Fourteen hours

One morning, a hotel waiter in New York delivers breakfast to one of the guests. After counting the change, the waiter discovers that his client has disappeared from the room. After a short search, the waiter is horrified to see that the young man with whom he must settle accounts ( Richard Beyshart ), stands outside the window on the ledge of the building on the fifteenth floor. From the street, a young man is spotted by a traffic cop named Charlie Dannigan ( Paul Douglas ). He promptly rises to the hotel room and, leaning out the window, tries to dissuade the young man from a rash step. Although he manages to establish contact with him and drag him into a conversation, the police brigade that arrived on call interrupts their conversation, while senior police officer Moskar ( Howard da Silva ) orders Dannigan to return to his patrol place. However, after the young man refuses to talk with other police officers and specially called psychiatrists, Moskar orders to find and return Dannigan. Instructed by professional psychiatrists, Dannigan resumed conversation with the young man. Meanwhile, people are starting to gather under the windows of the hotel, soon firefighters and other emergency services drive up, block all nearby streets. Firefighters unfold a lifebelt below, but if they fall from such a height, it will not be able to hold a person. Soon the police find out that the young man’s name is Robert Kosik and brings his mother ( Agnes Moorhead ) to the hotel. The mother enters into a conversation with her son, but soon her passionate desire to save him turns into a tantrum, which seems to only strengthen Robert's desire to commit suicide. After some time, they bring father Robert ( Robert Keith ), who has not lived with his family for many years. In a hotel room in front of the police, Robert's mother begins to accuse her father of having destroyed his family and did not help her raise her son. Meanwhile, Dannigan persuades Robert to talk with his father, whom he hates at the suggestion of his mother, and, if possible, to reconcile with him. While his father is trying to talk with Robert, Dannigan finds out from his mother who Virginia that Robert mentioned is. It turns out that this is his bride, with whom he broke up a while ago. The police urgently sends for Virginia, who lives and studies in a neighboring state.

Meanwhile, a huge crowd of people gathers below the windows of the hotel, which begins to live their own lives. Taxi drivers stuck in traffic, for fun, bet on when the guy jumps. A young clerk named Danny ( Jeffrey Hunter ) makes an acquaintance with a young office employee Ruth ( Debra Paget ), accidentally appearing next to her in the crowd. From the law office opposite the hotel, Robert is being watched by a young beautiful woman ( Grace Kelly ), who arrived to sign the divorce papers, the division of children and property. However, impressed by the tragedy in the house opposite, she refuses to divorce and reunites with her husband. After some time, Dannigan manages to convince Robert that he will free the hotel room for him from all people so that he can eat and relax a bit. This trick almost works, but when Robert is already stepping into the room, a crazy preacher bursts in from nowhere, who begins to send ominous prophecies with frightening gestures. The police quickly neutralizes him, but Robert again fears to get out the window and takes his place on the ledge of the building. After this episode, Dannigan loses Robert’s confidence, and for a long time he has not been able to restore contact with him. Meanwhile, the police are making other attempts to film Robert. In particular, a policeman is lowered on a swing from the top floor, who is supposed to grab Robert and hold him in his arms. However, upon seeing this maneuver, the young man nearly fell down, and as a result the police were forced to cancel the operation. Instead, the police bring a huge net into the building and deploy it a floor below to catch Robert in the event of a fall. In the process of communication between family members with the police and the press, it turns out that Robert's mother was a talented musician and could make a very successful career, but at the age of 19 she became pregnant. After that, her career collapsed, like all her life plans. In all her troubles, she began to blame her father, which ultimately led to their separation. Since childhood, a hysterical mother instilled in Robert hatred of his father, and such a mother's upbringing made Robert become very nervous, solitary and unsure of himself. His break with Virginia was also the result of his self-doubt and feelings about him.

At nightfall, the police bring Virginia ( Barbara Bel Geddes ), who confirms to Robert that, despite the breakup, she still loves him. By reading love letters and romantic conversations, she manages to improve Robert's condition. Then Dannigan re-enters the case, who talks about his family, about fishing and how they will enjoy spending time together. Robert is ready to return to the room, but at that moment some guy downstairs accidentally touches the switch of a huge jupiter. A powerful ray of light sharply illuminates Robert and blinds his eyes, as a result of which the young man loses his balance and falls down, but he gets into the network placed by the police. Robert is dragged into the room, and Dannigan, accompanied by his wife and son, leaves the hotel. A reunited hugging couple watches this scene, while Danny and Ruth leave, holding each other's hands.

