Fourteen hours
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Fourteen hours |
| Original title | 14 hours / fourteen hours |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1951 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Henry Hathaway |
| script | John Paxton |
| production | Sol C. Siegel for 20th Century Fox |
| music | Alfred Newman |
| camera | Joseph MacDonald |
| cut | Dorothy Spencer |
| occupation | |
| |
Fourteen Hours is an American film by Henry Hathaway from 1951. It was based on the story The Man on the Ledge by Joel Sayre , published two years earlier in The New Yorker magazine .
action
On the 15th floor of a New York hotel, the young Robert Cosick is standing on the narrow ledge of the facade with suicidal intent. In the streets below, the traffic comes to a standstill, passers-by stare spellbound upwards. Police and fire brigade are preparing for the rescue operation, newsreel and television cameras are set up. The incident turns into a media event, everyone is waiting for the death leap. Clergy and psychologists try in vain to persuade the weary of life to repent. Only the traffic cop Charlie Dunnigan comes into conversation with the man from the neighboring window and slowly wins his trust.
While the policeman patiently talks about the everyday things in life, the dramatic events have an effect on the onlookers. So two young people meet - wedged in the crowd - and very soon they know that their chance acquaintance will last. In a law office across the street from the hotel, Ann Fuller tries to discuss the terms of the divorce with her husband. The tragedy on the other side of the street changed her heart.
Meanwhile, Charlie continues talking to Robert, who accepts cigarettes and coffee from him. In the meantime it has got dark. By distracting the man, the other police officers manage to stretch a net from the upper floors and lower it carefully. Suddenly a headlight flashes. Robert is startled, staggered and falls. At the last moment he can cling to the prepared net and is finally saved.
backgrounds
- The story is based on a true story: On July 28, 1938, a young man named John Warde revealed to his sister that he wanted to take her own life. The setting was a New York hotel room on the 17th floor. The man suffered from manic-depressive psychosis . He climbed through the window onto a narrow ledge 50 meters above 55th Street and, after some hesitation, threw himself down.
- The film was made with two different final versions: According to the facts, the fall in one version is fatal. The other ends with the rescue of the tired of life through a safety net. Initially, the audience could decide which of the two versions should be used. Since the majority opted for the happy ending , the film was then only shown with a positive finale.
- At the box office, the film was a failure at the time. Grace Kelly and Richard Beymer made their debuts as film actors with supporting roles.
Reviews
"The external events of the 14-hour rescue operation also serve the atmospherically dense, convincingly presented film as a period for the psychoanalytic diversification of the allegedly authentic case."
Awards
- The film was nominated for the Best Production Design category for the 1952 Academy Awards.
- He won the NBR Award for Best Actor in 1951 and was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival that same year .
- A year later, there were two more nominations for the British Film Academy Award for Best Film and for the WGA Award for Best Written Drama.
DVD release
- Fourteen Hours , 20th Century Fox 2006 (not yet published in German-speaking countries)
Web links
- Fourteen hours in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Fourteen hours in the online film database
- Fourteen hours in the film dictionary
- Fourteen hours at rotten tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fourteen hours. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 27, 2017 .