movie stand out to me. First, I was incredibly impressed with the way the film was put together by director Henry Hathaway. Fourteen Hours featured far more action than I expected from a film set on a 2'X4' ledge. All of the comings and goings in the hotel room attached to the ledge and everything going on on the street below help keep things interesting and moving. It's an amazing amount of activity for a little piece of concrete. And I was equally impressed with some of the camera work. There were moments filmed from the ledge looking down to the street below that made me feel as if I were there. My vertigo actually kicked in.

Second, the acting is superb. Paul Douglas, in particular, is excellent. He's so believable trying to talk the man off the ledge, all the while conveying the fact that he has no idea what he's doing. And you can see the real care in his voice and face as each new idea is brought forward. Really strong piece of acting. The rest of the cast is just as good, including: Richard Basehart as the confused man on the ledge and Agnes Moorehead as the overwrought mother. I also enjoyed spotting a few uncredited faces in the cast, like Russell Hicks, Harvey Lembeck, and Ossie Davis (especially proud of myself for this one).

Fourteen Hours is also known for being Grace Kelly's first film role. She's fine and all, but her storyline could have been cut without harming the film at all. That extra five minutes weren't really necessary. I won't say the same about the subplot featuring Jeffery Hunter and Debra Paget. Their "cute" little story made for a nice contrast to the drama on the ledge.

7/10

They sure made the most of an incredibly simple plot.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 10 January 2010]

FOURTEEN HOURS begins with Richard Basehart walking onto the ledge outside his hotel room. He's about to jump but can't quite bring himself to do it. A nearby cop (Paul Douglas) looks up and sees him on this ledge on the 15th floor and hurries over to the hotel to try to talk him out of jumping. Soon, his superiors come and relieve him--they'll work on trying to get Basehart down and Douglas simply isn't trained for this sort of thing. However, the so-called experts don't seem to get through to them, so they get Douglas back--after all, he had developed some rapport with the jumper. Soon, a series of family members are brought to help out, though in hindsight his mother (Agnes Moorehead) visiting was probably NOT the best idea. Does he jump or does he chose life? And, why in the first place did he decide to end it all? See for yourself to find out--you won't be sorry you did.

This film has one of the simpler plots I can think of--yet it all seemed to work very well. This is because the film was written so very well and the actors managed to make the most of it--especially Douglas as a sort of "everyman" cop. Taut direction, excellent lighting and a first-class production all around sure helped. Who would have thought such a deceptively ordinary idea could be handled so well?

Huge and familiar cast can't rescue mechanical jumper-on-a-ledge drama

[bmacv · 6/10 · 13 October 2002]

On St. Patrick's Day, Richard Basehart orders a room-service breakfast in a Manhattan hotel. He isn't very hungry, though. While the waiter fumbles for change, Basehart scrambles out onto the window ledge where he'll spend the next 14 hours threatening to jump. That it's St. Patrick's Day has little to do with much of anything except to make us wonder how he could light his cigarettes, using matches no less, several stories up in the air in a midtown canyon on March 17.

Alerted by a hair-raising shriek from a woman across the way, traffic cop Paul Douglas is the first on the scene. He strikes a rapport with Basehart and tries to talk him down (or rather in), but when the bumbling police arrive in force, under Howard Da Silva's command, he's dismissed. But Basehart wants him back. As the 14 hours tick by, an assortment of people traipse in and out of his room: his shrew of a mother (Agnes Moorehead), his defeated father (Robert Keith), his former fiancee (Barbara Bel Geddes).

Down in the street and in the surrounding buildings things happen, too: cabbies make book on when he'll jump, a young couple meets and falls in love. Grace Kelly's screen debut circles the plot like a remote satellite: she's on her way to finalize her divorce but, caught up in the drama of the would-be jumper, changes her mind. (Why that plot strand didn't end up on the cutting room floor remains a puzzle.) Meanwhile (as in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole/The Big Carnival of the same year), a three-ring media circus gets underway.

There's enough going on in Henry Hathaway's movie to keep you watching, but your heart stays well south of your throat. The big-town microcosm stays strictly by the numbers and resolutely conventional. There are plenty of characters, but not much glue to stick them together. (Screenwriter John Paxon's best days – Murder My Sweet, Cornered, Crossfire – were behind him.)

