Dial 1119 (1950)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Gerald Mayer

Writers:

Hugh King (story) and
Don McGuire (story) ...

Release Date:

3 November 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

A former mental patient murders a bus driver, then takes refuge in a bar, where he holds the patrons hostage.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Bus Driver | Killer | Psychiatrist | Murder Victim

Cast

Marshall Thompson	...	Gunther Wyckoff
Virginia Field	...	Freddy
Andrea King	...	Helen
Sam Levene	...	Dr. John D. Faron
Leon Ames	...	Earl
Keefe Brasselle	...	Skip
Richard Rober	...	Police Capt. Henry Keiver
James Bell	...	Harrison D. Barnes
William Conrad	...	Chuckles
Dick Simmons	...	Television Announcer
Hal Baylor	...	Police Lt. 'Whitey' Tallman (as Hal Fieberling)

Also Known As:

The Violent Hour (UK)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14540) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:(Banned) (1955) | Sweden:(Banned) (1951)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Case Against the 20% Federal Admissions Tax on Motion Picture Theatres (1953)

...a pondering on the gray area of social engineering.

Out of the grayness of film noir drama comes a pondering on the gray area of social engineering.

Dial 1119 is a film discussion of the distention between straight-ahead law enforcement and the brand-new authority of psychological intervention in criminal matters. The heart of the film is the series of conversations between the Homicide Captain and the forensic psychiatrist. Therein lies a clear blueprint of the issues: Is it better to identify and treat society's offenders, rather than simply punish? What should the treatment be; confinement, medicine or capital punishment? In view of the fact they prosecuted a man for murder and saw him escape the electric chair to kill again, are the police to be blamed for being skeptical of the medical model in dealing with crime? Are we to condemn the doctor's humanist courage as simple folly, or celebrate it as a noble march toward higher existence?

I found the relationship between police and doctor to be unique in cinema, can't remember when I've ever seen it so clearly and dramatically drawn. Also, the characterizing vignettes of the various hostages were deftly wrought. Overall, a remarkable film rendered nearly into the realm of science-fiction by the dominance of a 48 inch flat screen TV over the main set, presaging the looming hypnotic sway the contraption would wield on a developing social world.