First things first: "Fourteen Hours" is NOT a film noir. I don't know why numerous resources about film noir (including IMDb) include it.
It does have many of the characteristics of those police procedural docu-dramas from the late 40s and early 50s that so many noirs also shared, so maybe that accounts for it. This film, based on a true story, stars Richard Basehart as a man who threatens to jump from a city skyscraper. Paul Douglas is the cop who works overtime to prevent him from doing so. Over the course of the film, a whole bunch of psychobabble involving the man's childhood emerges to explain his actions, and late in the film, his one-time fiancée (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) shows up to shed even more light on the matter.
This is serviceable if not overly remarkable film-making. It will probably engage your interest, but I doubt it will linger in your mind. I will forever remember this film as the one I was watching when my wife went into labor with our son.
The movie received a rather random Academy Award nomination for its black and white art direction.
Grade: B
It does have many of the characteristics of those police procedural docu-dramas from the late 40s and early 50s that so many noirs also shared, so maybe that accounts for it. This film, based on a true story, stars Richard Basehart as a man who threatens to jump from a city skyscraper. Paul Douglas is the cop who works overtime to prevent him from doing so. Over the course of the film, a whole bunch of psychobabble involving the man's childhood emerges to explain his actions, and late in the film, his one-time fiancée (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) shows up to shed even more light on the matter.
This is serviceable if not overly remarkable film-making. It will probably engage your interest, but I doubt it will linger in your mind. I will forever remember this film as the one I was watching when my wife went into labor with our son.
The movie received a rather random Academy Award nomination for its black and white art direction.
Grade: B