Basehart made something of a speciality of the clean-cut misfit (He Walked by Night, Tension) but he never gnaws close to the root of his crisis – it wasn't written for him. Bel Geddes, Moorehead and especially Kelly try to cope with the sketched-in roles they're given. That leaves the ever reliable and amiable Douglas to bring some warmth and characterization to this impersonal and mechanical movie. He succeeds, even though the perverse Paxon, who omits the obligatory sequence when the crowd starts chanting `Jump! Jump! Jump!,' gives the line to Douglas instead. And of course, according to the mainstream logic of the screenplay, that kick in the pants is just what Basehart needed, as though he were an unruly kid screaming for attention.

Paul Douglas carries this film

[donofthedial · 8/10 · 27 January 2009]

It's been perhaps 15 years since I have seen this picture and despite the strong and competent cast of Hollywood favorites, it's Paul Douglas who carries this film on the strength of the sincerity and warmth he brings to his character.

Paul Douglas was 42 years old, entering middle age, before he made his first film of any consequence in 1949.

He came from a long career in radio as a very popular announcer at CBS in the 1930s and 1940s who was often the man at the mic for the Glenn Miller show for Chesterfield cigarettes. With Judy Holliday, he scored a major Broadway success in BORN YESTERDAY (though the film role went to Broderick Crawford). He was signed to a contract by 2oth Century-Fox and spent most of the next ten years successfully appearing in dramas, comedies, fantasies and even some science fiction before passing away prematurely in 1959.

FOURTEEN HOURS is typical of the appeal he brought to his many films. It's based upon a true incident, though the film is opened up for the sake of the large and screen-worthy cast.

Paul Douglas is a NYC cop pounding a beat who gets the call of a jumper on the 14th floor ledge of a downtown building. Once the experts appear, Douglas is sent back on the beat, but turns out the potential jumper doesn't want to talk to them. He wants to talk 'to that cop who was here before'. They find him, bring him back and the story continues from there.

It's not a faultless film, but that doesn't matter. It's a great period piece and a showcase for Douglas.

Excellent direction and camera work, including location shooting in a NYC long vanished.

I recommend it without reservation.

And cheers for Paul Douglas who has never gotten the acclaim he deserves.

The script isn't as incisive as it should have been, though the narrative is tightly wound...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 5 November 2009]

Nervous young man visiting New York City stands on the ledge outside his fifteenth-floor hotel room window threatening to jump; the first cop on the scene, a "flat foot" working stiff, establishes a connection with the kid just before the whole incident boils over into a media circus. Despite a disclaimer at the beginning, this was indeed based upon a true story, and John Paxton's screenplay (expanded from an early draft by Joel Sayre) admirably wastes little time at setting the viewers' nerves on edge. Unfortunately, the budding confidence the cop initiates with the suicidal man isn't really developed--and, possibly in an editing mistake, he seems to know more about the guy's situation than he should be privy to. Paxton sets up several story threads within the large crowd gathering below on the street, but these relationships (particularly between the jaded cab drivers) are equally tepid. Strong central performances do bolster the melodrama, particularly by Paul Douglas as the good-hearted traffic officer (it's really Douglas' movie), Richard Basehart as the man on the ledge, and Howard da Silva as the police chief. Many famous, likable character actors pop up in support, as well as Grace Kelly in her film debut. Involving and intense, though sharper attention to detail and character might have turned the proceedings from good to great. **1/2 from ****

The Scriptwriter should have jumped...

