The Desperate Hours (1955) ***1/2

Release Date: October 5, 1955

Running Time: 113 minutes

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton

Directed by: William Wyler

Glenn Griffin and two thugs escape prison and take hostages in this taught crime drama late in the career of Humphrey Bogart. If the plot sounds familiar it’s because it’s very similar to that of 1936’s The Petrified Forest, a film that also featured Bogart as the lead criminal. The premise is the same yet these two films are very different in tone and style. In The Petrified Forest Bogart is playing to the back row as if he were on stage, a holdover from when he was on stage in that same role. Here he is more seasoned and much more competent. The film also doesn’t feel like several different films spliced together the way The Petrified Forrest does.

The plot is very simple. Dan Hilliard (Fredric March), his wife Ellie (Martha Scott), and their two children Cindy (Mary Murphy), and Ralphie (Richard Eyer) are the typical American family. Dan is the breadwinner while his wife takes care of the home. Mary is a teenager who had a straight laced steady boyfriend and Ralphie is the younger brother who is a bit mischievous but generally a good son. The only thing that puts them in the path of Glenn and his two fellow escaped cons, his brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and the demented Sam (Robert Middleton), is while driving through the neighborhood Glenn spots Ralphie’s bike in the yard and decides that a family with a young kid would be less likely to make trouble for them for fear of the child’s life. They take the family hostage, looking for a hideout while waiting for Glenn’s girlfriend to arrive with some money so that they can flee south of the border and out of the law’s reach.

What happens over the remainder of the film is tense and disturbing at times but it also has some logistical and logical flaws that seem hard to swallow. For instance, Glenn allows Cindy to leave on a date with her boyfriend ostensibly to avoid any suspicion. This seems much more risky than just having her tell the boyfriend anything to prevent him from coming over. It is played out over a phone call between the two where the boyfriend is too insistent to accept she won’t have him over that night but it plays false. Glenn could have easily taken another hostage should this happen minimizing any chance of Cindy losing composure and spilling the beans of her family’s predicament. Likewise Glenn allows Dan to go to work rather than have him call in sick. Sure, there is the threat of harm to his family if he goes to the police but this seems like too much of a gamble. 

But aside from these leaps of logic the film is taught and the tension is real, something that the earlier film The Petrified Forrest failed at. The film doesn’t hold back actually showing the criminals as indiscriminate killers, willing to kill an innocent passerby who happens to notice a strange car in the Hilliard’s garage. Only Hal comes across as sympathetic, first defending Cindy from the advances of Sam, then later realizing things between all of them were turning sour and knowing when to bail on his brother. His final outcome is tragic as he is the only one of the criminals we feel any real sympathy for. 

We also see the story from the police’s perspective as they narrow in on the escapees. We are treated occasionally to scenes involving the clues that help narrow down their search. It’s great in providing a ticking clock for the criminals as well as for the Hilliards. Director William Wyler was no newbie to cinema having helmed some of the greatest films of the era. He took what could have been a generic hostage film and imbued it with an overall sense of dread and realism that elevates it above many of its contemporaries. Still, he knew what type of movie he was making and didn’t try to reinvent the genre. It hits all the typical notes for this type of film and ends on a note that is no surprise to anyone.

But it doesn’t need to be. A film isn’t great simply by being surprising. All it needs to do is be great at what it is and this film is just that. It takes many familiar tropes and portrays them perfectly. There are a few stumbling blocks mentioned earlier but even though they seem a bit far fetched those scenes are still tensioned filled and a joy to watch. Bogart is great, chewing the scenery in a way only he could and he is surrounded by supporting actors and actresses who all nail their roles to perfection making his partners as well as the Hilliards well rounded characters. This really helps ratchet up the tension as we can identify with the family and dread what Glenn and Sam (not so much Hal) may do to them. It’s legitimately scary and disturbing at times lending a sense of realism that isn’t always found in this type of film.

