Dial 1119

Dial 1119

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gerald Mayer
Produced by Richard Goldstone
Screenplay by John Monks Jr.
Story by Hugh King
Don McGuire
Starring Marshall Thompson
Virginia Field
Andrea King
Sam Levene
Music by André Previn
Cinematography Paul Vogel
Edited by Newell P. Kimlin
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • November 3, 1950 (United States)
Running time
 75 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $473,000[1]
Box office $603,000[1]

Dial 1119 is a 1950 film noir starring Marshall Thompson as a deranged escaped killer holding the customers of a bar hostage. It was directed by Gerald Mayer, nephew of Louis B. Mayer. 1119 is the police emergency number in the film.

Plot

Homicidal escaped mental patient Gunther Wyckoff (Marshall Thompson) arrives by bus in Terminal City. As he leaves the bus, he is confronted by the bus driver for stealing the driver's Colt pistol. Rather than surrender the weapon Wyckoff kills the bus driver with it.

Wyckoff tries to locate a 'Dr. Faron', at both his office and then at his home address (in an apartment building), with no luck. As he leaves the building, we notice it is a warm night, and he notices 'The Oasis Bar' across the street from the apartments. He goes into the bar and finds there is a good vantage point to observe the entryway to the apartment building.

There are four other customers in the bar, manned by Chuckles the bartender and his assistant/relief-person (whose wife is in hospital about to have a baby). Chuckles, seeing a 'news flash' story on the TV, notices Wyckoff is one of his customers and tries, unsuccessfully, to reach a pistol he has stashed behind the bar. Chuckles then decides to telephone the police, but Wyckoff notices, and shoots Chuckles dead as he is placing the call. Wyckoff then orders the bar patrons to occupy one table where he can keep an eye on them. Meanwhile the gunshot and subsequent bar patron scream attracts attention on the street, and as a beat officer approaches the bar he is shot in the leg by Wyckoff firing through a window. Bystanders rescue the officer, and a call is put out for reinforcements to respond to 'a man barricaded in the bar'.

The group of five discuss what might be going on with Wyckoff. The relief barman, when asked, notes to the others the gun holds eight rounds, but while doing so Wyckoff removes the magazine and loads a new one; another eight rounds.

Wyckoff calls the police to inform him of his identity and the hostage situation. He demands the police stay away but deliver Dr. Faron to the bar within 25 minutes or he will kill the hostages. As the hostages converse, we discover Faron is the local police psychiatrist. The press set up TV coverage near the bar while the crowd of onlookers grows.

As police discuss tactics, Faron is located and brought to the bar. One of the hostages is a reporter, and reminds the others that Wyckoff's previous crime was 'a big local story' three years ago. As Faron pleads with the police to let him attempt to 'handle' Wyckoff, they attempt to enter the bar by surreptitious means. Wyckoff becomes aware of the attempted breach and seriously wounds an officer with two shots, as the hostages look on helplessly. Faron again pleads with the police, and says, "I demand that you let me do my job!", which Wyckoff sees happening on the TV. The police captain resents Faron's success at getting Wyckoff a 'light sentence' the first time around. The police prepare a breach 'en masse' with two minutes to go before Wyckoff's 'deadline', but Faron slips away and enters the bar. He tries to convince Wyckoff he is delusional, but after some discussion, Wyckoff becomes agitated and shoots Faron dead.

The phone rings, and the assistant knows it's the hospital calling about his wife. Desperate to answer, he struggles with Wyckoff; at the same moment, the police detonate an explosive charge and put out the lights. In the confusion, one of the hostages uses Chuckles under-counter bar-gun to shoot Wyckoff. In shock, he staggers outside and is cut down in a hail of police gunfire. The police enter the bar. As he kneels over Faron's body, the police captain wryly and rhetorically asks an officer "How far does man have to go to prove that he's right?". The survivors get to go home. The police outside implore the crowd to 'break it up', and do the same.

Cast

Reception

Although the film was inexpensively made, it only earned $402,000 in the US and Canada and $201,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $148,000.[1]

Critical response

Film critic Glenn Erickson discussed the production values of the film writing: "1950's Dial 1119 is a low-budget MGM picture that resembles a one-act play expanded to short feature length. With economic pressures coming down hard on the studios, the expense of something like An American in Paris had to be balanced by making other studio producers come up with something for nothing. Thus we have Dial 1119, a taut little suspense item that uses only a couple of sets and utilizes the services of contractees already on the payroll. The show also resembles a typical live TV production from a few years later, the kind that garnered attention for the likes of James Dean."[2]

Critic Jeff Stafford liked the film, writing, "A taut and suspenseful B-movie, Dial 1119 is distinguished by the crisp black-and-white cinematography of Paul C. Vogel (He worked on such film noir favorites as Lady in the Lake, 1947) and the excellent ensemble cast which includes Virginia Field, Andrea King, Leon Ames, Keith Brasselle, and William Conrad (star of TV's detective series, Cannon, 1971-1976) as the unlucky bartender. It was the first film directed by Gerald Mayer, son of the famous MGM tycoon, Louis B. Mayer, and remains the best movie of his brief career."[3]

DVD release

Warner Bros. released the film on DVD on July 13, 2010, in its Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ Erickson, Glenn. DVD Savant/Talk, film and DVD review, July 10, 2010. Accessed: July 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ Stafford, Jeff. Turner Classic Movies, film review. Accessed: July 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ Abrams, Simon. "Film Noir Classic Collection: Volume 5." SlantMagazine.com. July 20, 2010. Accessed: July 13, 2013.

External links