[JasparLamarCrabb · 4/10 · 1 October 2006]

FOURTEEN HOURS is a little too low-key for its own good. You want to like it the way you embrace such films as Kazan's PANIC IN THE STREETS or Preminger's BABY FACE, but it's just too boring. Richard Basehart is a distraught man perched on the fifteenth floor ledge of a NYC hotel. Paul Douglas is the flatfoot trying to talk him down. Director Henry Hathaway kicks things off quickly, but the movie drags by the mid-point when Basehart's divorced parents show up. Robert Keith is his ne'er do well father and Agnes Moorehead is his headline grabbing mother. They both overact and do little to help the movie along. Basehart is good and so is Douglas, although their dialog is pretty silly. Martin Gabel plays a psychiatrist in such a grave manner that his psychobabble, circa 1951, comes off as fairly goofy. It hasn't aged well! Barbara Bel Geddes plays Basehart's ex-girlfriend and proves in one scene that she's really incapable of giving a bad performance. Howard Da Silva proves once again that his IS capable of being bad as Douglas's crusty yet benign superior. A number of subplots crop up among the bystanders. Grace Kelly is pretty striking as a soon to be divorcée. Look fast for the likes of Ossie Davis and Joyce Van Patten.

He Ain't Superman

[dougdoepke · 8 March 2009]

A movie like this presents a real challenge. After all, the producers have got what amounts to a single set, two main characters, and 90 minutes to fill. So to please ticket-buying customers, they better come up with something good. Fortunately, they do. The plot is a literal cliffhanger or maybe skyscraper is more apt--- will a suicidal young Richard Basehart jump from his 20th floor ledge or not. He certainly has audiences on both sides of the screen glued to the suspense, at the same time city police try to convince him it's better to be an unhappy bi-ped than a bird without wings. Good thing that the producers also come up with one of the best young actors of the time--- Basehart, who acts just foggy enough to teeter on a ledge and play Hamlet. Then there's that genial roughneck Paul Douglas as the cop who tries to persuade him that it's really better to be than not-to-be.

Note how ace studio director Hathaway keeps the hotel room bustling so that the static ledge shots don't become boring. Also, note how TV is competing with radio coverage at a time when the tube was just beginning to take off. Then there're the subplots that take the pulse of the city. The cynical cabbies do offer comic relief. But, frankly, I could have done without the young lovers, Paget and Hunter, who appear better suited to a Pepsi commercial, or the Grace Kelly soap opera that comes across as trite and unimaginative. But I guess the producers figured a variety of relief was needed. Also, I can see from the close-ups why Hitchcock liked Barbara Bel Geddes (Virginia). She pulls off the really difficult task of being sweetly wholesome without drowning the part in sugar.

All in all, there's enough skill and craftsmanship in this TCF production to keep even digital- age audiences on the edge of their seat.

It's when the army said he was no good that made it official

[kapelusznik18 · 7/10 · 2 February 2016]

***SPOILERS*** It's when the crazy mixed up Robert "Bobby" Cousick, decided to take a stroll on the ledge of the 15th floor of the Rodney Hotel on Saint Patrick's Day no less that had the entire downtown section of Manhattan came to a complete halt. The crazy guy had a number of family and girlfriend issues that drove him to try to off or kill himself but it was traffic cop on his morning coffee brake Charlie Dunnigan, Paul Douglas, who came on the scene trying to talk him out of doing himself in. As tension builds up thousands of new Yorkers as well as tourists gathered beneath the hotel to watch the show including two star struck lovers Ruth & stock and box boy Danny Kempner, Debra Paget & Jeffery Hunter, who ends up talking a walk down Wall Street arm and arm by the time the show or movie is finally over. There was also a bunch of taxi drivers taking bets when Cousick would take his fatal dive just to pass, since they weren't doing any business anyway, the time of day that after 14 hours went into the night.

Up on the 15th floor Dunnigan does his best to talk Cousick out of killing himself but is interrupted by police top head shrinker or psychiatrist Dr. Strauss, Martin Gable, who's advice in what he should do, get in touch with his inner feelings, makes things worse not better. That as well as Cousick's parents his drama queen mom Christine, Agnes Moorehead, as just sobering up dad after spending all night in a local bar Paul, Robert Keith, who's very presents makes Cousick far more willing to off himself then not jumping. Finally we get to see the reason for Cousick's demented actions when his girlfriend Virginia Foster, Barbara Del Geddes, is brought in to talk some sense into his confused head.

***SPOILERS***It was Virginia who finally got to Cousick but as usual the police, with the exception of Officer Dunnigan,almost blew it by jumping the gun as he was about to come back into his hotel room setting up the exciting final heart dropping, of many, scene in the movie. Look for a young 21 year old Grace Kelly as Louise Ann Fuller who by watching all the action provided by Cousick from her lawyers office decided not to divorce her husband Thomas, James Warren, by seeing that some people in the world have far more problems that she and her husband do!

