The Long Wait

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The Long Wait
Directed by Victor Saville
Produced by Lesser Samuels
Written by Mickey Spillane (novel)
Alan Green
Lesser Samuels
Starring Anthony Quinn
Charles Coburn
Gene Evans
Music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Cinematography Franz Planer
Distributed by United Artists
Release date(s) May 1954 (U.S. release)
Running time 94 min
Language English
IMDb profile

The Long Wait is a novel by mystery writer Mickey Spillane made into a 1954 film.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Johnny McBride is badly hurt while hitch hiking and loses his memory when the car he is riding in crashes. Two years later, a clue leads him to his old home town, where he finds he is a murder suspect. Johnny tries to clear his name of the presumed murder charges. Thugs working for the local mob boss try to end his meddling.

[edit] Reaction

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward notes: "The inclusion of amnesia, giving the hero a sense of hopelessness compounded by the frustration of his loss of identity, instills a distinct existential bias into McBride's search. This attitude combines with a pervading sense of corruption and dehumanization to give The Long Wait a fatalistic noir ethos."[1]

[edit] Featured cast

Actor Role
Anthony Quinn Johnny McBride
Charles Coburn Gardiner
Gene Evans Servo
Peggie Castle Venus
Mary Ellen Kay Wendy Miller
Shirley Patterson Carol Shay (as Shawn Smith)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1992). Film Noir An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5. 
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