Joseph Hayes Movies
The Desperate Hours directed by Michael Cimino, is an attempt to remake the Humphrey Bogart classic of the same name with indifferent results. Bosworth (Mickey Rourke), a brutal criminal on the run with his partners, takes over a house occupied by an unhappily married couple Nora (Mimi Rogers) and Tim (Anthony Hopkins) and their young son and daughter. Bosworth has escaped from jail with the help of his defense attorney Nancy Breyers (Kelly Lynch). The film focuses on the interactions of the family and Bosworth as he plans his escape to Mexico. Cimino wastes little time in developing the characters or explaining the implausible premise that Bosworth would chose an occupied house and hold an innocent family captive when the logical choice would be to lay low and wait for his chance to escape. Both Hopkins and Rourke, usually excellent actors, give wildly over-the-top performances, aided by the lurid, over-written dialogue of the screenplay and the badly paced, ill-conceived direction by Cimino, which instead of creating tension and suspense, simply confuses the already muddled and incomprehensible plot. The Desperate Hours is a pale example of the original with little to recommend it. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
- 1965
This quirky melodrama opens with an automobile crash. The driver, Steve Mallory (George Peppard), comes out of unconsciousness with amnesia. As his memory slowly returns, he learns that he is a wealthy manufacturer of table china. His wife Alexandria (Elizabeth Ashley) wants to leave him, and his cousin Oliver Parsons (Roddy McDowall) wants Steve to sell him the family business. He also learns that the passenger in his car, a cocktail waitress named Holly Mitchell (Sally Kellerman), was killed in the accident. Her husband Lester (Arte Johnson) joins forces with Parsons to frame Steve and blame him for the accident, and Steve is arrested. Lester then kidnaps Alexandria and threatens to kill her in revenge for Holly's death. The film is based on a novel by Joseph Hayes. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Elizabeth Ashley, (more)
- 1963
Stolen Hours is the overlong, overglamorized 1963 remake of the 1939 Bette Davis vehicle Dark Victory. Susan Hayward plays a rich, neurotic socialite who discovers that she only has a year to live. Acting resentfully at first--especially towards handsome doctor Michael Craig, who withheld this information from her "for her own good"--Hayward eventually adopts a philosophical attitude towards her fate. By the time she begins slipping into "that undiscovered uncountry," Hayward is practically a candidate for sainthood. A plot device not utilized in the original involves Hayward's virtual adoption of a young boy (Robert Bacon), who is neglected by his own mother. Novelist Jessamyn West and playwright Joseph Hayes did their best to "contemporize" the outdated elements of the original Dark Victory, even unto having Susan Hayward learn to dance the Twist! Stolen Hours was filmed in England, affording us lovely Technicolor glimpses of the Cornish coast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Michael Craig, (more)
An Indiana family embarks on their dream vacation to France. The Willard family, led by Harry (Fred MacMurray) and Katie (Jane Wyman), bring their three children along to experience a slice of continental culture abroad. Amy (Deborah Walley) is the lovestruck teenager whose brother Elliott (Tommy Kirk) is easily as eager for love. Younger brother Skipper (Kevin Corcoran) is the mischievous moppet who is always getting lost. Elliott is mesmerized by a pretty French maid, Amy is wooed by a wealthy teen, and Katie fends off the advances of an amorous playboy. From Paris to Monte Carlo, the Willard family experiences culture shock firsthand and realizes quickly they are not back home in Indiana. This Walt Disney production, while focusing on less childlike themes than in other films, still managed to take in five million dollars in its initial domestic release. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman, (more)
- 1961
- NR
This slick hospital soap opera features Ben Gazzara as Dr. David Coleman, a young physician hired into the pathology department at a big hospital. The aging head of the department, Dr. Joseph Pearson (Fredric March), is insulted and treats the new hire as a rival. They battle over many medical issues. Coleman falls in love with a nurse, Cathy Hunt (Ina Balin), but she develops a tumor on her knee. Pearson says that it is malignant and orders her leg amputated. Coleman disagrees but must go along with the decision. Coleman then orders three blood tests on an expectant mother, Mrs. Alexander (Phyllis Love), because she has a rare blood condition. Pearson thinks that the tests are excessive and cancels the third test. When the baby is born seriously ill, Pearson is berated by Dr. Charles Dornberger (Eddie Albert), Alexander's personal physician, who then conducts a blood transfusion to save the baby's life. Pearson's future at the hospital becomes uncertain, at best. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Ben Gazzara, (more)
Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact with their money supply, deliberately choose the suburban home of Fredric March and his family. The cold-blooded Bogart wants no trouble with the police, and he knows he can cower a family with children into cooperating with him. The convict orders March, his wife Martha Scott, and their children Richard Eyer and Mary Murphy, to go about their normal activities so as not to arouse suspicion. Young Eyer, upset that March won't lift a hand against Bogart, assumes that his father is a coward. The authorities are alerted when March, at Bogart's behest, draws money for the convict's getaway from the bank. Pushed to the breaking point, March begins subtly turning the tables on the convicts. Bogart's character in Desperate Hours was originally written for a much younger man, which explains why Paul Newman was able to play the part in the original Broadway production. The film was slated to co-star Bogart with his old pal Spencer Tracy, but this plan fell through when the two actors couldn't agree on who would get top billing. Desperate Hours was remade in 1991 with Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, (more)
Rating Systems
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