P.S The movie was based on 26 year old John Warde who jumped to his death off the 17th floor of the Hotel Gotham on July 26, 1938. That after his sister made an off color remark about his mental status that drove him off the edge as well as the edge of the 17th floor of the hotel.

Being and Nothingness.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 20 March 2009]

This is, I think, what they called a "high concept" film. Let's have a young man climb out on the ledge of a New York hotel and build up a back story about his tsuris and at the same time tell small tales of the diverse witnesses to the guy's dilemma.

That precisely how the movie moves along from point to point, a little mechanically, but suspenseful and engaging. It's professionally handled by Henry Hathaway, a director who probably had little sympathy for a temperamentally unstable fellow who couldn't handle his hysterical and self-indulgent Mamma, Agnes Moorehead.

The goods are delivered. Most of the work is done by Richard Basehart as the would-be suicide and Paul Douglas as the traffic cop who befriends him and alternately wheedles and lambastes him.

Movies mavens will be left agog after they see the list of supporting and bit players, many uncredited, who were to go on to climb to dazzling heights in Hollywood, either as stars or as indispensable supports -- Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeff Corey, Brian Keith, Richard Beymer, and John Cassavetes among them.

The movie doesn't wallow in easy sentiment. It's pretty tough-minded. But a modern treatment, if it had any pretense to realism, would be far more cynical. The only characters here who exploit Basehart's impending self destruction are a nutty preacher who naturally belongs to no recognized church, a cabbie who organizes a pool to bet on when Basehart jumps, and of course the press. But nobody in the streets complains that a weakling like Basehart, who is probably a sissy just out for attention, deserves to die. And if any of the bystanders jumps up and down yelling, "Jump! Jump!", it must have been while I was in a period of microsleep. In 1951, it's my impression, Americans in general weren't so anxious to see a sensational splash on Broadway, not even New Yorkers.

Worth catching.

"I'm holding up the parade, I guess."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 25 November 2016]

What might be more fascinating to me than the psychological drama playing out between the man on the ledge and the beat cop trying to talk him down, is the cross section of humanity on the street below with disparate views on how to interpret the situation. They range from the compassionate woman Ruth (Debra Paget) who skips work to voice moral support for the troubled man, right up to the cynical cab drivers making book on how soon Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart) will jump. Never let it be said that it's only modern times in which callous disregard for human life could rear it's ugly head if a dollar could be made off it. Or in this case, twelve 'tax free' bucks for the dubious winner of the suicide pool.

The event takes place on St. Patrick's Day in the Big City, lending some backdrop to Officer Dunnigan's (Paul Douglas) efforts to reason with the young man contemplating his one way mission. As the story unfolds, we learn that Cosick's family life was roiled by a mother (Agnes Moorehead) who didn't want him, and an alcoholic father who left because of the constant carping and complaining. The police shrink brought in on the case laid out a fairly well rationalized life pattern for the suicidal man, but it sounded just a bit too pat for my understanding, even if he hit the highlights.

Nice support work here from a cast filled with future luminaries of the movie and TV screen, with a young Grace Kelly in her first film appearance, Barbara Bel Geddes, Howard Da Silva, Frank Faylen and Jeff Corey. And while troubled relationships remain the focus of the story, it's interesting that love blossoms down below on the streets of the city as the compassionate Rita is won over by the earnest entreaties of a co-worker who consistently misses her by a half hour each morning on the way in to the office. It looked to me like Jeffrey Hunter and Miss Paget would have made a nice couple.

14 Hours Very Good But Didn't He Have to Use the Bathroom? ***1/2

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 21 March 2009]

Richard Basehart was absolutely fabulous here as we feel his nervousness, his detachment from life, his hopelessness, and other problems.

Paul Douglas, as the cop who Basehart is able to talk to, is great here. Ironically, in so many films Douglas always played the loud-mouthed person you could never count on to calm someone down.

