24 Hours to Kill is a 1965 British thriller film shot in Techniscope and Technicolor that was filmed in the Lebanon, then a tax haven. It was directed by Peter Bezencenet, and stars Lex Barker, Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.
Plot
A Transcontinental Airlines airliner on an international flight develops engine trouble en route to Athens. Pilot Jamie Faulkner (Lex Barker) is forced to land in Beirut, where the aircraft is to layover for 24 hours. Although the crew look forward to rest and relaxation in the then glamorous tourist hot spot, one of the crew members is in fear of his life due to his being a target of a criminal organisation based in the city.
Purser Norman Jones (Mickey Rooney), on the run from a gang of gold smugglers headed by Malouf (Walter Slezak), a smuggler, gains the sympathy of the flight's captain 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 Braganza (Helga Sommerfeld), the captain's girl friend. Jamie learns that Jones is a member of Malouf's gang and has actually stolen £40,000 worth of bullion from the syndicate.
Although the gangsters kidnap air hostess Françoise Bertram (France Anglade) to propose an exchange. Françoise, however, after a fight, is rescued by the airline crew. Jones is captured by Malouf but saved by Jamie and the crew, but just as the airliner takes off, Jones is killed by one of Malouf's men.
Cast
Lex Barker as Captain Jamie Faulkner
Mickey Rooney as Norman Jones
Michael Medwin as Tommy Gaskell
Wolfgang Lukschy as Kurt Hoffner
Helga Sommerfeld as Louise Braganza
France Anglade as Françoise Bertram
Helga Lehner as Marianne
Walter Slezak as Malouf
Hans Clarin as Elias
Shakib Khouri as Andronicus
Issam Chenawi as Assistant
Giancarlo Bastianoni as Killer
Maria Rohm as Claudine
Production
24 Hours to Kill was written by Peter Yeldham who travelled to Beirut to research the film's plot.
The aircraft in 24 Hours to Kill included: Antonov An-24B Convair 880-22M de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4C, c/n 6446, OD-ADQ Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-8-33 Ilyushin Il-18 Lockheed Constellation Sud-Aviation SA316B Alouette III, c/n 1118 Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-N, c/n 174, OD-AEO
Release
24 Hours to Kill was released in March 1965.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin stated the film was pleasantly photographed but "slackly directed" that mostly worked due to the "tow bizarre characterizations of" Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.
Andy Webb, writing in The Movie Scene noted the beauty of Beirut before mideast strife destroyed the once glamorous capital. Webb considered 24 Hours to Kill "quite entertaining and has a touch of 60s spy movie about it with a few moments of action, drinks laced with drugs, shady people following Norman around and of course some danger."
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Penquin Books, 1994. . Mann, Dave. Harry Alan Towers: The Transnational Career of a Cinematic Contrarian. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2014. . Taylor, Tadhg. "Peter Yeldham Interview" in Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2015. .