By Richard Harland Smith
24 Hours To Kill
Brief Synopsis
During a 24-hour layover in Beirut, a greedy airline purser transports a cache of stolen goods.
Cast & Crew
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Peter Bezencenet
Director
Lex Barker
Jamie
Mickey Rooney
Norman Jones
Michael Medwin
Tommy
Wolfgang Lukschy
Kurt
Helga Sommerfeld
Louise
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Thriller
Release Date
Jan
1966
Premiere Information
Los Angeles showing: Jan 1966
Production Company
Grixflag Films
Distribution Company
Seven Arts Pictures
Country
United Kingdom
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 32m
Synopsis
An international flight develops engine trouble en route to Athens and is forced to land in Beirut, where it is immobilized for 24 hours. Purser Norman Jones, on the run from a gang of gold smugglers headed by Malouf, gains the sympathy of the flight's captain, Jamie, and other members of the crew who believe that Jones has been wrongly associated with the syndicate. The gang twice attempts to kill Jones and tries to kidnap air hostess Louise, the captain's girl friend, and Jamie learns that Jones is actually a member of Malouf's gang and has stolen £40,000 worth of bullion from the syndicate. Although the gangsters kidnap air hostess Françoise and propose an exchange, Françoise is rescued by the airline crew after a fight. Jones is captured by Malouf and then saved by Jamie and the crew, but just as the plane takes off, Jones is killed by one of Malouf's men.
Director
Peter Bezencenet
Director
Cast
Lex Barker
Jamie
Mickey Rooney
Norman Jones
Michael Medwin
Tommy
Wolfgang Lukschy
Kurt
Helga Sommerfeld
Louise
France Anglade
Françoise
Helga Lehner
Helga
Walter Slezak
Malouf
Hans Clarin
Elias
Shakib Khouri
Andronicus
Maria Rohm
Claudine
Nadia Gamel
Mimi
Crew
Brian Ash
Sound
Ken Cameron
Sound
John Comfort
Prod Supervisor
Bernard Coote
Associate Producer
Marcus Dods
Music Director
Sefik Hashen
Music for nadia gamel's dance
Fred Hughesdon
Sound
Wilfred Josephs
Music
Scott Macgregor
Art Director
Ernest Steward
Director of Photography
John Trumper
Film Editor
Oliver A. Unger
Executive Producer
Peter Yeldham
Screenwriter
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Thriller
Release Date
Jan
1966
Premiere Information
Los Angeles showing: Jan 1966
Production Company
Grixflag Films
Distribution Company
Seven Arts Pictures
Country
United Kingdom
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 32m
Articles
24 Hours To Kill
Though his career had begun in childhood, with impish star turns in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939), and found him as he matured into his teen years playing the apple-cheeked spirit of American can-do-ism in such films as Babes in Arms (1939) and Babes on Broadway (1941) - not to mention his ongoing role as quintessential boy-next-door Andy Hardy in MGM's long-running family film franchise - Mickey Rooney gravitated towards crime films as he aged beyond his ingénue years. In films such as Quicksand (1950), Baby Face Nelson (1957), and The Big Operator (1959), Rooney shucked his wholesome image to play complex and frequently unlikeable antiheroes, even the occasional villain. After the cancellation of his short-lived ABC sitcom Mickey (1964-1965), the 45 year-old actor signed on for the international coproduction 24 Hours to Kill (1965), playing a member of a commercial flight crew in league with gold smugglers who makes the unwise decision to double cross his partners in crime. Second-billed below 6'4" leading man Lex Barker, Rooney looks like a ventriloquist's dummy by comparison but makes the most of his screen time as a marked man scrambling around Beirut just ahead of an assassin's bullet. Produced by trash entrepreneur Harry Alan Towers, 24 Hours to Kill benefits immeasurably from the widescreen Technicolor photography of Ernest Steward, a former second unit director for David Lean.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
24 Hours To Kill
Though his career had begun in childhood, with impish star turns in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939), and found him as he matured into his teen years playing the apple-cheeked spirit of American can-do-ism in such films as Babes in Arms (1939) and Babes on Broadway (1941) - not to mention his ongoing role as quintessential boy-next-door Andy Hardy in MGM's long-running family film franchise - Mickey Rooney gravitated towards crime films as he aged beyond his ingénue years. In films such as Quicksand (1950), Baby Face Nelson (1957), and The Big Operator (1959), Rooney shucked his wholesome image to play complex and frequently unlikeable antiheroes, even the occasional villain. After the cancellation of his short-lived ABC sitcom Mickey (1964-1965), the 45 year-old actor signed on for the international coproduction 24 Hours to Kill (1965), playing a member of a commercial flight crew in league with gold smugglers who makes the unwise decision to double cross his partners in crime. Second-billed below 6'4" leading man Lex Barker, Rooney looks like a ventriloquist's dummy by comparison but makes the most of his screen time as a marked man scrambling around Beirut just ahead of an assassin's bullet. Produced by trash entrepreneur Harry Alan Towers, 24 Hours to Kill benefits immeasurably from the widescreen Technicolor photography of Ernest Steward, a former second unit director for David Lean.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in Lebanon. Released in Great Britain in September 1965; running time: 83 min. Peter Welbeck is a pseudonym of Harry Alan Towers.