According to Turner Classic Movies , the film’s story was based on a real case of suicide of John William Ward , a 26-year-old man who jumped from the 17th floor of the Gotham Hotel in New York on July 26, 1938, after he had stood eleven hours on the ledge of the building. The traffic policeman, posing as a corridor hotel, tried to persuade Ward on the grounds that he would be fired from work if Ward did not return from the ledge back to the room. Ward, who had already attempted to commit suicide before, also begged his sister to abandon her intention. But all efforts to persuade Ward did not lead to anything, and in the end Ward jumped down. The police deployed a special network to capture him, but its area was insufficient to prevent a fall. A few blocks around the scene, traffic was stopped, and thousands of spectators watched the development of events from the ground ^[1] .

In 1951, Joel Sayre published an article in the New Yorker magazine documenting the events of July 26, 1938. Based on it, the scriptwriter John Paxton, known for the film Noir “ Crossfire ” (1947), wrote the script, giving the events an artistic interpretation and making some changes to them. In particular, he renamed the Gotham hotel to the Rodney hotel, and also changed the names of John William Ward and Charles Glasco to Robert Kozik and Charlie Dannigan, respectively ^[3] .

By 1950, Hathaway "enjoyed significant success after renting the noir thrillers" House on 92nd Street "(1945)," Kiss of Death "(1947) and" Call Northside 777 "(1948), which widely used the real urban environment with the addition of a layer of unadorned credibility ” ^[3] . To work on the film, Hathaway “brought a small army of 175 actors and technicians to shoot on the streets of New York ” " ^[3] .

The role of mentally unstable Robert Kozik was given to the Hollywood newcomer Richard Beyshart ^[3] . Beyshart was known for his roles in the films noir “ He Wandered at Night ” (1948) and “ Tension ” (1949), and later played in the films Federico Fellini “ The Road ” (1954) and “ Fraud ” (1955), as well as in the epic dramas " Titanic " (1953) and " Moby Dick " (1956) ^[5] . Despite the fact that he had a permanent understudy, during a 50-day shooting period, Bayshart was forced to stand almost in one place on the ledge of the building for almost three hundred hours ^[3] .

Beischart was duplicated by layman Richard Lacovar, who stood in his stead in lengthy episodes on the ledge of the building, specially expanded to minimize the risk of falling. Lakaru was held by a protective belt hidden under his clothes, which was connected to the rescue rope ^[3] .

The role of a police officer and a friendly family man was given to the heavy and clumsy character actor Paul Douglas ^[3] , known for his comedic roles, as well as for the noir dramas Panic on the Streets (1950) and Clash of the Night (1952) ^[6]

Several promising Hollywood recruits were brought in to play supporting roles, including Jeffrey Hunter , Debra Paget and Grace Kelly , as well as experienced veterans Agnes Moorehead , Robert Keith , Howard da Silva and Jeff Koury . ^[3] . For Hunter and Kelly, as well as the characteristic actress Joyce Van Patten , this picture became a debut on the big screen ^[1] .

Grace Kelly in her first film appears in a very small role as one of the many witnesses of what is happening ^[7] , which is going to get divorced ^[8] . Although Kelly’s game went relatively unnoticed, she soon made a successful career in cinema, playing in the illustrious western “ Exactly at Noon ” (1952), as well as in Hitchcock’s films “ In case of murder, type“ M ” (1954) and“ Window to the Courtyard "(1954) ^[9] .

Theater actress Barbara Bel Geddes , who had previously proven herself in the noir films Long Night (1947), Captive (1949) and Panic on the Streets (1950) ^[10] , was chosen to play the role of her beloved Kozika. Interestingly, after this picture she did not play a movie for seven years, until in 1958 she starred in Alfred Hitchcock's film “ Dizziness ” ^[3] .

Two ending options were shot for the film: in one of them, Kozik falls and crashes just at the moment when firefighters stretch the net to catch it (similar to what it was in a failed rescue attempt in 1938), and in the other save. Hathaway preferred a truthful, sad ending, but just on the day when the film was previewed, the daughter of Twentieth Century Fox President Spyros Skuras jumped out of the window and crashed. Overwhelmed by grief, Skuras wanted to completely refuse to rent the film and put it on the shelf, but the studio eventually released the film six months later with an encouraging good ending ^[3] .