They Drive By Night (1940) ***

Release Date: August 3, 1940

Running Time: 95 minutes

Starring: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

It’s difficult to imagine in retrospect a time when Humphrey Bogart was not top billed in a film he starred in. Sur there were plenty of pictures in the 30’s where he was just a bit player but by 1940 he was a known commodity and, while his true box office draw was still two years off, he was a star on the rise. It was during this time that he took a co-starring role alongside George Raft in They Drive by Night, taking second billing to Raft who was definitely the bigger star at the time. Many of Bogart’s later rolls would be passed on by Raft paving the way for Bogart to cement his position in Hollywood history. Films like Dead End and High Sierra were originally going to be Raft films but went to Bogart after Raft turned them down. These films made Bogart a star and George Raft’s popularity wane. But in 1940 Raft was the bigger star and commanded the majority of the screen time here.

They Drive by Night is an interesting film in many ways. For the time it was atypical for either actor seeing the two of them as truck-driving brothers Joe and Paul (Raft and Bogart) barely scraping by working for a businessman who doesn’t pay them regularly and is willing to let someone else take over their delivery when they bust a tire rather than advance them their pay to get it fixed. This eventually leads the two to go into business for themselves buying their own loads of produce so they can profit from the deliveries rather than just taking a cut. Just as things are looking up though Paul falls asleep at the wheel and crashes the truck leaving them without their vehicle and profits as the product was destroyed in the crash. Worse, Paul loses an arm in the wreck leaving him unable to drive anymore. This forces Joe to take a job working in a trucking business for Ed Carlen (Alan Hale) and his wife Lana (Ida Lupino), a woman who has her eyes on Joe. Meanwhile, Joe has met Cassie (Ann Sheridan) hitchhiking earlier and intends to make her his wife. 

There is a lot of plot for such a film. It threatens at times to bog down the overall narrative yet it never does. For a film that is primarily about the trucking industry and the drivers who struggle to make a living it never gets boring. The film is peppered with colorful characters to liven up most every ensemble scene. Just in the diner early on we get treated to some comedic performances as characters hit on the waitress, Cassie, play pinball endlessly, and throw out a loan shark, Farnsworth (an uncredited Charles Halton) looking to repossess Joe and Paul’s truck for missed payments. Cassie stands out above all of them with her brassy no nonsense attitude and quips, eventually quitting and catching a ride with the brothers because her boss kept trying to tie her apron strings when she had no apron on in the first place. 

The second half of the film takes a hard turn however as the tone shifts from good natured humor into film noir territory. While there is some suspense in the first half it is nothing compared to after Ida Lupino steps in. We see her early on in the film and know immediately she wants to be with Joe despite being married. The levels she is willing to sink to to make it happen however only become apparent later in the film when we get a better sense of her marriage to Ed. The film takes a dark turn late into it and it never really lightens up. This tonal shift is abrupt but manages to not derail the film thanks to the terrific performance by Ida Lupino who portrays her deep unhappiness well. Her complete breakdown later is a little over the top and is the only weakness to an otherwise spot on performance. 

Bogart is also great as Paul. He is married to a woman who would do anything to not be so lonely while Paul is on the road. She longs for children but Paul feels they are too poor to afford it. His accident seems like a miracle to her when it only depresses Paul who feels he can no longer work. The role is small, much smaller than that of his brother, but Bogart imbues it with wit and sarcasm and just enough personality to make it a three dimensional character.

Raft is a little less engaging although not by much. He gets the lion’s share of the film and the most character development yet he seems to be basically the same at the end of the film as he is at the beginning. He has screen charisma and gains some confidence in his abilities outside of driving trucks but that is about it. This is the type of role that doesn’t really take any effort to portray and is consequently less interesting. One wonders how much better the film would have been Raft and Bogart switched rolls. 

This is a tricky film to get all the elements right and make entertaining. Raoul almost nails it completely. Where he struggles is in the final act. The tonal shifts and an uneven performance by Lupino in the final few scenes make the last ten minutes uneven and a little awkward. Ultimately though it is a fine film that showcases an early Bogart performance that proves he could be more than just gangsters and thieves. For that and some truly fun performances by a fine supporting cast this film excels when it could have easily stumbled.

