Dial 1119 (1950)

7/10

bkoganbing5 March 2011

Marshall Thompson broke new casting grounds in playing the criminally insane escaped mental patient in Dial 1119. This film was out of the B picture unit at MGM and was far more likely to have previously come from a studio like RKO or Columbia. MGM was one of the last big studios to put out a realistic type noir film like this one.

Time and circumstances get six people trapped in a bar in the fictitious Terminal City where Thompson after taking a weapon from a bus driver and killing him over it, he holds up in a bar. When the news comes over the bar television, Thompson shoots bartender William Conrad and holds the other customers which include Virginia Field, Andrea King, Leon Ames, Keefe Brasselle, and James Bell as hostages.

Thompson had been convicted once of murder, but was declared insane and given a life sentence at an asylum due to the work of psychiatrist Sam Levene. A fact that police captain Richard Rober won't let him forget. They have a lot to say to each other during the course of the film.

Dial 1119 moves at a pretty good pace and not a minute of its 75 minute running time is wasted. The lack of really big movie names no doubt helps create the realistic aura of the film.

Marshall Thompson usually played good guys and will ever be remembered as Daktari from the television show. I suspect he never got roles like this again because the public wouldn't accept him just like Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley.

This film is brutally uncompromising on its view of the death penalty. Opponents of capital punishment will not be pleased, but Dial 1119 is still a great noir film.

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7/10

Pretty vigorous and interesting, and well acted, if a bit familiar

secondtake20 April 2011

Dial 1119 (1950)

The simple premise here is transcended by gritty, real acting and some nice filming and editing to make a great minor movie. At the start, a psychotic killer is loose, and he is looking for the shrink that once put him in the mental ward. But when he gets to the town where the doctor lives, things go wrong, and he ends up with a set of hostages in a second story bar. Police arrive and surround him, and the standoff begins.

What happens next is partly formula, as each of the hostages has some kind of encounter with the man, either in trying to talk him out of things, or make a phone call for help, or eventually physically attack. There is a shadow of that more famous precursor, "The Petrified Forest," but with none of the literate and romantic elegance of the hostages or the archetypal hype of the criminals. This is more of the gritty truth of what it might actually be like.

Outside the bar, as the townspeople gather and the police strategize, it's a believable situation as well. It's night on the street, and the doctor is found but no one will let him go in and negotiate because the cops have their preferred methods which are tried, one by one, without success. There's a slight feeling of those crowds who were watching Henry Fonda trapped in his upper story room in "The Long Night" (1947), though in this one the crowds are not at all sympathetic. Eventually the doctor takes a chance and goes in to talk to the criminal in what is now an established profession of crisis negotiator.

One fascinating aspect here, for 1950 especially, is the role of live television. A portable "on the spot" t.v. truck arrives and sets up in the street (with more than one camera). And in the bar there is a large screen (yes, very large) television that the criminal turns on for awhile. This allows him to see what is happening outside the bar, and so we get to see both sides of the situation at the same time. While television had been used many times in movies before, it was perhaps never quite so visually integral to the events as here. The technology that is implied for this kind of very large device isn't clear (they mention something in the movie which doesn't explain it, really, but which makes clear they know it's unusual for the time).

There are several excellent (and familiar) actors in this tightly woven plot. The lead (the killer) played by Marshall Thompson is unfamiliar to me, and might be a weaker link--he plays the steely-faced desperado a little too straight (not that we needed Richard Widmark, that's an idea!). The cop side of things is very routine, but there are some nice twists to their progress. In all, well made and mildly suspenseful, and fast enough to never let you down.

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7/10

A lot like a reworking of "The Petrified Forest"

planktonrules25 October 2010

Back in 1936, Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart starred in a tough little film based on their play by the same name. Howard is a nice drifter who just happens to walk into a desert restaurant/filling station at the same time a wanted mobster and his henchmen arrive. And, through most of the film, these crooks terrorize the patrons and make them fear for their lives. This sort of plot has been repeated several times in the 1950s with "Suddenly", "The Desperate Hours" and this film, "Dial 1119".