Film critic Bosley Krauser in The New York Times praised the film, calling it "unusual, carefully crafted and surprisingly laconic", which combines "exciting suspense, fascinating drama and elements of sharp social criticism" ^[11] . Adam Bregman described the film as "an exciting story, taken from the headlines of the newspapers of his time and masterfully set by Hathaway" ^[7] . A similar assessment was given to the film by Dennis Schwartz, calling the film “an exciting thriller shot as a documentary” ^[8] . Schwartz also emphasized that the film "develops in the same vein as Billy Wilder's Ace in the Sleeve " (1951). He follows in the footsteps of Ace in the Sleeve , building most of the stress through the reaction of witnesses, New Yorkers , for whom this incident turns into cruel entertainment " ^[8] . TimeOut magazine summed up the words that this “dizzying melodrama was performed in a professional, restrained journalistic style”, and, comparing the film with the noir “ Ace in the sleeve ”, he pointed out that “the emphasis in the film is made to the same extent on the affairs of those who watch the suicide, as well as the position of himself ” ^[12] .

Critics praised the directorial work of Henry Hathaway . Krauser wrote, “that Hathaway’s very accurate staging is full of energy” ^[11] , “showing a hot beating and a sternly frank cut of the life of a big city” ^[11] . Schwartz stated that the film “is well made and filled with documentary details, which gives it a convincing look” ^[8] . Variety Magazine drew attention to the fact that the director managed to achieve "full suspense" ^[2] .

Particular attention was drawn to the unusual composition and plot of the picture, achieved largely thanks to the script by John Paxton . Bregman emphasized that “this unique and for the most part forgotten drama ... includes several stories developing around the main intrigue” ^[7] . Krauser noted that “Paxton ... did not stop at just one story. The man on the ledge becomes nothing more than the foundation around which an acrobatic drama with upheavals unfolds. And this is a growing drama - the usual traffic controller, the mother and father of the poor guy brought to beg him, frantic inept attempts to save a mentally unhealthy person, a cruel crowd on the street - all this together creates an emotional uplift and background for the hero’s deep feelings, caused by the unhappy life of his parents and a collapsed house ” ^[11] . Krauser writes that “the life of a simple New York cop who turns out to be closest to a person on a ledge is shown almost equally touching” ^[11] . Krauser continues: “A drama involving reporters and heartless radio commentators, a curious crowd, watching with bated breath with horror or just waiting for a performance with a deadly end spins around them (two heroes) ^[11] . Bregman notes that “a lot of people are involved in the cycle of events, starting from a group of annoyed taxi drivers stuck in traffic jams, to a young couple who have a relationship during this event, and a crazy pseudo-priest” ^[7] . Krauser summarizes: “Except for one small street incident with an observing guy and a girl from a banal episode in the law office, the rest of the thick fabric of this drama is beautifully woven” ^[11] .

Major acting has also received a generally positive assessment. So, Krauser wrote that “in the role of a jumper, Richard Bayshart performs an amazing and painful job on the area of ​​one square foot of acting space” ^[11] , and Variety noted that “Bayshart looks strong” ^[2] . However, Bregman is of a different opinion, writing that “Beishart has a difficult role, and he does not quite cope with it, he looks so depressed that he simply mumbles his text. His character is not at all as strong and interesting as that of Douglas ” ^[7] .

According to Bregman, “ Douglas is magnificent in revealing the sincere warmth of his character” ^[7] , Krauser has a similar opinion, noting that Douglas “plays a good cop who uses his humble abilities of reason and patience” to find a way out of this strange case ^{[ 11]} . However, Variety is of the opinion that “Douglas makes his policeman awkward and plays poorly” ^[2] .

Krauser also noted the game Agnes Moorhead , writing that she “is magnificent in the role of the neurotic mother of a person on the ledge” ^[11] , Variety adheres to the same opinion: “Moorehead plays the role of a selfish mother, and Robert Keith reaches her excellent level in the role of father " ^[2] . Bregman also believes that “Moorhead and Keith reinforce the suffering image of the protagonist, while the police make many varied and unsuccessful attempts to seize or persuade him” ^[7] . Отметив также игру Барбары Бел Геддес в роли возлюбленной и Мартина Гейбела в роли психиатра, Краузер заключает, что эти актёры — «лишь немногие из тех, кто придаёт фильму уникальный облик и достоверность, делая его превосходным американским фильмом» ^[11] .

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