We’re No Angels (1955) ***1/2

 Release Date: July 7, 1955

Running Time: 106 minutes

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett, Gloria Talbott

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Devil’s Island, 1895. Three escaped convicts, Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Jules (Peter Ustinov), and Albert (Aldo Ray) arrive looking for an opportunity for some easy money. Through a chance acquisition they arrive at a store run by the Ducotel family with patriarch Felix (Leo G. Caroll), the main shop runner who is in over his head, running the store into the ground through incompetence and an inability to pressure his few clientele into paying their outstanding bills. They immediately see an opportunity to con him out of money and supplies. While ostensibly repairing a leaky roof on the shop the three cons they overhear all the drama currently going on in the Ducotel household. Felix is indebted to his cousin Andre (Basil Rathbone) a wealthy businessman who owns the shop and will kick the family out if it isn’t turning a profit. Amelie (Joan Bennett) is the long suffering wife who worries about losing everything they have if this happens. The daughter Isabelle (Gloria Talbots) is in love with Andre’s son, Paul (John Baer) who may not be reciprocating that emotion. In fact, a letter arrived that very day stating that Paul was to be married to someone else to help further his father’s business interests. All of this is revealed rather amusingly to the three convicts as they watch like angels from above through an open window leading out to the roof.

We’re No Angels is a farce, a bit of a screwball comedy that plays out a little like a soap opera with a double shot of comedy to get it over the threadbare story. It get’s its inspiration from a French play La Cuisine Des Angels by Albert Husson which was Americanized as My Three Angels by Samuel and Bella Spewack and well it plays out as such, making use of minimal sets and being dialogue heavy it never really feels like a filmed play the way many filmed plays of the 40’s and 50’s did. Director Michael Curtiz was no director for hire having made such classics as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Casablanca knew how to shoot a film, even one as low key as this, and have it avoid the claustrophobia effect many filmed plays have.

So much of this film rides on the performances and every one of the main cast is stellar in it. Leo G. Caroll whom I mostly associate with in sci-if and governmental roles like Alexander Waverly in The Man From U.N.C.L.E is perfect here as the awkward and unsure of himself Felix, a man who can’t knuckle down and do what he knows is needed to be successful. Joan Bennet has a little less to work with as a character but she shines as the wife who knows what her husband is and doesn’t come down too hard on him. Gloria Talbott makes the most of what could have been a thankless roll but her bright optimism makes her a delight to watch.

But the real stars of the film are Bogart, Ustinov and Ray. These three have the unenviable task of making murders and thieves likable. There is little subtlety to any of their performances but we cannot help but fall in love with them. Aldo Ray is the ladies man who is romantic at heart. He drives much of the romantic plot between Isabelle and Paul. Bogart is the craggy one who deep down has a heart and wants to help out the Ducotel family when it won’t personally benefit himself, though he will continue the charade of planning to steal them blind long after he no longer plans to do so. Ustinov is the least developed of the three but his goofy Jules is at times the most relatable of the three.

The film was marketed as a Christmas comedy and while it does take place around Christmastime it is really more of a religious allegory. The three cons play out like guardian angels from above, hearing of a struggling family and descending from the heavens to make all things right. And when all that is accomplished they walk off into the distance with halos ablaze, content that their deed is done and it’s time to move on. It’s cheesy and corny and the story is virtually nonexistent but it is a sheer delight to watch. It doesn’t need plot twists and contrivance to keep  things interesting. It doesn’t need action and adventure. It doesn’t even need mystery or suspense. There could have easily been a subplot involving the police closing in on the three escapees. None of that really matters and thus is left out of the story and it is the better for it. The film ran over fifteen minutes longer than the typical comedy yet nothing feels unnecessary or a filler. It goes down easy and is just fun to watch so many seasoned veterans enjoying themselves on screen even as we enjoy watching them. That chemistry plays out on screen making this a highly recommendable film.