Fourteen Hours

US (1951): Film-Noir/Thriller/Drama

Filmed in semi-documentary style by director Henry Hathaway, this is a tense drama about a troubled young man (Richard Basehart) who threatens to throw himself off of the ledge of a New York skyscraper. The action centers around a cop (Paul Douglas) who attempts to talk him out of it. Basehart wants nothing to do with smothering mother Agnes Moorehead or girlfriend Barbara Bel Geddes.

Many vignettes are presented of New York characters whose lives are changed by the spectacle. In her first film, Grace Kelly plays a wife who decides not to sign a divorce agreement as she watches from a law office. Watch for Ossie Davis as a cabby. Cast also features Debra Paget, Robert Keith, Howard Da Silva, Jeffrey Hunter and Frank Faylen.The story is based on the real-life suicide of John Warde, who jumped 17 floors from the Hotel Gotham on July 26, 1938, after attempts by cops to dissuade him. (20th Century-Fox) (amctv.com)

· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black and White) 1951: Lyle Wheeler & Leland Fuller - Art Direction, Thomas Little & Fred J. Rode - Set Decoration

1 nomination