Четырнадцать часов на краю жизни

1951 film

Fourteen Hours is a 1951 American drama directed by Henry Hathaway, which tells the story of a New York City police officer trying to stop a despondent man from jumping to his death from the 15th floor of a hotel. The film won critical acclaim for Richard Basehart, who portrayed the mentally disturbed man on the building ledge. Paul Douglas played the police officer, and a large supporting cast included Barbara Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith, Debra Paget, and Howard Da Silva. It was the screen debut of Grace Kelly and Jeffrey Hunter, who appeared in small roles.

Although the onscreen credits contain a statement saying that the film and characters depicted were "entirely fictional", the movie was based on the suicide of John William Warde, a 26 year old man who jumped from the 17th floor of the Gotham Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, July 26, 1938, after 14 hours on a ledge. The character of Charlie Dunnigan was based on Charles V. Glasco, a New York City policeman who tried to convince Warde to come off the ledge. In the film, however, various details about Officer Glasco's life were fictionalized. Pretending to be a bellhop at the hotel, Glasco entered room 1714 and tried to persuade Warde that he would be fired as a bellboy if Warde did not come off the ledge. Glasco spoke with Warde on and off for 14 hours. Warde, who had made previous suicide attempts, also heard pleas from his sister. Glasco had convinced Warde to come back into the hotel, but a photographer attempting to photograph Warde scared him as he was re entering the hotel. As a result, Warde then jumped off of the ledge at 10:38 p. m. Police had tried to rig a net below him, but the net could not be extended sufficiently from the hotel to block his fall. During his 14 hours on the ledge, traffic was stopped for blocks around the hotel, which was located on 55th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and thousands watched the drama unfold.

Writer Joel Sayre wrote about the Warde suicide in The New Yorker, in an article entitled "That Was New York: The Man on the Ledge", which was published on April 16, 1949. The story was purchased by Twentieth Century Fox in April 1949 and the studio assigned Sol C. Siegel to produce. In August 1949, Fox said that the team of James Gow and Arnaud D'asseu, who had written the Broadway hit Tomorrow the World, would write the script. In January 1950, Fox assigned screenwriter John Paxton to write the script. Paxton completely fictionalised the story. He was only interested in doing it if it could be turned into a Cary Grant comedy but Fox refused. Henry Hathaway, a director noted for his realistic films The House on 92nd Street (1945), Kiss of Death (1947), and Call Northside 777 (1948), was assigned to the project in April 1950.

Filming began in New York City in June 1950. The film was made in just six weeks with a modest budget. The building has since been demolished. Hathaway avoided stasis by cutting between the film ledge and the reaction of the crowd below, and by adroit use of camera angles. It is considered to be his finest film. Basehart had to spend most of the film not moving. "I got so accustomed to this that I didn't feel the need for movement," he said. "I learned to feel movement by the turn of my head, the puff of a cigarette or the gesture of a hand." His stand in on the ledge of 128 Broadway was Richard Lacovara. There was a padded platform below him; however this was removed for shooting some shots. Skouras wanted the film shelved, but instead released Fourteen Hours six months later with the ending that showed Robert surviving his fall.

The New Yorker singled out Basehart's performance for praise, saying that he "succeeds in conveying the notion that he is indeed sorely beset." Time Out Film Guide said that this "vertiginous melodrama recounts the event in professional low key journalistic fashion." Comparing the movie to the film noir Ace in the Hole, Time Out observed that "the emphasis is as much on the reaction of bystanders as on the plight of the would be suicide."

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller, Thomas Little, Fred J. Rode). Fourteen Hours was listed as among the top 10 motion pictures of 1951 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. For his performance in the movie, Basehart won the 1951 award for best actor by the board. The film also was nominated for the BAFTA award for best film from any source. Hathaway was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Paxton was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for his screenplay.

Despite good reviews and a strong push by the studio to publicize the movie, with Paul Douglas appearing on the cover of Life, Fourteen Hours ran its course in cinemas then faded into obscurity, rarely if ever appearing on American television in the 1950s or 1960s. When the film was shown in revival at a Los Angeles theater in 2003, only one print survived. However, the title was included in Twentieth Century Fox's "Fox Film Noir" DVD series in 2006. Kelly was noticed during a visit to the set by Gary Cooper, who subsequently starred with her in High Noon. Cooper was charmed by Kelly and said that she was "different from all these sexballs we've been seeing so much of." However, her performance in Fourteen Hours was not noticed by critics, and did not lead to her receiving other film acting roles. She returned to television and stage work after her performance in the film. Richard Basehart's performance impressed Federico Fellini, who subsequently cast him in his 1954 film La Strada.

In 1955, it was remade as Man on the Ledge, starring Cameron Mitchell, as an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. The episode was released theatrically in Britain.

Steve Fisher wrote the script. Filming took place in November 1955.