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Fourteen Hours

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For the 2005 film, see 14 Hours (2005 film).
Fourteen Hours
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHenry Hathaway
Screenplay byJohn Paxton
Based onThe Man on the Ledge
1949 short story
by Joel Sayre
Produced bySol C. Siegel
StarringPaul Douglas
Richard Basehart
Barbara Bel Geddes
Debra Paget
Agnes Moorehead
Robert Keith
CinematographyJoseph MacDonald
Edited byDorothy Spencer
Music byAlfred Newman
Distributed byTwentieth Century-Fox
Release dates
  • March 6, 1951 (1951-03-06) (New York)
  • April 27, 1951 (1951-04-27) (Los Angeles)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Fourteen Hours is a 1951 American drama directed by Henry Hathaway that tells the story of a New York City police officer trying to stop a despondent man from jumping to his death from the 15th floor of a hotel.

The film stars Richard Basehart, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Debra Paget. It also marked the screen debut of Grace Kelly and Jeffrey Hunter, who appear in small roles.[1]

The screenplay was written by John Paxton based on an article by Joel Sayre in The New Yorker describing the 1938 suicide of John William Warde.

Plot

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A room-service waiter at a New York City hotel is horrified to discover that the young man to whom he has just delivered breakfast is standing on the narrow ledge outside his room on the 15th floor. Charlie Dunnigan, a policeman on the street below, unsuccessfully tries to convince the man to return to the safety of the hotel. m off the ledge to no avail. When the man on the ledge will not speak to psychiatrists, Dunnigan, coached by a psychiatrist, tries to relate to the man on the ledge on a human basis.

The police identify the man as Robert Cosick and locate his mother, but her overwrought, hysterical behavior only upsets Cosick and seems to drive him closer to jumping. His father, whom his mother has taught him to despise, arrives and argues with his mother over old family issues. Dunnigan seeks to reconcile Cosick with his father and forces Mrs. Cosick to reveal the identity of Virginia, Cosick's estranged fiancée whose name he had mentioned. While this is happening, a curious crowd is gathering on the street.

After a while, Dunnigan convinces Cosick that everyone will leave the hotel room so that he can rest. As Cosick leaves the ledge and begins to enter the room, a crazy evangelist sneaks into the room, frightening Cosick back to the ledge. This damages his trust in Dunnigan, as does an effort by police to descend from the roof and grab him. As night falls, Virginia is brought to the room, and she unsuccessfully pleads with Cosick to climb back through the window. The police are working to grab Robert and place a net below him.

Dunnigan seems to make a connection with Cosick when he talks about the good things in life, and he promises to take Cosick fishing. Cosick is about to come inside when a boy on the street accidentally lights a spotlight that blinds Cosick, and he falls from the ledge. He manages to grab a net that the police had placed below him, and he is hauled into the hotel. Dunnigan is greeted by his wife and son.[2]

Cast

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Production

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Factual basis

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Although the onscreen credits contain a statement saying that the film and characters depicted were "entirely fictional," the film was based on the suicide of John William Warde, a 26-year-old man who jumped from the 17th floor of the Gotham Hotel in Manhattan on Tuesday, July 26, 1938 after 14 hours on a ledge. The character of Charlie Dunnigan was based on Charles V. Glasco, a policeman who tried to convince Warde to return to the safety of the hotel.[1][3][4] In the film, various details about Glasco's life were fictionalized.

Pretending to be a bellhop at the hotel, Glasco entered room 1714 and tried to persuade Warde that he would be fired if Warde did not exit the ledge. Glasco spoke with Warde intermittently for 14 hours. Warde, who had made previous suicide attempts, also heard pleas from his sister. Glasco had convinced Warde to return to the hotel, but a photographer scared him as he was reentering. As a result, Warde jumped off of the ledge at 10:38 p.m. Police had tried to rig a net below him, but the net could not be extended sufficiently from the hotel to block his fall. During his 14 hours on the ledge, traffic was stopped for blocks around the hotel and thousands watched the drama unfold.[3][5]