The major difference with "Dial 9111" and these other films is that instead of a criminal holding everyone hostage, it's an escaped mental patient--a guy who has no compunction about killing people with his stolen gun. Seeing this guy with a baby face is particularly striking. And, to make it a lot more creepy than these other films, he does so with absolutely no emotion--none! The bar is made up of a variety of patrons (some of which have interesting back stories--like the creep played by Leon Ames) as well as the amazingly blunt and rude bartender, 'Chuckles' (William Conrad).

Once the guy begins shooting people in the bar, there isn't a lot the police can do--he might be insane but he's also smart and has figured all the angles--and police are afraid to do anything lest all the captives be killed. The film then, is a very tense standoff--on with brutal violence, great tension and a lot to offer with such a low-budget film. Well worth your time.

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I'll Have a Beer and a .45 Automatic, Please

dougdoepke26 September 2009

You know the audience is in for a bumpy ride when the all-night bus arrives in a place called Terminal City. Actually it's the luckless driver who ends up terminated, with a slug in the belly from ungrateful, wacko passenger Gunther Wykoff (Thompson) who has not yet learned how to blink or turn his head. So, now the crazy guy is loose in the city, headed for a late night bar sporting that new-fangled invention called television. (I suspect this 1950 production was one of the first to integrate TV into the storyline.) There, he holds hostage a motley crew of barflies who, needless to say, don't help his condition at all. He'd like to whack 'em all, but first he has to meet with his head-doctor (Levene) who's obviously done a pretty rotten job so far. Meanwhile, the cops, a TV crew, and a few hundred on-lookers have taken a real interest in Gunther's where-abouts and are waiting outside to greet him if he ever comes out. So, the stage is set, but how will it play out.

This may be big-budget MGM's cheapest production on record (basically one set and a $20 lighting bill), but they do get their money's worth. This suspenseful little crime drama is well acted and packs a pretty good punch. Baby-faced Thompson plays against type and is excellent in the pivotal role of the stare-happy wacko. William Conrad is a stand-out too, as the no-nonsense barkeep, but I guess it's only logical that he would have to exit early— too bad. On the other hand, make-out artist Earl (Ames) and the classy what's-she-doing-in- this-dump Helen (King) are none too believable, and I kept hoping Gunther would spare us the bad seduction dialog and put a fist in Earl's syrupy mouth. Apparently, young father Skip (Brasselle) was added so there would be at least one sympathetic person among the collection of compromised characters. Anyway, it's a good, tight little B-film, with the novel idea (for its time) that movies and TV might get along, after all.

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7/10

Call 911

krorie24 July 2006

This seldom seen, nearly forgotten gem stands out as a precursor to many movie motifs now taken for granted. A deranged young man, Gunther Wyckoff (whacko with a gun, played menacingly by Marshall Thompson in perhaps his best performance), shoots a city bus driver with the driver's own pistol, then holds up in a local bar using the patrons as hostages. In those long ago days when such occurrences were rare, there were no professional police negotiators. Ironically, Wyckoff does his own negotiating with the law, demanding to see the psychiatrist that is in charge of treating him.

What a crew of hostages: A barfly willing to bed anyone who buys her a drink, an old married fool making arrangements for a weekend tryst with a sweet young thing, a young man whose wife is in delivery at the hospital, a zealous reporter whose newspaper editor thinks he's a joke, and Chuckles, the bartender, played by the dour William Conrad of radio's "Gunsmoke" and later TV's "Cannon" fame. Maybe he got his moniker for being the opposite of chuckles, such as calling a big guy, Tiny. The interaction of this motley crew with each other and with the criminally insane killer makes up the biggest part of the flick. An alternate title was "The Violent Hour," which basically describes the plot of the film, approximately an hour's standoff between the psycho and the police who work to free the hostages unharmed. A young André Previn provides the appropriate atmospheric music.

