Why so much hype?

Did you people see the same film I saw?

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Daniel C. Hilliard (Fredric March) is the head of a suburban nuclear family. Ellie is the stay-at-home mom. Teen Cindy is dating Chuck Wright. Ralphie is the rambunctious son. Escaped convict brothers Glenn (Humphrey Bogart) and Hal Griffin along with the destructive Simon Kobish find Ellie home alone and take over. As the family returns, they are all taken hostage as Glenn waits for his money and girlfriend. The situation gets extended into days as the police net widens and the gang blackmails the family to maintain an outward appearance of normality.Bogie often played vicious gangsters or roguish heroes. In this one, he plays the criminal comfortably. March as the father is a little too outwardly defiant even as he submits to Glenn. It's hard to believe that Glenn doesn't tie the boy and the mother up especially after the first revolt attempt. That part kept gnawing at me all the way through the movie. Overall, this is workable thriller with solid actors.

In "The Desperate Hours", we have Humphrey Bogart in his second-to-last film as hardened criminal Glenn Griffith, who has escaped from prison with his brother and a brute named Kobish. They happen upon the typical American family, the Hilliards, and invade their home with great brutality for a 1955 film."Man must protect his family" has become a very long-lived genre to this very day, and this movie is a fine entry in it. Fredric March's Dan Hilliard is realistic and even inspiring, in an early scene he explains to his son that he is afraid, and he's not ashamed of it. Through his dialogue and thoughtful acting, we are able to believe in Dan Hilliard as an honest everyman doing the best he can in a difficult situation, which keeps these sorts of movies from become unrealistic flights of fantasy. The pacing is very good, with nary a dull moment as the desperate hours tick by. Bogart's tremendous acting kill any chance of audience boredom, as you see his character's interesting clash between the desperate honest man and the desperate criminal. The soundtrack is almost nonexistent, rare for Hollywood in this era, but it's quite welcome, as it adds to the gritty, desperate feel of the film.This is really a very fine thriller that has stood the test of time. It may not have explosions or death-defying stunts, but the emotional conflict is what these movies are based on, and this movie has it in spades.

The Desperate Hours is directed by William Wyler and adapted by Joseph Hayes from his own novel. Loosely based on real events, it had previously been a Broadway production. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer and Robert Middleton. Out of Paramount Pictures, it is the first black and white picture filmed in VistaVision with photography by Lee Garmes and music by Gail Kubik.Three escaped convicts take refuge at the suburban home of the Hilliard's, holding the family captive at gunpoint. But as the hours tick past, the three men start to come apart just as the Hilliard father begins to gain in confidence.An excellent, if a touch too long, siege drama tinted with film noir traits, The Desperate Hours asks us to feel the fear of home invasion at the hands of someone sick or desperate. To which Wyler and company achieve their aims. Most of the action operates out of one claustrophobic location, giving the picture a sweaty edge, which when coupled with the exterior shots that paint a harmonious picket fence Americana, dials us into some 1950s paranoia. The three criminals dynamic, the conflict within, is what puts the picture into the film noir arc, particularly with the leader Glenn Griffin (Bogart), who is losing his grip on all in the house by the hour. The rest is pure melodrama, but riveting and capable of having one perched on the edge of the seat.With two Best Actor Oscar winners in the cast, it's perhaps no surprise that the acting is high quality, with both Bogart (intense and moody) and March (two-fold characterisation of the father with a great transitional shift late on) reason enough to watch the film. Wyler, who also produces, has good sense for a stifling mood, and his action construction is high energised and thrilling, while to round things off the production value is mostly high. Some passages could have (and should have) been trimmed to cut the running time down to maybe an hour and half, and it does come close to being too stagy at times. However, film remains compelling throughout and it's very much a must see for fans of great classical acting and siege based dramas. 7/10

Superb film regarding Fred March, Martha Scott as a married couple who are held hostage by Humphrey Bogart and his motley crew along with the couple's children.The tension is so thick and is beautifully realized by director William Wyler.This is a story of inner-strength held by March and yet how his acts to protect his family could be seen as cowardice by his young son.Both March and Bogart are at the top of their game performance wise in this excellent film.The film is aided by a wonderful supporting cast including Arthur Kennedy as a detective, Dewey Martin as Bogart's younger brother and several others. Gig Young plays the suitor to March's daughter. He feels that March doesn't like him and of course this is added on by the hostage situation.We see how detrimental being held hostage can be by what it does to the normally mild-mannered March. Just view his hostile actions towards his secretary. (Helen Kleeb)While we may know how the film will turn out, we can still applaud and wait with great anticipation for its wonderful climax. This was Hollywood at its best in film making.