24 Hours to Kill

24 Hours to Kill is a 1965 British thriller film[1] shot in Techniscope and Technicolor that was filmed in the Lebanon, then a tax haven.[2] It was directed by Peter Bezencenet, and stars Lex Barker, Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.

24 Hours to Kill
German film poster
Directed byPeter Bezencenet[1]
Screenplay byPeter Yeldham[1]
Story byHarry Alan Towers[1]
Produced byBernard Coote[1]
CinematographyErnest Steward[1]
Edited byJohn Trumper[1]
Music byWilfred Josephs[1]
Production
company
Grixflag Films[1]
Distributed byWarner-Pathe[1]
Release date
  • March 1965 (1965-03)
Running time
83 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom[1]

Plot

A Transcontinental Airlines airliner on an international flight develops engine trouble en route to Athens. Pilot Jamie Faulkner (Lex Barker) is forced to land in Beirut, where the aircraft is to layover for 24 hours. Although the crew look forward to rest and relaxation in the then glamorous tourist hot spot, one of the crew members is in fear of his life due to his being a target of a criminal organisation based in the city.

Purser Norman Jones (Mickey Rooney), on the run from a gang of gold smugglers headed by Malouf (Walter Slezak), a smuggler, gains the sympathy of the flight's captain and other members of the crew who believe that Jones has been wrongly associated with the syndicate.

The gang twice attempts to kill Jones and tries to kidnap air hostess Louise Braganza (Helga Sommerfeld), the captain's girl friend. Jamie learns that Jones is a member of Malouf's gang and has actually stolen £40,000 worth of bullion from the syndicate.

Although the gangsters kidnap air hostess Françoise Bertram (France Anglade) to propose an exchange. Françoise, however, after a fight, is rescued by the airline crew. Jones is captured by Malouf but saved by Jamie and the crew, but just as the airliner takes off, Jones is killed by one of Malouf's men.

Cast

Production

24 Hours to Kill was written by Peter Yeldham who travelled to Beirut to research the film's plot.[3] [N 1]

The aircraft in 24 Hours to Kill included:

Release

24 Hours to Kill was released in March 1965.[6]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin stated the film was pleasantly photographed but "slackly directed" that mostly worked due to the "tow bizarre characterizations of" Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.[1]

Andy Webb, writing in The Movie Scene noted the beauty of Beirut before mideast strife destroyed the once glamorous capital. Webb considered 24 Hours to Kill "quite entertaining and has a touch of 60s spy movie about it with a few moments of action, drinks laced with drugs, shady people following Norman around and of course some danger."[7]

References

Notes
  1. After a lengthy film career in North America, "As work in Hollywood dried up, Barker spent most of the 1960s in Germany, where he enjoyed much popularity and made a great many films."[4]

Citations
  1. "24 Hours to Kill, Great Britain, 1965". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 32, no. 380. British Film Institute. September 1965. pp. 139–140.
  2. Mann 2014, p. 45.
  3. Taylor 2015, pp. 28-29.
  4. Maltin 1994, p. 48.
  5. Santoir, Christian. "Review: '24 Hours to Kill'." Aeromovies 17 January 2015. Retrieved: 5 August 2019.
  6. Gifford 2001, p. 747.
  7. Webb, Andy. "Review: '24 Hours to Kill': Rooney's nervy Norman." The Movie Scene, 2019. Retrieved: 5 August 2019.

Bibliography
  • Gifford, Denis (2001) [1973]. The British Film Catalogue. Vol. 1 (3 ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-57958-171-8.
  • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Penquin Books, 1994. ISBN 978-0-45227-058-9.
  • Mann, Dave. Harry Alan Towers: The Transnational Career of a Cinematic Contrarian. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2014. ISBN 978-0-78647-982-5.
  • Taylor, Tadhg. "Peter Yeldham Interview" in Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2015. ISBN 978-0-78649-406-4.
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