What a splendid cast. Even workhorse Charles Lane, who is today 101 and says he is still available to do a show, is seen briefly on the tube in a man-on-the-street interview. And don't blink and miss June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) in a walk on part.

Items you don't see around anymore: A cigarette machine, a weight scale on the sidewalk, a pay telephone that costs a nickle to dial 1119 (no push buttons). Items that were curiosities at the time but are now part of everyday life: A flat-panel big screen TV, TV news hype, and, alas, crazies that for no reason shoot patrons who are total strangers.

The chosen title, "Dial 1119," which today reminds the viewer of "Call 911," is a fitting one. Labeling the location Terminal City, however, is a bit much.

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7/10

No big star--just a noir bar

Steve-3181 September 2005

What I liked about "Dial 1119" is that it's basically ignored as an example of film noir yet, for a film made in 1950, this thing was ahead of its time. First off, there's a big-screen TV in the bar, which plays an important part in advancing the plot. The folks who made this picture also foresaw the role that TV news would come to play in taking over a story. Good cast with William ("Cannon") Conrad as Chuckles the bartender, Leon ("Mr. Ed") Ames and Marshall ("Daktari") Thompson as the central character, our friendly neighborhood psycho. Finally, you've got a love a film noir selection that takes place in Terminal City.

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7/10

Madman Wyckoff Escapes And Heads For Terminal City!

hitchcockthelegend9 February 2013

Dial 1119 is directed by Gerald Mayer and collectively written by Hugh King, Don McGuire and John Monks Junior. It stars Marshall Thompson, Virginia Field, Andrea King, William Conrad and Sam Levine. Music is by Andre Previn and cinematography by Paul C. Vogel.

The Killing Hour.

A compact suspenser, Dial 1119 can be seen as very much a prototype of future thrillers where a hostage situation takes place. Here the story basically sees Thompson as escaped mental patient Gunther Wyckoff, who takes a bus to Terminal City, grabs hold of a gun and holes up in a bar with a small group of hostages. His aim is to reap revenge on the doctor who spared him the electric chair and had him committed instead.

In the bar is the barman, the busboy who is an expectant father, a barfly broad, a Lothario and the young lady he had coerced into having a fling with him. As tensions rise in the bar, outside the crowd gathers and so does the press, who sensationalise the situation. The cops scratch around for a solution, one of which seems to be kill Wyckoff at any cost! The narrative has caustic observations on these outside parties, while it also brings into play the delusions of the troubled Wyckoff who believes he is a war torn ex squaddie. The film doesn't shy away from violence either, there will be blood, as it were.

It's acted and directed commendably and Vogel's black and white photography is crisp and perfectly in keeping with the tone of the picture. All in all it's a good and suspenseful way to spend 75 minutes. 7/10

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6/10

Early Bar TV

bobatwan30 December 2010

An engaging film despite a thin story line involving a psycho who's taken five hostages in a down-scale local bar. In Dial 1119, as in so many noir films, the locations, sets, and artifacts, are usually more interesting than the plot line. For me, the most remarkable feature of this film is the prominent TV set in the bar where most of the action takes place (the sport being watched is pro-wrestling). The bartender at one point claims it's 3 ft by 4 ft which would make it pretty large for a black and white 1950 TV anywhere. The TV though is more than a prop--it often dominates the screen and begins to take on a key role in the film when a TV reporter and camera crew from the cleverly named station WKYL arrive to cover the police rescue action, which is then seen broadcast on the bar TV. Not only is the TV now internally competing with the Motion Picture, but this must be a very early movie scene detailing TV news coverage. To make matters more interesting, one of the hostages is a disgruntled newspaper editor and so the film also depicts what will become a growing competition between TV and print journalism.

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7/10

Hostage Drama.

