36 Hours to Kill

Last updated
36 Hours to Kill
36 Hours to Kill poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Eugene Forde
Screenplay by Lou Breslow
John Patrick
Story by W. R. Burnett
Produced by Sol M. Wurtzel
Starring Brian Donlevy
Gloria Stuart
Douglas Fowley
Isabel Jewell
Stepin Fetchit
Julius Tannen
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Edited by Louis R. Loeffler
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 24, 1936 (1936-07-24)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

36 Hours to Kill is a 1936 American drama film directed by Eugene Forde, written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick, and starring Brian Donlevy, Gloria Stuart, Douglas Fowley, Isabel Jewell, Stepin Fetchit and Julius Tannen. It is based on the short story "Across the Aisle" by W. R. Burnett. The film was released on July 24, 1936, by 20th Century Fox. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Duke and Jeanie Benson, an outlaw couple hiding out under assumed names in a calm, suburban community, read a newspaper article about a sweepstakes winner who has not yet claimed his prize. Duke realizes that he has the winning ticket and will win $150,000 if he can cash it in without getting apprehended. Fed up with suburban life, Duke decides to board a train to Kansas City, where he bought the ticket, while Jeanie plans to fly there and get a "stooge" to cash in the ticket. At the train station, reporter Frank Evers boards the train and starts a conversation with Duke, who calls himself "Downey." At San Bernardino, Anne Marvis boards the train, followed by Doyle, a process server. Finding the door to Duke's room open, Anne hides in his bed, and when Duke sees Doyle enter in pursuit, he pulls a gun on Doyle, who says that he mistook Duke's "wife" for the woman he was after.

Duke is attracted to Anne, as is Frank. When Jeanie gets on the train because her plane was grounded, she suspects that Duke and Anne are having an affair and pulls a gun on them; however, Duke calms her fears by introducing Frank as Anne's husband. Anne and Frank go along with the ruse. Sometime later, Frank accompanies the conductor to a room next to Duke's, where they listen through a surveillance device to Duke and Jeanie bicker about their plans to have the "boys" meet him in Kansas City. Frank, in reality a G-man, hopes to nab the whole gang and decides to hold off arresting Duke. After Jeanie gets off the train at Albuquerque to board a plane to Kansas City, Duke tries to flirt with Anne, but she rejects his advances. That night, Frank and Anne agree to be honest with each other, and Anne reveals that she is really a Los Angeles reporter and has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury concerning a political scandal which she had unearthed. She says that she felt it would be "healthier" to go out-of-state for a while.

When Frank continues to claim that he is a reporter for The Telegraph, Anne indignantly reveals that she works for the paper and knows that he does not. In Topeka, after Flash, a porter, inadvertently finds the listening device in Duke's room, Duke knocks out the conductor. Anne receives a wire that it is all right for her to return to Los Angeles and gets off the train. When Duke sees Frank pursuing him, he gets into Anne's cab. They go to Borden's Sanitarium, where Duke meets Jeanie, who is unhappy to see him with Anne. When Duke reads in a newspaper that another man has surfaced to claim the lottery prize, he sends his shyster lawyer Rickert to dispute the claim to the insurance company that handles the contest. While Rickert is away, Duke kisses Anne and asks her to leave with him after he collects the money. Anne agrees, but he locks her in her room anyway. Jeanie then unbolts the shutters of Anne's room to help her escape, and Anne hitches a ride on a truck, but the driver works for Duke's gang and brings her back to the sanitarium. Upon deducing that Jeanie let Anne out, Duke slugs Jeanie. Frank, impersonating an insurance agent, accompanies Rickert to the sanitarium. Duke shoots Frank as a carload of G-men arrive and then unlocks Anne's door to take her with him, but Jeanie shoots him and then cries over his body. The gang is captured, and Anne is pleased to see that Frank is only wounded. On the train to Los Angeles, Flash comments that Frank and Anne have not come out of their cabin in two days. They kiss and it is revealed that they have recently married. [4]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stepin Fetchit</span> American character actor Lincoln Perry

Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career. His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage, when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the "Laziest Man in the World".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Donlevy</span> American actor (1901–1972)

Waldo Brian Donlevy was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are Beau Geste (1939), The Great McGinty (1940) and Wake Island (1942). For his role as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

<i>A Study in Terror</i> 1965 film by James Hill

A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson. It was filmed at Shepperton Studios, London, with some location work at Osterley House in Middlesex.

<i>One More Spring</i> 1935 American comedy film

One More Spring is a 1935 American comedy drama film about three people, played by Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, and Walter Woolf King, living together in a tool room at Central Park as an alternative to being homeless. The film was written by Edwin J. Burke from the Robert Nathan novel of the same name and directed by Henry King.

