The Desperate Hours

Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact ...more

This is a great, hard-boiled crime film with Humphrey Bogart turning in another stellar performance near the end of his career. Bogart, along with Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, are all excellent as a trio of escaped convicts confronting a suburban '50s-style family. In a way, you could look at the film as the last remnants of the noir era duking it out with the next generation of straight family men and their families who will rule the country in the late '50s. There's also the conflict of ...more