Fourteen Hours (1951)

A disturbed young man (Richard Basehart) teeters on the ledge of a 15th floor window deciding whether to jump or not. A traffic cop (Paul Douglas) gets his confidence and attempts to talk him through the incident while police attempt to contact those closest to him. Directed by Henry Hathaway (NIAGARA), this is a well made and extremely intense film noir (but I use that term loosely) that also focuses on the effect the potential jumper has on the lives of some of the onlookers below as well as the callousness of some of the crowd. While it digresses from the the film's strength and some would consider it padding, it gives us some time to catch our breath and relax a bit so I didn't mind a bit. The movie was filmed with two different endings and although Hathaway preferred the darker ending, I'm glad the more positive ending was used. The performances are very good especially Basehart and Douglas. Others in the impressive cast include Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, Debra Paget, Barbara Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Ossie Davis, Joyce Van Patten, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen and Alix Talton.