Desperate Hours (1990) (MVD Rewind Collection) - July 19, 2022

[hiraeth]

Originally Posted by rip63

The Desperate Hours was originally a stage-play with Paul Newman in the Bogart/Rourke role, if I recall correctly. Would love to have seen it.

It was originally a novel by Joseph Hayes (and a good one, imo) written in 1953 and based on a real life hostage situation took place the year before. He adapted it for stage the following year (starring Newman, and Karl Malden as the dad), then shortly thereafter for the big screen. There's a late-'60s TV adaptation he wasn't involved in, but he is credited as one of three writers for this remake, even if Cimino rewrote and shot his own script (it was retitled Compulsion and changed back during the shoot - long after the other two writers quit).

Rourke brought Cimino on after Friedkin left for The Guardian, though Christopher Cain - coming off of Young Guns and The Principal - was the first (and longest) attached (he went on to direct a TV movie written by Halloween 4's Alan McElroy).

Would like to have seen the original cut - supposedly 140+ minutes long. Last I saw it a decade or so ago (on DVD), I found it a fascinating mess. Looking forward to seeing it again via MVD's release, and hoping for a sooner-than-later solo release of The Pope of Greenwich Village.