Script

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Writer Joel Sayre wrote about the Warde suicide in The New Yorker in an article entitled "That Was New York: The Man on the Ledge", which was published on April 16, 1949. The story was purchased by Twentieth Century-Fox in April 1949 and the studio assigned Sol C. Siegel to produce the film.[6][7] In August 1949, Fox announced that the team of James Gow and Arnaud d'Usseau, who had written the Broadway hits Tomorrow, the World!, and Deep Are the Roots, would write the script.[8] In January 1950, Fox assigned screenwriter John Paxton to write the script, which was entirely fictional despite the real-life event.[9][4] Paxton elected against employing flashbacks to explain what had led the lead character onto the ledge.[10]

Twentieth Century-Fox changed the title in April 1950 from The Man on the Ledge to Fourteen Hours following a request from Warde's mother, who wished to distance the film from her son's story. Studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck considered changing the film's setting to another city for the same reason, but it was ultimately filmed in New York.[1]

Director

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Howard Hawks refused to direct the film because of its subject matter.[11][12] He was only interested in directing if the script could be converted into a Cary Grant comedy, but Fox declined.[13] Henry Hathaway was assigned to the project in April 1950.[14]

Casting

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Sayre's story was originally purchased as a vehicle for Richard Widmark, who was to play Cosick, with Robert Wagner to play the role of Danny.[1] The role of Cosick was awarded to Richard Basehart, who had achieved stage fame in The Hasty Heart and had just signed a long-term contract with Fox.[10] As early as August 1949, Paul Douglas was announced for the role of Dunnigan.[15] Grace Kelly, previously known for appearing in The Father on stage, made her film debut in Fourteen Hours, besting Anne Bancroft for the role.[6] Barbara Bel Geddes, who plays Cosicl's love interest, would not appear in another film until Vertigo seven years later.

Hathaway hired more than 300 actors to play bit parts and serve as extras.[6]

Filming

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Filming began in New York City in June 1950 with a modest budget and lasted 50 days.[1][16][6] Much of the filming occurred on Broadway in Manhattan, including exteriors at the American Exchange National Bank building at 128 Broadway.[17][6] Basehart's stunt double on the ledge of the building was Richard Lacovara. There was a padded platform below Lacovara, but it was removed for some shots.[10] Basehart had to endure more than 300 hours on the ledge himself with little movement, despite having a sprained ankle and poison oak rashes on his legs.[6] His wife died of cancer during production of the film.[6]

Grace Kelly was noticed during a visit to the set by Gary Cooper, who subsequently starred with her in High Noon.[18]

In the film's original ending, Cosick falls to his death (as did John Warde in the real-life incident). However, on July 17, 1950, Fox president Spyros Skouras's 23-year-old daughter Chickie fell to her death from the roof of the Fox West Coast Building. Although authorities were unsure whether the fall was accidental, the woman had recently been treated for mental illness.[19] After Skouras watched a preview version of the film, he refused to release it with its tragic ending, so director Henry Hathaway shot a new ending in which Cosick is saved, which delayed the film's release.[6][20][21]

Release

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As a sales gimmick when the film was shown in Baltimore, the studio stationed a trained nurse in the theater lobby to administer to any viewers who may have been overcome by the film's suspense.[22] Gimmicks were also employed in advertisements for the film, which contained a warning for film critics to avoid divulging the ending and stated that no customers would be seated during the film's final ten minutes.[23]

In many American markets, Fourteen Hours was presented as the headliner in a double feature with My Outlaw Brother.[24]

Reception

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In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called Fourteen Hours a "superior American film" with "hard, staggering shocks" and wrote: "Fox has taken the story of that poor, unbalanced young man, as it recently was recollected in The New Yorker Magazine by Joel Sayre, and has staged it, with liberal alterations and some added atmospheric details, to put on display a hotly throbbing, brutally candid slice of metropolitan life. Fitly directed by Henry Hathaway in crisp journalistic style and played to the hilt down to its "bit" parts, it makes a show of accelerating power."[25]

Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The cast is good, the subject unusual, and 'Fourteen Hours' is suspenseful in essence. However, it has the big disadvantage of centering around a single issue, which is bound to wear thin. .... Novelty and its documentary quality are the keynotes of the appeal of 'Fourteen Hours,' though its public perception is likely to be mixed."[24]

The New Yorker praised Basehart's performance, writing that he "succeeds in conveying the notion that he is indeed sorely beset."[18]

Awards

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The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller, Thomas Little and Fred J. Rode).[26]