Agnes Moorehead gives a gem of a performance as the emotionally unbalanced, distraught mother. She blends into this performance a similarity to "Magnificent Ambersons" and can still be that holy terror as she displayed as Minnie in "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte."

The picture again deals with mob psychology with some people anxiously awaiting Basehart to take the fatal plunge.

Sidebars include Jeffrey Hunter and Debra Paget, as a young couple who meet among the mob and Grace Kelly, about to divorce her husband before this drama gives her a new lease on life and she is willing to try to sustain the marriage.

Barbara Bel Geddes appears briefly as Virginia, the girlfriend to Robert (Baseheart) She is effective here.

Martin Gabel's role as the psychologist fascinated me. How could he judge so soon after a brief meeting what the Moorehead and Robert Keith characters were all about? That was a little too far-fetched.

Overall, a gripping drama showcasing the living of life to its fullest.

A Very Good Film

[Easygoer10 · 7/10 · 6 June 2019]

Richard Basehart is terrific in this. "Man on a Ledge" (2012), starring Sam Worthington is an almost identical setting, although for completely different reasons. This is a must see.

Tight and engaging thriller

[The_Void · 8/10 · 15 August 2009]

Unlike most films that considered 'noir', this one does not focus on the police or criminals; but on a man attempting suicide and the attempts by the authorities to talk him out of it. The film reminded me a lot of the 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon for it's portrayal of a media circus. The centre of the film is really very simple and most of the focus is on the lead character, meanwhile we learn more about him and watch the various attempts to stop him committing suicide. The film gets straight into its plot and we watch a man step out onto a hotel balcony. Somebody sees it and a local traffic cop makes the call to his higher ups. He also goes and sees the guy on the window ledge and has a little chat with him. More police and some doctors then turn up, but the man on the ledge insists he'll only talk to the traffic cop and so he's called back in to help the situation. The reasons for the attempted suicide are slowly unveiled; meanwhile we also get to see the reactions of the various people on the ground.

The film is very well directed by Henry Hathaway, who manages to constantly ensure that his simple plot is constantly fascinating. The dialogue between the central characters is good, and the psychology presented by the various doctors is also interesting. Richard Basehart takes the lead role and manages to convince the audience that he's going to commit suicide; although he does constantly sound drunk. He has a good rapport with Paul Douglas, who 'befriends' him during the ordeal. The support cast includes the likes of Agnes Moorehead and Grace Kelly. The central plot is fleshed out by some smaller stories of the people on the ground, and the film portrays some good that comes of the central situation. This is an interesting idea, though it has to be said that the way it is portrayed feels somewhat pretentious. The film flows well throughout and the running time passes quickly up until the ending, which is really quite predictable; but still it works well. Overall, Fourteen Hours is an excellent thriller and comes highly recommended.

How to entertain an entire metropole for a day?

[Coventry · 7/10 · 10 November 2023]

Based on an incident that really took place on 26th of July 1938, "Fourteen Hours" is the story of something that can only be described as a mere footnote in the history of New York City. I don't want to sound insensitive, but one single suicide - tragic as it may be - in a metropole like NYC is hardly a newsworthy event. The circumstances and media circus that came with it, however, are definitely newsworthy.

Early one morning, just after having ordered breakfast service, twenty-something Robert Cosick decides to open the widow of his room on the fourteenth floor and stand on the ledge overlooking New York. Random traffic cop Charlie Dunnigan is the first person who tries to talk Cosick out of the idea of jumping, and for the next fourteen hours Dunningan is also the only person Cosick wants to listen to, despite an army of police superiors and specialized doctors rushing to the scene. Meanwhile, below on the streets, a mob gathers to get a good view on the spectacle.

"Fourteen Hours" works most effectively as a biting social satire. Hardly any New Yorker truly cares about what drove poor Robert Cosick to his despair, or even whether he will jump or not. They just seek sensation, and the kick of being able to say "they were there" when that guy jumped. Bizarre social behavior manifest itself among all types of audiences; taxi drivers place bets, journalists only interview the most hysterical people, religious nuts sneak into the hotel, and psychiatrists with enormous egos fanatically insist on sharing their theories. Heck, strangers in the crowd even meet and fall in love! The reactions and behaviors of the bystanders make "Fourteen Hours" a compelling and entertaining 50s film, because - quite honestly - the suspense and drama surrounding Robert Cosick himself isn't working too well. You never truly believe that he will jump, even though the person on who the story is based, actually did.