<i>Valley of the Dolls</i> (film) 1967 American drama film

Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 American drama film starring Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, Sharon Tate, Susan Hayward, Paul Burke, and Lee Grant. It was directed by Mark Robson, and produced by David Weisbart. Based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls, it follows three women struggling to forge careers in the entertainment industry, each of them descending into barbiturate addiction—"dolls" being a slang term for depressant pills or "downers".

<i>Gloria</i> (1999 American film) 1999 film by Sidney Lumet

Gloria is a 1999 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Sidney Lumet and stars Sharon Stone as Gloria. It is a remake of the 1980 film of the same name that was written and directed by John Cassavetes. It is also notable as George C. Scott's final theatrically released film. The supporting cast also includes Jeremy Northam, Cathy Moriarty-Gentile, Bonnie Bedelia, and Barry McEvoy. The music score is composed by Academy Award winner Howard Shore.

<i>Copacabana</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Alfred E. Green

Copacabana is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green starring Carmen Miranda, Groucho Marx and Steve Cochran. The film is a showcase for Miranda, who performs several numbers in her usual style, including a high-energy rendition of "Tico-Tico". Groucho, as Lionel, her fiance and agent, also sings a musical number, "Go West, Young Man", wearing his traditional greasepaint brows, mustache, and baggy suit. This was Groucho's first significant film appearance as a solo act, minus Harpo and Chico.

<i>Judge Priest</i> 1934 film

Judge Priest is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers. The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The picture is set in post-reconstruction Kentucky and the supporting cast features Henry B. Walthall, Hattie McDaniel and Stepin Fetchit. It was remade by Ford in 1953 as The Sun Shines Bright.

<i>On the Avenue</i> 1937 film by William A. Seiter, Roy Del Ruth

On the Avenue is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye, George Barbier, and The Ritz Brothers. Many of the songs were composed by Irving Berlin. Many of the plot details were used in Let's Make Love. Initially, the movie was called Out Front.

<i>Dimples</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by William A. Seiter

Dimples is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay was written by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The film is about a young mid-nineteenth century street entertainer who is separated from her pickpocket grandfather when given a home by a wealthy New York City widow. The film was panned by the critics. Videocassette and DVD versions of the film were available in 2009.

<i>A Tough Winter</i> 1930 film

A Tough Winter is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 99th Our Gang short that was released.

"Zebras" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the tenth season of the police procedural television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the show's 224th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on June 2, 2009. In the episode, an open-and-shut case against a mentally disturbed murderer, played by Nick Stahl, is blown when a forensics technician makes a technical error. As Elliot and Olivia investigate additional murders believed to be the work of the same killer, they uncover a plot within their own department.

<i>This Is My Affair</i> 1937 film by William A. Seiter

This Is My Affair is a 1937 American period crime film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Victor McLaglen and Brian Donlevy. It was produced and released by 20th Century Fox.

<i>A Gentleman After Dark</i> 1942 film by Edwin L. Marin

A Gentleman After Dark is a 1942 crime/drama film starring Brian Donlevy and Miriam Hopkins.

<i>Marie Galante</i> (film) 1934 film directed by Henry King

Marie Galante is a 1934 American film directed by Henry King, starring Ketti Gallian and Spencer Tracy, adapted from a French novel by Jacques Deval. Later in the same year the novel was adapted into a French musical titled Marie Galante, with book and lyrics by Jacques Deval and music by Kurt Weill.

<i>Heaven Only Knows</i> (film) 1947 film directed by Albert S. Rogell

Heaven Only Knows is a 1947 American Western fantasy film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy and Marjorie Reynolds. Produced by German émigré Seymour Nebenzal's Nero Films, it was distributed by United Artists.

<i>Fifty Roads to Town</i> 1937 film by Norman Taurog

Fifty Roads to Town is a 1937 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Don Ameche and Ann Sothern. The film is based on a book of the same name by author Frederick Nebel. This is the third novel Nebel wrote.

<i>Bachelor of Arts</i> (film) 1934 American drama film

Bachelor of Arts is a 1934 American drama film directed by Louis King and written by Lamar Trotti. The film stars Tom Brown, Anita Louise, Henry B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, Arline Judge and Frank Albertson. The film was released on November 23, 1934, by Fox Film Corporation.

References

  1. ↑ "36 Hours to Kill (1936) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  2. ↑ Hal Erickson (2015). "Thirty-Six-Hours-to-Kill - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  3. ↑ "36 Hours to Kill". Afi.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  4. ↑ "36 Hours to Kill (1936) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.