| | "There's a jumper on the ledge...." And so, after a wordless opening sequence, begins Fourteen Hours, a taut thriller about a would-be suicide standing outside his hotel-room window on St. Patrick's Day. The jumper, nervously played by Richard Basehart, is counseled by a gallery of interested parties, including a beat cop (Paul Douglas) and the man's divorced parents (Agnes Moorehead and Robert Keith) and fiancée (Barbara Bel Geddes). Psychiatrist Martin Gabel provides some Freudian analysis of the situation. Along with the drama on the ledge, the film cruises through the reactions of the crowd below, from concerned to cynical. Among the huge ensemble are a surprising gallery of faces, including up-and-comers Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, and Debra Paget. Howard Da Silva is a cop, and Ossie Davis and Harvey Lembeck (both uncredited) are cab drivers. Director Henry Hathaway had made some of the Fox film noirs emphasizing realism and authentic location shooting (House on 92nd Street, Call Northside 777), and he takes a similar approach to the flavorful Manhattan sites here--albeit mostly within a one-block area. The movie's ticking-clock momentum holds up well, even if some of the social-concern material feels dated. And when you can cut to a vertiginous angle every few minutes, suspense is practically guaranteed. --Robert Horton More...
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