36 Hours (1953)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Montgomery Tully

Writer:

Steve Fisher (story)

Release Date:

4 December 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

Her frame was the only build-up to the frame-up!

Plot:

An American pilot AWOL from the states is framed for his wife's murder and has just 36 hours to prove his innocence.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Salvation Army | Blackmail | Soup Kitchen | Norwegian

Cast

Dan Duryea	...	Major Bill Rogers
Elsie Albiin	...	Katherine 'Katie' Rogers (as Elsy Albiin)
Gudrun Ure	...	Sister Jenny Miller (as Ann Gudrun)
Eric Pohlmann	...	Slossen, the smuggler
John Chandos	...	Orville Hart
Kenneth Griffith	...	Henry Slosson
Harold Lang	...	Harry Cross, desk clerk
Jane Carr	...	Soup Kitchen Supervisor
Michael Golden	...	The Inspector
Marianne Stone	...	Pam Palmer

Also Known As:

Terror Street (USA)

Runtime:

80 min | 85 min (DVD)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Quotes:

Orville Hart: [laughs] Why don't you cry? It's always easier to talk terms to a woman when she's crying.
Sister Jenny Miller: [he looks at her lecherously] I never could believe anybody could be so low!

Duryea does it again

In 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers - and include this title.

The American noir icon Dan Duryea is the best thing in 36 Hours, which is at its strongest in the first half. He plays Major Rogers, a flyer smuggled into the country to discover what his wife has been up to during his absence away on duty. Shortly after he catches up with her, she is dead, leaving the stunned Rogers waking up next to her body with just a few hours to prove his innocence. Duryea's opening scenes, mostly played solo as he explores his wife's apartment piecing together her new relationships, are the essence of noir - an alienated man, lost in an environment where moral certitudes are missing. Unfortunately the script by Steve Miller (responsible for earlier classics such as Dead Reckoning, and Lady In The Lake) grows less interesting as it proceeds, and the final complexities are forced and unconvincing. Along the way, Duryea brings life to his relationship with Jenny (Ann Gudrin), equally as good as the unfussy woman who believes his story. Kenneth Griffith also makes impact as the weasely Slosson - a character which, on a different continent, would no doubt been of interest to Elisha Cook Jr.