AaronCapenBanner13 November 2013

Marshall Thompson stars in this interesting thriller as Gunther Wyckoff, a mentally unstable young man who has escaped from an asylum, killed a bus driver with a gun he acquired, then holds a bar hostage with several people inside. Both the authorities and hostages try to work with and understand why Gunther is so crazed, with little success, though it does have something to do with his war record... William Conrad is good as the bartender affectionately named Chuckles, who has a most surprising big screen TV in the bar, where they can see their drama play out live. Intriguing film with good performances makes thoughtful and prescient commentary on how live television coverage can affect the outcome of a crime, and the impact it has on all concerned.

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9/10

A truly wonderful disturbing lost film noir gem!

madbomber0318 May 2001

The film follows a disturbed young man who kills without remorse. It is surprisingly disturbing considering the period in which it was filmed. After killing a bus driver, the baby faced young man seeks refuge in a bar and holds its patrons hostage. All he wants is to see the psychiatrist who committed him three years before. The film is notable for its stark and unflinching portrayal of someone completely unable to feel remorse. The film is also notable as it was one of the first movies put out by MGM under new management which turned the company away from solely making big budget events. This B-movie thriller marked a new territory for MGM. It is well-worth watching - IF you can find it!

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6/10

the one about the emotionally disturbed hostage-taker

blanche-23 April 2014

It's 1950, and familiar TV faces abound in "Dial 1119": Marshall Thompson (Daktari), Sam Levene, Keefe Brasselle, William Conrad and Virginia Field. Thompson plays Gunther Wyckoff, a deeply disturbed man who, after shooting a bus driver with his own gun, walks into a bar and takes the patrons hostage.

The police have to figure out how to capture Wyckoff and free the hostages without any other people getting hurt. They send in the doctor (Levene) whose testimony saved his life during a murder trial three years earlier.

It's post-war, so there's some psychoanalyzing of Wyckoff along the way.

The bar has a giant television, which is great to see, and the bartender controls it from what looks like a radio below. The block of Terminal City where the bar is located is an obvious set, but somehow, it sets the just the right atmosphere.

Virginia Field plays one of the bar patrons, Freddy, and she's unrecognizable as the ingénue from Fox films such as "Lloyds of London," and the Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan films. With the exception of Levene, the original Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls," who continued doing film, most of the other actors enjoyed good careers in television.

Pretty good.

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9/10

Killer At Large

telegonus10 December 2002

This is a most effective little thriller from 1950 concerning a disturbed killer who holds a group of people hostage in a bar. It's the sort of story that had been done many times before in films, and which would soon be a staple on television. There are few surprises in this one, as everyone goes through the motions as one expects they would in a movie like this. As the psychopath, Marshall Thompson isn't really up to the job. He's not awful, but he doesn't generate much tension personally. Robert Walker would have been much better. The actors playing the various hostages are capable, however, and there's a nice sense of what city life was probably like at around this time. Slick and artificial as it is, the film has its charms. It's never boring, and director Gerald Mayer maintains a nice pace.

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7/10

Bar patrons held hostage in slice-of-life noir

bmacv21 May 2001

The disturbed veteran became a staple character of the postwar noir cycle. In Dial 1119 -- the equivalent of 911 today -- clean-cut Marshall Thompson plays the most whacked-out of the bunch, a cold, disengaged psycho who kills without reaction or remorse. Riding the Big Dog into town (the aptly named Terminal City), he steals the bus driver's gun and, when confronted, plugs him dead. Then he holes up in a bar containing a cross-section of small-town America; the liveliest of them is Andrea King as man-hungry barfly Helen. Seems he returned to town to meet with the police psychiatrist who knows the "real" story behind his shell-shocked persona....Dial 1119 is an engaging (if never quite gripping) drama, part of MGM's low-budget, black-and-white early 1950s productions under Dore Schary

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5/10

Surprisingly gripping, if predictable anti-war psychological drama.

mark.waltz3 August 2013

Warning: Spoilers

It is obvious that this is one of Dore Schary's pet projects at MGM, certainly not for the taste of Louis B. Mayer at the climax of his reign at the studio where the lion was about to roar "The End" for him. Hypocritacally patriotic Mayer disapproved of the Civil War drama "The Red Badge of Courage" and the spiritual drama "The Next Voice You Here", and it is very obvious that this one, too, made him wince. The theme is the psychological destruction that comes from war, whether involved or rejected from duty, and here, it is the later, surrounding the already demented Marshall Thompson, a young man who believes it is his duty to kill, having wanted so much to do so when World War II came up.

