The Desperate Hours

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The Desperate Hours

Released Oct 5, 1955

1h 52m

Crime

Drama

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88%

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8 Reviews

79%

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2,500+ Ratings

Three escaped felons (Humphrey Bogart, Dewey Martin, Robert Middleton) randomly target a suburban house to hide out in until midnight, when an accomplice plans to deliver them money. They take the entire family hostage -- but midnight comes and goes without a delivery. As their stay extends from hours into days, homeowner Dan Hilliard (Fredric March) complies with the felons' no-police demands to protect his wife and two children, while trying to plot an escape from the desperate situation.

Brigid Murnaghan

Village Voice

Desperate Hours is a surprisingly spine-chilling film, first class in every department from camera (Lee Garmes) to cast.

May 10, 2022

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Kathy Fennessy

Video Librarian Magazine

Though Bogart, March, and Wyler had a string of hits behind them, the film proved more popular with critics than audiences, possibly because the leads were considered past their prime, though Wyler and March had plenty of gas left in the tank.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 14, 2025

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

William Wyler's masterly filming of the Joseph Hayes thriller makes most of the earlier versions look like minor-league efforts. Fredric March, as the beleaguered father, gives one of the year's finest acting performances.

Oct 24, 2019

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

William Wyler's taut direction elevates this thriller, which stars Bogart in his last screen role and Fredric March; far superior to the 1991 remake.

Rated: B

Feb 2, 2013

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

An aged fiftysomething Humphrey Bogart is in his element as the snarling desperate fugitive, a role played on Broadway by the much younger Paul Newman.

Rated: C+

Jun 29, 2008

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Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 3/5

Apr 28, 2005

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Audience Member

Features a very old and tired Humphrey Bogart. Unique for the setting, only Indiana film noir I am aware of though Cagney probably shot some gangster movies set in Indiana. The scene with Bogart's brother in the diner towards the end was exceptionally well done, but much of the rest dragged on forever. At 113 minutes there just wasn't enough story to keep it moving. Could have just as easily been shot in the standard 76 minute film noir "B" movie length, maybe even shorter than that. But probably the biggest complaint concerns the shoot-out near the end. The cops surround the house armed with Thompson submachine guns, yet when they finally open up on the villians, the sound track is of a single Browning 50 caliber! At first I laughed, but then decided it was a pretty accurate proxy for how bad this movie is.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

11/05/24

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Steve D

Unpleasant but well done.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/07/24

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Ronald H

The best home invasion movie ever made.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/06/23

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Audience Member

I've enjoyed the three filmed interpretations of Joseph Hayes' book (one was a TV-movie). But, this is by far the best.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Based on the novel and Broadway play, The Desperate Hours is similar to another earlier Bogart film (The Petrified Forest) where he plays a prisoner holding good citizens hostage and railing against them for having unfair advantages that forced him to turn to a life of crime. The prisoners are envious and fearful of repectable educated people who they feel inferior to. Non stop suspense as the escaped convict Bogart and his two accomplices take over a middle class suburban home owned by a repectable husband, wife and two children and hold them hostage until they can escape without detection from the police who are trying to locate them. The husband is allowed to go to work so people won't be suspicious but the escapees threaten to hurt his family if he tells anyone. Great performances from Fredric March as the husband, Martha Scott as his wife, and Dewey Martin and big guy Robert Middleton as Bogart's accomplices. They tried to remake it with Mickey Rourke but that failed miserably. Absolutely suspensful and well worth watching.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great acting, great directing, great thriller. Bogart and March at the top of their game.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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William Wyler

Director

Humphrey Bogart

Glenn Griffin

Fredric March

Dan C. Hilliard

Martha Scott

Eleanor "Ellie" Hilliard

Arthur Kennedy

Deputy Sheriff Jesse Bard

Dewey Martin

Hal Griffin

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Synopsis

Three escaped felons (Humphrey Bogart, Dewey Martin, Robert Middleton) randomly target a suburban house to hide out in until midnight, when an accomplice plans to deliver them money. They take the entire family hostage -- but midnight comes and goes without a delivery. As their stay extends from hours into days, homeowner Dan Hilliard (Fredric March) complies with the felons' no-police demands to protect his wife and two children, while trying to plot an escape from the desperate situation.

Director: William Wyler
Producer: William Wyler
Screenwriter: Joseph Hayes
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 1955, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 52m

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