Wonderful character development!

Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Fantastic

For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

The movie's an okay crime drama, but nothing more. There's some suspense near the end as lawyer Madison (Carey) gives exoneration one more try before his client Braden is executed. That manages some dramatic tension. Still, the opening hook may be the movie's best sequence as the mysterious intruder ends up shooting two old people while rifling a desk for money. It's effectively done in creepy shadow. The story's remainder, however, fails to rise above standard melodrama.Fans of Wright will be disappointed, since her role is relatively small and overshadowed by two Monroe-like blondes. Speaking of blondes, Mara does a good imitation of Daisy Mae from Dogpatch, a backwoods caricature instead of a performance. I wish director Siegel had stepped in to prevent the disruptive effect. Of course, Elam's wild-eyed presence remains a big draw for many of us, and he doesn't disappoint. Get a load of his pants and shirt that look like rag-bin rejects. What a great character actor he was, and to think he was an A-grade studio accountant before turning thespian. Hard to figure him in a suit and tie after seeing his disheveled nut-case here.Anyway, the movie was apparently shot in just nine days, which may account for its general lack of consistency, given the presence of virtuosos like Siegel and Alton. Had the movie been made several years earlier, I expect RKO would have come up with a noir. As things stand, however, the results are an adequate time passer but nothing more.

MacDonald Carey and Teresa Wright, both of whom starred in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, work together again in a less prestigious film, "Count the Hours" from 1953, directed by Don Siegel.Wright is Ellen Braden, whose husband George (John Craven), a migrant worker, is arrested for the murder of an elderly man and his housekeeper that was done apparently during a robbery - the man kept a lot of money in his house. When asked if he has a gun, he at first says no. His wife runs home and throws the gun in the lake, but she's seen doing it. By then he's admitted to having one. He's believed to be guilty.Carey plays attorney Doug Madison, who is asked to take the case but refuses. After speaking with Mrs. Braden, he changes his mind. He's convinced that they have to find the gun. But when they do, it's a disappointment. Doug believes in George's innocence, which means they have to find the killer.Pretty good mystery-suspense film which also features Jack Elam. Wright is sympathetic as the pregnant Ellen who believes in her husband, but John Craven doesn't register much.Carey was an affable leading man who found his great success on Days of Our Lives. He had a wonderful speaking voice and a gentle presence. Elam is his usual evil-looking and sleazy self.On the ordinary side but tense nonetheless.

The great director who would make " invasion of the body snatchers" "the killers" "the beguiled" and even Elvis' best ("flaming star") is already present;his flair for film noir and for disturbing atmosphere is glaring in the scene in which the diver tries to rape T. Wright:the way Siegel films his eyes is absolutely terrifying ;ditto for the scenes when the lawyer looks for the former employee;oddly Siegel does not seem to very interested in T.Wright's character and the last scenes are given over to Dolores Moran and Adele Mara,who are relatively obscured thespians compared to the star of "shadow a doubt" and Wyler's war movies.However,the movie is absorbing and a must for suspense buffs.Like this ?try these "phantom lady" (Robert Siodmak,1944)"time without pity" (Joseph Losey ,1956)"they won't forget " (Mervyn LeRoy,1937)

This is far from the best Don Siegel movie. But, despite flaws in writing and acting, it's gripping and moves along, keeping the viewer on the edge of his or her seat.Nothing is really credible. Theresa Wright as an itinerant farmer's wife? Actors with pronounced New York accents as menacing rednecks? And something about the script seems truly sub-par. The dialogue is not grammatical and this is not a matter of simulating regional speech or signifying class. The dialogue is just not well written.The music, too, is strangely self-contradictory. At first it is pure schmalz, and Don Siegel is not the man for romance, even if it's romantic noir. Then a theramon is introduced and it sounds better.Despite quibbling on my part, it's an engrossing movie. Believable? Not exactly. But, if one cuts it some considerable slack, it works well as a suspenseful kind-of noir.