Killing a bus driver after he is discovered to have a gun, he then takes over a local bar where a new invention called television is presenting local news as the bartender (William Conrad) grumbles about it. It is the local news that will soon be camping outside this bar when Thompson orders local police to send doctor Sam Levene there for one last confrontation in exchange for the hostages he has taken. Virginia Field is unforgettable as the aging and drunken "B" girl obviously tiring of life yet unable to escape her floozy identity. Andrea King is a young lady enticed by an older married man (Leon Ames) with a romantic trip out of town. These are the most memorable of the hostages, the others (including a newspaper man whose own paper ignores his call for help) not as fleshed out.

The film makes a few important comments on both the human condition and the issue of violence in society. The most obvious issue is the importance of gun control. In only 75 minutes, the film's gritty and unapologetic violence takes several lives shockingly and seems to be written just to expose the growing violence in society rather than present a plot which is neatly wrapped up like the usual MGM fare. Field gets a great exit which ties the trashy element of the story with an ironic twist that is sure to bring delight.

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A Tough, Gritty Noir Slithering Out of MGM

Handlinghandel16 June 2003

MGM was known for "More stars than there are in Heaven." And therefore few people think of it in terms of film noir.

But some of the very best noir came out of that studio in the 1940s and 1950s -- this being one of the bleakest and grittiest.

It's kind of a "Grand Hotel" in a sleazy bar. We have lots of types, but, with the exception of one dear thing on her way to the road to Hell with an older man, they're extremely convincing low lifes.

We have a real prostie here, a tough bartender, a couple of guys on the make.

The escaped killer is portrayed very brutally, with understanding but no phony-baloney tears.

The cast could scarcely be better. Marshall Thompson, previously a romantic juvenile, is fine as the blank-faced killed. Andrea King is always a treat, though I wish she weren't obscured by the beret she wears here. Still, the scenes between her and the fast-talking middle-aged Romeo who has her in the bar are superb.

This is one of the best in the genre.

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6/10

Tense Little Thriller

kenjha28 September 2010

A man escapes from an asylum and holds people hostage in a bar, as the police try to meet his demands. This is a tense little thriller that is well made but there's not enough material within its running time of 75 minutes to add up to anything more than a curious diversion. Thompson is effective as the clean-cut psycho who goes about his business without showing any emotion except for an occasional smirk suggesting bemusement. Conrad plays "Chuckles" the bartender and he's pretty good, as is the rest of the cast, featuring such reliable veterans as Levene and Ames. The TV set in the bar looks like a flat panel! In his film debut, Mayer (nephew of Louis B.) directs competently.

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7/10

simple crime noir

SnoopyStyle9 September 2020

Crazed killer Gunther Wyckoff escapes from a mental institution. He steals a gun and shoots the bus driver. He goes to a Manhattan courthouse but finds it empty. He's looking for Dr. Faron. Unable to track down the doctor, he goes into a bar. The bartender recognizes him from a police announcement on TV. Gunther shoots him dead and takes the five other customers hostage.

I like Marshall Thompson's boy scout looks. It makes his dementia more compelling. The story is simple. There is a bit of good tension. Quite frankly, the reporter calling his newspaper editor is the most fun and most compelling. I like the five hostages individually. I would let Helen shoot a few more times. Instead, the movie lets Gunther be gunned down in the street. It's more visceral to have Helen do a more intense shootout inside the bar. Overall, this is very simple but very effective.

