Four Hours to Kill!
Cast & Crew
Mitchell Leisen
Richard Barthelmess
Joe Morrison
Gertrude Michael
Helen Mack
Dorothy Tree
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A number of people have ulterior motives for attending a stage show in New York. Among them are Johnson, who is waiting for his wife to give birth to their first child; Sylvia Temple, who is there for a secret rendezvous with her lover, Carl Barrett; and policeman Taft. Taft is handcuffed to convicted murderer Tony Mako, who escaped from a prison two thousand miles away to come to Times Square and seek vengeance on Anderson, the man who informed on him. Taft is delivering Mako to out-of-state authorities, but has four hours to kill before the meeting. Theater hostess Mae Danish, who is also Anderson's wife, attempts to extort $200 from Eddie, the theater's coat check boy, by telling him that she is "in trouble," and that he must either give her the money or marry her. Eddie then suffers a crisis in his relationship with his fiancée Helen, after telling her about Mae. Desperate, Eddie considers stealing an expensive diamond brooch that fell off Sylvia's fur coat. Sylvia and Carl meet, and after asking her to leave her husband for him, intimates that her husband is having an affair with Helen, who is his file clerk. Sylvia agrees to Carl's proposal, then searches for her missing brooch. Helen, who is loyal to Eddie, asks Sylvia's husband for a $200 advance on her pay to give to Eddie, and Temple tells her she can return the favor by showing up at his hotel room. Mako and Taft have an amicable relationship, despite their situation, especially after Mako gives his last few dollar to Taft so he can buy his daughter a gift. Mako tells Taft that he simply wants to die quickly, rather than be hanged. When he sees Mae at the theater, Mako escapes from Taft and calls Anderson, saying that Mae wants to meet him at the theater. He then hides in an out-of-service phone booth. The police arrive and Sylvia and Carl bring Eddie to the policeman's attention, after which he confesses to having found the brooch but denies having stolen it. When Anderson arrives, he asks Mae for the money, but she rebuffs him. Mako finally reveals himself when he shoots Anderson. Mako is killed by Taft and dies as he had wanted. After the police arrest Mae, Eddie and Helen reunite upon discovering Mae's lie about her condition, and Johnson finds out his wife had a son after a difficult childbirth.
Director
Mitchell Leisen
Cast
Richard Barthelmess
Joe Morrison
Gertrude Michael
Helen Mack
Dorothy Tree
Roscoe Karns
Ray Milland
Charles C. Wilson
Henry Travers
Noel Madison
Paul Harvey
Olive Tell
Lee Kohlmar
Bodil Rosing
Lois Kent
Bruce Mitchell
John Huettner
Alfred Delcambre
Sam Ash
Frank Losee Jr.
Douglas Blackley
Hugh Enfield
Paul Gerrits
John Cox Jr.
Gertrude Astor
Rebecca Wassem
Crew
Edgar Anderson
Hans Dreier
John Goodman
Doane Harrison
Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Norman Krasna
Harold C. Lewis
Ralph Rainger
Leo Robin
Theodor Sparkuhl
Richard A. Whiting
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of the film were Small Miracle and Night Drama. Although Mae Danish's assumed relationship with Eddie is never clarified and her pregnancy is never explicity stated, the film implies that she is asking for $200 so she can have an abortion. The Call Bureau Cast Service lists Greta Meyer and Christian Rub in the roles of Ma and Pa, but Bodil Rosing and Lee Kohlmar are credited on screen in those parts. A contemporary source notes that the theater in the film was variously referred to as the "41st Street" theater and the "43rd Street" theater. According to a biography on Carole Lombard, she offered to take a lead role in the film to assist director Mitchell Leisen, who was a good friend, but this idea was rejected by the studio, and Lombard instead helped produce the film.
