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      The Desperate Hours

      Released Oct 5, 1955 1 hr. 52 min. Crime Drama List
      88% 8 Reviews Tomatometer 79% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score 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. Read More Read Less

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      Audience Reviews

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      Steve D Unpleasant but well done. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/07/24 Full Review Ronald H The best home invasion movie ever made. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/06/23 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Audience Member An excellent suspense thriller with great acting from Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. Bogart goes out in style in one of his last films. (First and only viewing - 12/1/2016) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Desperate Hours

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (8) Critics Reviews
      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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 4/5 Jul 19, 2005 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 3/5 Apr 28, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      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
      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
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