All New York getting mobilized in a potential suicide case

[clanciai · 10/10 · 14 July 2018]

This is Richard Baseheart's film, making one of his many very odd characters, of which this one may be the most spectacular. Although he really doesn't appear in many scenes, the show is actually stolen by all the others, especially by Paul Douglas, who makes one of his best performances as well, - the scenes in which Richard really acts couldn't be more convincing of a man at the end of his tether, his life in ruins, his character shattered from the beginning, all shaking nerves and capable of being fatally upset by any unpleasant detail. Agnes Moorehead plays his mother, and although she is not much seen either, she makes a tremendous dominance of her part. Out of a small incident, Henry Hathaway makes an overwhelming epic of almost universal dimensions, as almost all New York gets involved. As the film states in the end, this happens almost every day, people and authorities, the police and fire brigade are used to it and know how to handle it, which doesn't make it less of a fatally dramatic emergency every time it does happen. Even though the police and firemen are all professionals and know what to do, nothing can stop mistakes from being committed, and here a tremendous lot of people are involved in them, including a preacher, vulture journalists, a league of doctors, bookmakers, irresponsible youngsters adding to the mess, there are a lot of minor dramas in this film, adding it to Henry Hathaway's already fine collection of semi-documentaries, among which this is definitely one of the best. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

'Oldie but goodie' wins no awards for tolerance of 'alternative lifestyles'

[Turfseer · 7/10 · 17 December 2009]

The DVD contains some interesting commentary by film noir expert Foster Hirsch. His basic thesis is that what 14 Hours is really about is a crisis over masculinity. Hirsch argues that the subtext of the film is that the Richard Basehart character ("Robert Cosick") is gay but in 1951, Hollywood was not permitted to deal with such gay themes explicitly. Hirsch makes some good points particularly in his description of Charlie Dunnigan, the down-to-earth cop (convincingly played by Paul Douglas) who is set up as a well-adjusted family man in contrast to the tormented Cosick.

14 Hours works on two levels. The primary level is the attempt by Dunnigan to get Cosick off the ledge and prevent him from killing himself. It's interesting that it's immediately apparent that Dunnigan has established a rapport with Cosick but the higher-ups (represented by the Police Captain played by Howard DaSilva) sends Dunnigan back to the street. Only once the two 'professionals' (the psychologists) are brought to the scene and realize that Cosick will only speak to Dunnigan that the brass have to eat crow and bring their 'inferior' back up to negotiate.

If the whole movie was just Dunnigan trying to sway Cosick, things would get pretty boring after awhile. But Screenwriter John Paxton mixes things up nicely by bringing in the three family members who try and coax the errant son/husband back to reality. Agnes Moorehead probably has the most interesting part in the movie as Cosick's semi-demented mother who just can't cut the strings. Then there's the passive alcoholic father played by Robert Keith (the real life father of well known actor, Brian Keith) who comes off as much more genuine than the spotlight-grabbing mother. Barbara Bel Geddes has the thankless role of being the good 'wife' who deep down knows she'll never have a sexual relationship with her husband ever again. There are other characters that add to the film's verisimilitude high above street level: the slew of cops who are continually trying to physically remove Cosick from his perch as well as the obsessed preacher, the 'man of God' who sabotages the rescue plan almost culminating in disaster!

The second level takes place 'below' the main action. On the street level, we're introduced to a group of 'everyman' characters. One of them is Mrs. Fuller (in Grace Kelly's first screen role). She's on her way up to her attorney to finalize divorce proceedings. Then there's the down-to-earth 'Ruth' (played by Debra Paget) who meets Danny (played by Jeffrey Hunter of 'King of Kings fame') in the gathering crowd who are staring up at the great passion play above. There's also a group of taxicab drivers (one of them is Ossie Davis in his first screen role) who represent the various ethnic types found in NYC. They cynically place bets on the exact time they expect Cosick to jump. Finally, there's the media—the reporters, both print and TV journalists who are covering the media event. Suffice it to say, the 'media' does not come off very well in this film.

