The Desperate Hours (1955) - Wyler's top-drawer true-crime home-invastion thriller

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Humphrey Bogart - a bona fide heavy on the poster for William Wyler's The Desperate Hours

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A small, normal suburban home gets terrorized by an escaped convict trio, who take the family there hostage, while they await some money to come their way.

SPOILER It is the brave, noble American family, - with Fredric March (A Star Is Born (1937)) sparkling as the sacrificial father, - who in the end serves as a monolith for the sanctity of private property here in this true-crime thriller classic. "Get outta my house!", he commands Humphrey Bogart (The Big Sleep (1946)), right before furnishing him with a fatal installation of internal AC.
Bogart is a real ornery devil here in his last performance as a villain. The fear he and his thug partners inspire is easy to sympathize with. The unpredictability of the criminals' world, - and of the world surrounding the potboiler nightmare, - as well as the ending makes for a fierce, neat time of suspense here.
Joseph Hayes (The Young Doctors (1961)) adapted his own book and play for the screen with Jay Dratler (The Dark Corner (1946)), and German master filmmaker William Wyler (Roman Holiday (1953)) directed the picture.

Related reviews:

William Wyler: Ben-Hur (1959) - Perhaps the greatest epic film of all time
The Big Country (1958) - A big western gift  
Roman Holiday (1953) - Wyler takes us to marvelous Rome on an unforgettable romantic adventure 

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.3 mil. $
Box office: 2.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty
[If Desperate Hours played very well internationally, it may have been a box office success, but it doesn't look like it was a huge hit theatrically. It was remade in 1974 in India as 36 Ghante and in 1990 in Hollywood by Michael Cimino with the same title as the original, - but to considerably worse reviews.]

What do you think of The Desperate Hours?
What's your favorite home-invasion movie?

The Dark Corner (1946) - Hathaway's great film noir

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Sinister truths seem to await right around Henry Hathaway's The Dark Corner on this atmospheric, painted poster

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Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy (1951-57)) is engaging as secretary Kathleen, the dream woman for private detective Galt (Mark Stevens (Cry Vengeance (1954))), who gets framed and hunted for murder. A man in a white suit, an art collector and a hell of a lot of booze, cigarettes and coffee are some of the other ingredients in this romantic film noir.

- Who would have guessed SPOILER that the rich gallery owner (Clifton Webb (Laura (1944)) with a positively freezing British accent) was the coldblooded crook here?
In Dark Corner, we are allowed to wallow in shadows (cinematography by Joseph MacDonald (Pickup on South Street (1953))), suspense and intelligent dialog. The script is by Jay Dratler (Laura) and Bernard C. Shoenfeld (The Magic Sword (1962)) with story by Leo Rosten (The Velvet Touch (1948)) and uncredited work by Harry Kleiner (Red Heat (1988)) and Fred Kohlmar (Bye Bye Birdie (1963), producer). Henry Hathaway (True Grit (1969)) directed it, probably one of his best films, (though he directed more than 60, so it is hard to say for sure so far hence.)
The Dark Corner, in any case, is an exquisite pleasure.

Related reviews:

Henry Hathaway: Airport (1970) or, A Genre Is Born (uncredited director of winter outdoor scenes)  
Circus World/The Magnificent Showman (1964) - Hathaway and Bronston's grand, ill-fated curio 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[Dark Corner is recognized as an excellent low-budget noir; great film critic Leonard Maltin gives it the equivalent of 4 stars in our system (3 in his), and it holds a 100 % fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, (based on 8 reviews.)]

What do you think of The Dark Corner?
Other great film noirs that you want to recommend?