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7/10

Mental Serial Killer

whpratt118 June 2007

Enjoyed this 1950 film which dealt with a mental patient who thinks he was a soldier during WW II and has a legal license to kill any one he decides to kill. This crazy person is played by Marshall Thompson, (Gunther Wyckoff) who is riding in a bus and sitting next to a lady who is trying to be friendly, but Gunther just looks straight ahead and views a gun that the bus driver had on his sun shade and just gets up and blows this driver away. Gunther eventually goes into a bar and locks all the customers in the bar and starts killing the bartender and threatens various other women in the bar. Gunther wants to have his Doctor John D. Faron visit him in the bar in order to prevent him from causing all this death to innocent people. There is plenty of tension in this bar and the women in the bar do their very best to try and over power this nut case.

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7/10

A rather familiar plot, but engrossing just the same.

Hey_Sweden6 February 2023

The baby-faced Marshall Thompson ("It! The Terror from Beyond Space") stars here as Gunther Wyckoff, an escaped mental patient. In search of a particular doctor, he makes his way to a bar where he ends up holding the patrons hostage after murdering the bartender (William Conrad, 'Cannon'). Outside the bar, television crews capture all of the mounting drama.

Despite a script with few surprises to deliver, "Dial 1119" is a good, engaging "B" with effective pacing. It has some decent tension and atmosphere, and the cast plays the material for all that it's worth. This kind of story has been utilized before and since, but what makes the difference here is the fact that our antagonist is a genuinely unhinged individual, not quite a hardcore criminal (although he clearly doesn't hesitate to kill when properly motivated). This makes the casting of Thompson particularly apt since he *looks* like a pretty unremarkable individual.

But the actor does an excellent job as this deluded man with the itchy trigger finger, and he's well supported by Virginia Field ("The Earth Dies Screaming") as a saucy barfly, Andrea King ("The Beast with Five Fingers") as a lonely young woman, Sam Levene ("The Killers") as the psychiatrist, Leon Ames ("The Postman Always Rings Twice") as an unfaithful husband interested in King, Keefe Brasselle ("A Place in the Sun") as the junior bartender, James Bell ("I Walked with a Zombie") as a disillusioned journalist, and Hal Baylor ("Sands of Iwo Jima") as a cop. Barbara Billingsley of 'Leave it to Beaver' fame has a brief, uncredited bit as a secretary.

"Dial 1119" is noteworthy for making the advent of television such a big part of its presentation, when television was still a relatively new element in human lives, and for its heated exchanges between the head cop and the psychiatrist, the latter being concerned with trying to *talk* Gunther out of it, and reason with him, rather than using force. We've seen similar scenes play out between cops and shrinks in a number of films in the decades since.

Capably lit by Paul Vogel and directed by Gerald Mayer, "Dial 1119" is no classic, but it entertains pretty well for 75 minutes.

Seven out of 10.

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6/10

Deranged escaped mental patient gets his just desserts after holding bar patrons hostage and gunning down bleeding heart liberal psychiatrist

Turfseer18 October 2020

Warning: Spoilers

"Dial 1119," a B-list production directed by Gerald Mayer, nephew of renowned producer Louis B. Mayer, takes its title from the emergency phone number that preceded 911 in the 1950s. The film centers around Gunther Wyckoff (Marshall Thompson), an escaped homicidal mental patient who inexplicably shoots a bus driver upon arriving at the fictional Terminal City bus depot. It's uncommon for a film noir to feature such a mentally unstable killer without delving into the motives behind their actions, but Wyckoff is truly deranged.

Wyckoff's primary objective is to find Dr. Faron (Sam Levene), the psychiatrist who had interviewed him three years earlier and was responsible for his commitment instead of facing the death penalty. When Wyckoff fails to locate Faron, he enters a bar, kills the bartender, and takes five patrons hostage, demanding that the police produce Dr. Faron within half an hour.

The five hostages present a diverse group of characters. Notably, Freddy (Virginia Field) stands out as a sassy barfly, while Harrison D. Barnes (James Bell) is a disenchanted newspaper reporter contemplating quitting. Skip (Keefe Brasselle), the bartender's assistant expecting a baby with his wife, and Helen (Andrea King), who becomes hysterical after witnessing the bartender's murder, add tension to the situation. Earl (Leon Ames), Helen's date, is an older gentleman to whom she is clearly not attracted.

