- Description
A house full of hostages and time passing so slowly... The best-known work of writer Joseph Hayes, who specialized in crime fiction, was the novel The Hours of Despair (1954), about a suburban family terrorized by a trio of escaped gangsters. Hayes adapted this incident, based on a true story, for the stage, and the dramatization of the same name opened on Broadway to great success and won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Play.
Another Tony Award went to the play's director, Robert Montgomery (best known as an actor). It was only a small step from the stage version to the film transcription, although the lead character of the criminal Glenn Griffin had to be adapted for Humphrey Bogart (Paul Newman had played Griffin on Broadway when much younger). Hayes wrote the screenplay himself and William Wyler took over directing, shooting in black and white for the sake of greater authenticity...
THE DESPERATE HOURS - TECHNICAL DATA
Music: Gail Kubik, Daniele Amfitheatrof
Script: Joseph Hayes
Cinematography: Lee Garmes
Production: William Wyler
