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24 Hours to Kill
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Wikipedia article
'24 Hours to Kill' (aka 'Twenty-Four Hours to Kill' and 'In Beirut sind die Nchte lang') is a 1965 British/German international co-production drama film shot in Techniscope and Technicolor that was filmed in the Lebanon, then a tax haven.Mann 2014, p. 45. It was produced by Harry Alan Towers, 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 Franoise Bertram (France Anglade) to propose an exchange. Franoise, 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 Franoise 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.Taylor 2015, pp. 28-29. According to German reviewer, Oliver Nding, casting Lex barker and Mickey Rooney and using an exotic setting was standard procedure for the low-budget Towers of London production team.Nding, Oliver. [https://funkhundd.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/24-hours-to-kill-peter-bezencenet-grosbritannien-1965/ "24 hours to kill (Peter Bezencenet, Great Britain 1965)."] 'funkhundd.wordpress.com', 25 January 2014. Retrieved: 5 August 2019.
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 Santoir, Christian. [http://aeromovies.fr/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=2513&mnuid=1425&tconfig=0#z2 "Review: '24 Hours to Kill'."] 'Aeromovies' 17 January 2015. Retrieved: 5 August 2019.
Reception
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."Webb, Andy. [https://www.themoviescene.co.uk/reviews/twenty-four-hours-to-kill/twenty-four-hours-to-kill.html "Review: '24 Hours to Kill': Rooney's nervy Norman."] 'The Movie Scene', 2019. Retrieved: 5 August 2019.
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. .
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