Count the Hours

Count the Hours!
Count the Hours!
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Don Siegel
Screenplay by	Doane R. Hoag; Karen DeWolf
Story by	Doane R. Hoag
Produced by	Benedict Bogeaus
Starring	Macdonald Carey; Teresa Wright; John Craven; Jack Elam
Cinematography	John Alton
Edited by	James Leiceste
Music by	Louis Forbes
Production; company	Benedict Bogeaus Production
Distributed by	RKO Pictures
Release date	April 1, 1953 (U.S.);
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Count the Hours! is a 1953 crime film noir directed by Don Siegel, featuring Macdonald Carey, Teresa Wright, John Craven, and Jack Elam.^[2]

Plot

The bodies of farmer Fred Morgan and his housekeeper are found. Suspicion falls on hired hand George Braden, who owns a handgun that his pregnant wife Ellen disposes of in a panic.

Braden confesses under the interrogation of district attorney Jim Gillespie, possibly to spare his wife any more grief. Doug Madison is assigned the case in court, but doesn't believe in Braden's innocence until he sees Ellen diving into the lake, attempting to retrieve the gun.

Madison's fiancée doesn't want him defending an unpopular client because it could harm his political future. A diver hired by Madison makes a play for Ellen, and when he is fired, he suggests Madison is romantically involved with Ellen.

After a conviction and death sentence for Braden, it comes to Madison's attention that an ex-con named Max Verne had worked for the dead man and made threats after being dismissed. Madison ends up in a race against time to prove Braden's innocence before he is executed.^[3]

Cast

Macdonald Carey as Doug Madison
Teresa Wright as Ellen Braden
John Craven as George Braden
Jack Elam as Max Verne
Edgar Barrier as D.A. Jim Gillespie
Dolores Moran as Paula Mitchener
Adele Mara as Gracie Sager, Max Verne's Girlfriend
Ralph Sanford as Alvin Taylor
Dolores Fuller as Reporter (uncredited)

Reception

Film critic Howard Thompson in The New York Times wrote: “Even with fairly thoughtful direction by Don Seigel, in addition to some nice raw photography throughout, this offering sacrifices substance of plain conviction for standardized suspense.”^[4] Thompson attributes the film’s inadequacies to the screenplay by Doane H. Hoag and Karen DeWolf, which moves the action “along familiar lines with the usual sideline nod to romance and an absurdly grotesque and obvious killer dragged to the fore just in the nick of time.”^[5] Praise is reserved for cinematographer John Alton, whose camerawork showcases “the solitariness of the figures against lake backgrounds, night skies, and highlighted interiors for dramatic effect.”^[6]

Footnotes

^ "Count the Hours: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
^ Count the Hours at the TCM Movie Database.
^ Kass, 1975 p. 111-112: Plot sketch
^ Kass, 1975 p. 191: See footnote no. 25 in “Notes”, NYT, June 24, 1953
^ Kass, 1975 p. 112
^ Kass, 1975 p. 112: Howard Thompson quotes here.

Sources

Kass, Judith M. (1975). Don Seigel: The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 4 (1975 ed.). New York: Tanvity Press. p. 207. ISBN 0-498-01665-X.

External links

Count the Hours at IMDb
Count the Hours at the TCM Movie Database
Count the Hours at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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[1] "Count the Hours: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

[2] Count the Hours at the TCM Movie Database.

[3] Kass, 1975 p. 111-112: Plot sketch

[4] Kass, 1975 p. 191: See footnote no. 25 in “Notes”, NYT, June 24, 1953

[5] Kass, 1975 p. 112

[6] Kass, 1975 p. 112: Howard Thompson quotes here.

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