Fourteen Hours was listed as among the top 10 films of 1951 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. For his performance, Richard Basehart won the 1951 award for best actor by the board.[27]

The film was nominated for the BAFTA award for best film from any source. Hathaway was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Paxton was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for his screenplay.[28]

Remake

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In 1955, Fourteen Hours was remade as Man on the Ledge, starring Cameron Mitchell and Joseph Cotten, as an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour.[29] The episode was released theatrically in Britain.[30]

Home video

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When the film was shown at a revival at a Los Angeles theater in 2003, only one print survived. However, the title was included in the Fox Film Noir DVD series in 2006.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Fourteen Hours: Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  2. ^ "Overview for Fourteen Hours (1951)". TCM Movie Database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  3. ^ a b "Youth 11 Hours on Led Leaps 17 Floors to Death as Thousands Watch Him; Foils Rescue Plan". The New York Times. 1938-07-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  4. ^ a b Pryor, Thomas M. (1950-06-11). "High Above Lower Broadway". The New York Times. p. 3 (Screen section).
  5. ^ http://archive.queenscourier.com/wp-content/digital-editions/RT02042016/index.html#/22/[permanent dead link] Woodhaven cop in daring high-rise drama
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Smith, Richard Harland. "Fourteen Hours". TCM website. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  7. ^ Brady, Thomas F. (1949-04-30). "Reagan Signs Pact to Make U-I Films". The New York Times. p. 9.
  8. ^ Schallert, Edwin (1949-08-08). "Gable to Act Pioneer; Grant Ideas Multiply; Scott Will Star in East". Los Angeles Times. p. 7, Part III.
  9. ^ "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. 1950-01-31. p. 20.
  10. ^ a b c Grayson, John L. (1951-03-11). "Actor on a Spot; Richard Basehart Played Role on Window Ledge Look Out Below Just in Case Personal Tragedy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  11. ^ Reid, John (2005). these movies won no hollywood awards. lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4116-5846-2.
  12. ^ HAWKS ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH Durgnat, Raymond. Film Comment; New York Vol. 13, Iss. 4, (Jul/Aug 1977): 8-19,64.
  13. ^ Phantom Hawks McCarthy, Todd. Film Comment; New York Vol. 18, Iss. 5, (Sep/Oct 1982): 63-66,68,70-76.
  14. ^ "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. 1950-04-18. p. 28.
  15. ^ Gable to Act Pioneer; Grant Ideas Multiply; Scott Will Star in East Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 8 Aug 1949: B7.
  16. ^ Brady, Thomas F. (1950-05-25). "Paramount Plans Two New Pictures; Portrays a Novelist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  17. ^ "New York Architecture - American Exchange National Bank". Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  18. ^ a b Wendy, Leigh (2007). True Grace: the life and death of an American princess. Macmillan. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-312-34236-4.
  19. ^ "Miss Skouras Falls to Death". Los Angeles Times. 1950-07-18. p. 19.
  20. ^ Davis, Ronald L. (2005). Just Making Movies. University Press of Mississippi. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-57806-690-2.
  21. ^ Eyman, Scott (September–October 1974). "'I made movies' an interview with Henry Hathaway". Take One. p. 12.
  22. ^ "Mr. Peep's Diary". The Baltimore Sun. 1951-04-18. p. 35.
  23. ^ "14 Hours (Advertisement)". Los Angeles Times. 1951-04-27. p. 9, Part III.
  24. ^ a b Schallert, Edwin (1951-04-28). "Death Leap Threat Keys Mob Story". p. 5.
  25. ^ Crowther, Bosley (1951-03-07). "The Screen in Review: 'Fourteen Hours,' Fox Film About Man on Ledge Ready to Jump, Telling Drama at Astor". The New York Times. p. 43.
  26. ^ "NY Times: Fourteen Hours". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  27. ^ "Fourteen Hours at National Board of Review". National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
  28. ^ "Fourteen Hours (1951) - awards)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
  29. ^ 'Mock Trial' Slated On Kraft TV Theater: Wednesday's Programs The Christian Science Monitor 4 Sep 1956: 6.
  30. ^ MAN ON THE LEDGE (20th Century-Fox) Picture Show; London Vol. 66, Iss. 1735, (Jun 30, 1956): 10
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