14 Hours has a gripping story that moves along at a brisk pace. You'll find out from the DVD commentary that most if was filmed on a Hollywood sound stage but through expert editing, the NY scenes were inserted to make it look like the entire film was filmed in New York City. As I mentioned before, I agree with Foster Hirsch's central thesis that this is a film about a guy who doesn't trust his masculinity. Some of Hirsch's theories go a little too far, especially when he suggests that the Woolworth Building in the background is a phallic symbol. Furthermore I disagree with his view that the film takes a dim view of the psychologist who provides the 'psychological' explanation of Cosick's malady. Quite the contrary, psychoanalysis was all the rage at that time, especially in the movies, so when the explanation is offered that Cosick is suffering from an "Oedipal Complex', and all his family members are depicted as contributing to Cosick's neurosis, it appears that the filmmakers seem to embrace that line of reasoning.

14 Hours loses a bit of its luster with it advocacy of what it believes is 'normal'. While Cosick is saved, it's quite obvious that he'll always be 'damaged goods'. But most of the other characters get to live 'happily ever after'. The 'normal' couple go off in the sunset hand in hand, presumably to begin a 'normal' (1951 style) sexual relationship. Grace Kelly realizes that divorce isn't the answer and even the taxi drivers walk away from the most cynical of their lot. Dunnigan meets up with his son and we get a peek of his doting wife waiting outside the revolving doors at the front of the hotel.

14 Hours will never win awards for tolerance of 'alternative lifestyles'. But as a taut, gripping, little thriller, it can be surely termed an 'oldie but goodie'.

Don't jump at the chance to see this one

[hall895 · 5/10 · 22 August 2013]

A man climbs out onto the ledge outside his 15th-floor hotel room and threatens to jump. And then...nothing. As you can guess from the film's title this is not a situation that is going to be resolved quickly. This guy's going to be out on that ledge for quite a while. Knowing that we're a long way from any kind of a resolution drains much of the drama out of the film. There is the sense that the film is just biding time until it stretches itself out to proper feature length at which point something can actually happen. For much too much of this film's running time there is nothing going on. The initial shock of the man on the ledge dissipates quickly and then things become rather mundane and dull.

Richard Basehart plays Robert Cosick, the man on the ledge, but it is Paul Douglas, playing the cop trying to talk him back inside, who is the real star of the film. Douglas brings some warmth and personality to the proceedings. His character, Charlie Dunnigan, is just an ordinary traffic cop who is able to reach Robert in a way all the supposedly smarter folks with all their psychobabble cannot. There's some good interplay between Dunnigan and Robert, performed wonderfully by Douglas and reasonably well by Basehart. Oddly though we end up sympathizing more with the cop than with the guy out on the ledge. We never really get to know Robert Cosick which definitely hurts the film. Eventually characters are brought in to try to explain who he is and what may have driven him to this point. But those characters don't help the film much. Agnes Moorehead plays Robert's mother who turns out to be an absolutely miserable, entirely unsympathetic character. The father shows up too and he's a total dud. By the time a character with some actual value to the story does show up it is too late to save a film which has become a bit of a snooze. The film may be only 90 minutes or so long but honestly it feels like 14 hours at times, it really drags. There's only so much you can do with a guy standing on a ledge for 14 hours. Some characters who have nothing to do with the situation are tossed in and they end up being nothing more than time-wasters. There's a group of cabbies betting on when Robert will jump. There's a young man trying to woo a pretty young woman he just met while they were both gawking at the spectacle. And, in her first film role, there's Grace Kelly playing a woman who rather bizarrely makes a life-altering decision based on the fact she sees some guy she doesn't know standing out on that ledge. The performances by Kelly and by Jeffrey Hunter and Debra Paget playing the young would-be couple are fine but their characters add nothing of value to the film. It's a film which begins with a shocking opening but which soon fizzles out. And after biding its time in rather boring fashion when the end comes it's not the big, dramatic finish you would hope for. The ending is very contrived and, like so much else about the film, very disappointing. Aside from a notably fine performance by Douglas there is not much to recommend you spending 90 minutes watching 14 Hours.