ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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I saw this remarkable movie on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies series in the earlier 1960s, and I watched again it in recent years with the late Bulldogtrekker.

It's a gripping drama about a man who stands on the ledge of a tall New York hotel and threatens to commit suicide — an act which captivates the attention and sympathy of the entire city!

The movie is available on YouTube with a fine picture. This film is highly recommended, with a stellar cast and flawless production values.

_____________ Fourteen Hours Original Trailer


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___________________ Fourteen Hours (1951)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

I remember watching this captivating film on Saturday Night at the Movies. It's a marvelous demonstration that you can produce an engrossing movie based upon a decent script, strong direction, and a talented cast all without a hail of bullets, multiple explosions, or car chases. Although in the right context those elements can be darn entertaining too.

IMDB: "Man on a Ledge" was the original working title. The movie was based about the real life event of July 26, 1938, when tragically, twenty-six year old John William Warde leaped to his death from the seventeenth floor of N.Y.C.'s Hotel Gotham.

John Warde's mother asked the original title of the movie be changed because she felt it would be too closely associated with the tragic death of her son.

The film was shelved for six months. 20th Century Fox executive Spyros P. Skouras daughter had jumped to her death on the day the movie was previewed.

Richard Basehart's wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor during filming and would pass away after surgery during production.

Basehart performed the role while not only dealing with his wife's illness, but with a sprained ankle and poison oak. During production and deeply in grief, he had chopped down a tree on his property which resulted in his injured ankle and getting poison oak.

Legendary Italian director Federico Fellini upon seeing this movie would cast Richard Basehart in his classic film La Strada.

Grace Kelly & John Cassavetes film debuts. In early roles of their careers seen in the movie are Jeff Hunter, Brian Keith, Ossie Davis, Debra Paget.

Grace Kelly was noticed by Gary Cooper during his visit to the set. Kelly would go on to star with him in the western classic High Noon.

The hotel ledge replica was constructed on Fox's Stage 8 for $32,000.

Fox head Darryl Zanuck originally offered the project to director Howard Hawks. Hawks wanted to cast Cary Grant in the lead role and do the movie as a comedy. The plot would have had Cary escaping from a married woman's husband by going out onto the ledge of the building. Once there, a crowd would gather and assume he was attempting to commit suicide. Zanuck did not care at all for this idea and then offered the project to Henry Hathaway. Years later, The Woman in Red starring Gene Wilder would use the idea just as Hawks had wanted to do.

When Orson Wells heard about the plot of the film he was intrigued but said the film should focus on the crowd that gathers in the street rather than the man on the hotel ledge.

The movie was filmed in a short six weeks and on a modest budget.

Robert Wagner was set for the role of Danny that was played by Jeff Hunter in the movie. Wagner & Hunter would go on to co-star in five films together.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'll be scheduling Fourteen Hours for ASF’S Saturday Night at the Movies (<— link) sometime in April.

I hope you'll be able to join us for that one.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

I'll mark my 2023 calendar for it as I haven't watched in many a moon.