CLASSIC MOVIES: THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of Turner Classic Movies]:

A suburban family is held hostage
by three escaped convicts.

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REVIEWS:

"Producer-Director William Wyler has turned Joseph Hayes' 'The Desperate Hours' into a crafty and crackling screen thriller. .... In the top villain, played by Humphrey Bogart, [Wyler] has etched a fearful symbol of brute force, impervious to pity or regard for the rights of other men. Not since Mr. Bogart's appearance in 'The Petrified Forest'...has he shown quite the smirking, squint-eyed cunning and sub-surface ferocity he spreads upon the screen as the kingpin of Mr. Hayes' tale. .... Beyond any question, Mr. Wyler and Mr. Hayes have a fearful, cogent film, so long as they keep the actors sweating within the prison of the innocent-looking home."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; October 6, 1955