36 Hours [Blu-ray]

Overview

Based on a short story by Roald Dahl, 36 Hours is a 1964 war thriller with a psycological spin. It opens in 1950: Maj. Jefferson Pike (James Garner), an Army intelligence agent who served with distinction in World War II, awakens in a hospital with severe amnesia. He isn't sure where he is, how he got there, or even who the woman at his side is, even though the doctor tells him that her name is Anna (Eva Marie Saint) and that she is his wife. The doctor instructs Pike to recall, in as much detail as possible, what he was doing before the accident that caused his traumatic memory loss. But the doctor isn't a doctor, Anna isn't Pike's wife, it isn't 1950, and he isn't in an American hospital. World War II is still very much in progress, and Pike is being duped in an elaborate scheme prepared by Maj. Walter Gerber (Rod Taylor), a German intelligence agent, to reveal the details of the Allied D-Day invasion, to which Pike is privvy. Gerber is trying to trick a drugged and suggestible American major into telling him everything he knows, as the captured Pike lies in a Bavarian military hospital after being taken prisoner. Will Pike be able to see through the cracks in Gerber's facade before he spills the beans that could mean death and defeat for American soldiers? 36 Hours was later remade for TV under the title Breaking Point. TV fans will want to keep an eye peeled for bit parts by James Doohan from Star Trek and John Banner from Hogan's Heroes.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/11/2017
UPC:	0888574487133
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:55:00
Sales rank:	21,105

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Garner	Major Jefferson Pike
Rod Taylor	Major Walter Gerber
Eva Marie Saint	Anna Hedler
Werner Peters	Otto Schack
Alan Napier	Col. Peter MacLean
Celia Lovsky	Elsa
John Banner	Ernst
Ed Gilbert	Capt. Abbott
Russell Thorson	Gen. Allison
Oscar Beregi Jr.	Lt. Col. Ostermann
Sig Rumann	German Guard
Karl Held	Cpl. Kenter
Martin Kosleck	Kraatz
Marjorie Bennett	Charwoman
Henry Rowland	German Soldier
Otto Reichow	German Soldier,German
Hilda Plowright	German Agent
Walter Friedel	Denker
Joseph Mell	Lemke
John Gilgreen	Lt. Busch
Michael Stroka	German Officer
Chris Anders	German Officer,Dr. Winterstein
Kurt Lander	German Sergeant
James Doohan	Bishop
Eric Micklewood	British Officer
Richard Peel	Dudley
Roy Eason	Reynolds
Leslie Bradley	British Announcer,British Announcer
Louis Sarrano	Portuguese Official
Luis Delgado	Lieutenant
Harold Dyrenforth	Maj. Gen. Ungerland
Danny Klega	German Lieutenant
Walter Janowitz	Dr. Metzler
Charles Hradilac	Dr. Kleiner
Norbert Schiller	Dr. Wittelbach
John Dennis	M.P. Guard
Barry Macollum	Bartender
Roy Jenson	Soldier
John Hart	Perkins
Howard Curtis	Dutton
Owen McGiveney	Elderly Man
Henry dar Boggia	Frenchman
Rolfe Sedan	Frenchman
George Dee	French Informer
Paul Busch	German
Chic Masi	Waiter
Charles Bastian	Swiss Soldier
Horst Ebersberg	Swiss Officer
Oscar Beregi	Lt. Col. Ostermann
Joe Di Reda	Actor
Kort Falkenberg	Radio Voice
Jeff Morris	GI
Dimitri Tiomkin	Composer

Technical Credits

George Seaton

George Seaton	Director,Screenwriter
William Perlberg	Producer

Editorial Reviews

36 Hours has a premise that's intriguing but which also stretches credulity past what many viewers will consider the breaking point: would Nazi officials in desperate need of extracting vital information about the planned Allied landing really resort to an elaborate hoax to coax it out of an American officer, rather than simply devise a more direct method of interrogation? And even if they did opt to, would they really be able to set up such a complicated ruse in the time allotted? As a theatrical gimmick, however, it has a great deal of potential; unfortunately, writer/director George Seaton seriously undercuts its effectiveness by letting the audience in on the charade early on, rather than letting them discover it as the American officer himself does. The lengthy escape near the end also mutes the film's impact, coming off as too derivative and obligatory. Despite its flaws, however, Hours is an enjoyable espionage thriller, thanks in large part to James Garner and Rod Taylor. Garner is well cast as an honorable, dedicated Army man put into a situation in which he has to determine what is reality and what is fantasy. Taylor does even better as the psychiatrist out to trap him, despite the fact that he has genuine admiration for her adversary's sterling qualities. Eva Marie Saint seems a bit miscast as the supposed wife, but Warner Peters is effective as the venomous Nazi.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler