4K Ultra HD Critique – 36 Hours (1953)

      36 Hours, 1953

      Directed by Montgomery Tully.

      Starring Dan Duryea, Elsie Albiin, Gudrun Ure, Eric Pohlmann, Kenneth Griffith, Harold Lang, John Chandos.

      SYNOPSIS:

      An American pilot on leave from the military is wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and has just 36 hours to prove his innocence.

      Based on the novel of the same name by American pulp writer Steve Fisher, 36 Hours (also known as Terror Street in the US) features Dan Duryea as Major Bill Rogers, a US Air Force pilot who spends his 36-hour leave in London hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife Katherine (Elsie Albiin). The couple married soon after meeting and settled in London, but Bill has been called back to the US for three months, leaving Katherine alone to make 'new friends' in his absence.

      After a brief reunion, Bill is knocked unconscious by one of those 'friends,' who then kills Katherine using Bill's gun, framing him for her murder. With only 36 hours to prove his innocence before his flight back to America departs, he must unravel the truth before he is apprehended by the police or marked as AWOL by the Air Force.

      The film is a British effort to capitalize on the film noir elements prevalent in Hollywood crime thrillers of the time, and while it attempts to capture the tension of criminal underworlds, a damsel in distress, and a desperate protagonist fighting to clear his name, it feels quite pedestrian. Director Montgomery Tully is competent, but 36 Hours lacks the adventurous and romantic flair that Terence Fisher, a prominent Hammer director, would bring to similar films of the era like Mantrap and Stolen Face.

      The somewhat dreary UK backdrop takes away from the atmosphere; instead of the perilous streets of a major US city, we see Bill Rogers navigating through the council estates of southern England. The filmmakers do try to portray London as a bit darker and more dangerous than it actually was at the time, but scenes of Dan Duryea running past rubble and a broken fence in a Bray alley tend to lessen the effect.

      Bill Rogers is not a particularly likable character, and Dan Duryea is given little room to develop him beyond the script. As a sort of antihero, his known innocence keeps him from being less compelling than John Chandos's Orville Hart, one of Katherine's 'new friends,' who comes close to being a caricature of a villain despite not having a mustache.

      Without the presence of Terence Fisher or other well-known Hammer associates, 36 Hours feels somewhat like a filler in their lineup, echoing the framework of the superior Stolen Face but changing some aspects. Harold Lang and Kenneth Griffith are among the more recognizable British actors present, with Eric Pohlmann, known as the voice of Blofeld, appearing as a smuggler, and future Super Gran star Gudrun Ure portraying Jenny, an innocent woman empathizing with Bill and helping him. Unfortunately, the absence of prominent names both behind and in front of the camera keeps this film from rising above mediocrity.

      However, despite the film's uninspired quality, Hammer has augmented the DVD with special features, including both UK and US versions with different audio commentaries, several featurettes exploring 'Brit Noir' as a genre or mood (as one commentator describes), an examination of Steve Fisher's written works, an overview of Dan Duryea's career, two episodes of the US radio series Suspense starring Duryea, and a 120-page booklet of essays and artwork reproductions.

      Despite its formulaic nature, 36 Hours is still a moderately entertaining thriller if you can overlook its derivative approach, as Hammer merely shifts US film noir tropes to a British setting with minimal subtlety. Collectors of Hammer's recent releases will likely acquire it to maintain a complete collection, but as a standalone piece, there are better instances of Hammer showcasing their creative capabilities in mirroring American cinema, illustrating how variations on a theme can sometimes miss the mark.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

      Chris Ward