The film effectively maintains engagement through a series of violent events, including Wyckoff shooting a police officer in the leg on the street and seriously injuring another officer attempting to reach him through an air conditioning vent.

Outside the bar, conflict arises between Faron and Captain Keiver (Richard Rober), the unsympathetic police officer in charge who bars the psychiatrist from entering and negotiating with Wyckoff. Keiver holds Faron responsible for preventing Wyckoff from receiving the death penalty for a previous murder three years ago.

The depiction of television as a central aspect of people's lives is an interesting element of the film. A large TV is present in the bar, and a television crew arrives on the scene, causing disruptions and clashes with law enforcement.

In a surprising twist, Faron enters the bar without permission to negotiate with Wyckoff but ends up shot dead, suggesting that the screenwriters had little sympathy for criminals, even those who are insane.

As the police detonate explosives on the bar's front door, Helen seizes the deceased bartender's pistol and shoots Wyckoff. The police then finish him off as he staggers outside.

The acting in the film is somewhat uneven, particularly when some of the hostages do not seem adequately shocked after their lives were endangered. Wyckoff's character also feels one-dimensional, and Thompson's portrayal largely revolves around continuous anger. Despite these shortcomings, "Dial 1119" manages to hold viewers' interest until the final shots, though it may not warrant multiple viewings.

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10/10

Unheralded Film-Noir Gem

LeonLouisRicci15 March 2013

This one has it all. Once MGM gave the go-ahead for a sub-department to produce low-budget Film-Noir's they got it right. The Movie is a textbook example of Noir and all its trappings. It is a seedy, violent, psychological study intermixed with emerging Media and social engineering.

Aside from the now-familiar plot, this is a 1950's icon of technology and slowly entering post-war angst about society's Mental Health responsibility and criminal sentencing. The scenes are concise and not too heavy on vitriol. It all seems remarkably believable. Especially the usually ineffective Marshall Thompson as a man without a conscience and is completely fixated internally.

The shots of inside the Media truck and the big-screen TV are infiltrations of a yet to be discovered, mammoth intrusion of the Fourth Estate. To add more authenticity there is the uneasy graphic violence capped by an ending of bullet holes and blood that in 1950 was unheard of.

This is one of the most unheralded of the Film-Noirs and will likely gain reputation upon modern reflection and is a Diamond of a discovery.

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7/10

TERROR ON TAP...!

masonfisk2 November 2021

A 1950 thriller detailing a crazed killer on the loose who holes up in a bar holding the customers hostage. We follow the disturbed individual, played by Marshall Thompson, as he arrives in town via bus wielding a gun, as makes his way to his port of call first killing the bus driver. Meanwhile at a bar, the usual motley assortment of clientele; the frisky lush trying to get any man's attention, a couple about to try some adultery, a newspaper reporter who has just quit his job to write the great American novel, the assistant barkeep whose pregnant wife is about to deliver & the barkeep himself (played by TV's Cannon, William Conrad), keeping the entire circus in control but then our determined lone gunman shows up, starts shooting & demands the shrink who evaluated him to be delivered to the bar or more people will die. A great use of the ticking clock genre as the impassive but clearly disturbed Thompson holds sway over the cowering patrons elevate this yarn to a good solid nail-biter w/the mostly unknown cast scoring acting points along the way.

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8/10

...a pondering on the gray area of social engineering.

dennisb-626 July 2006

Out of the grayness of film noir drama comes a pondering on the gray area of social engineering.

Dial 1119 is a film discussion of the distention between straight-ahead law enforcement and the brand-new authority of psychological intervention in criminal matters. The heart of the film is the series of conversations between the Homicide Captain and the forensic psychiatrist. Therein lies a clear blueprint of the issues: Is it better to identify and treat society's offenders, rather than simply punish? What should the treatment be; confinement, medicine or capital punishment? In view of the fact they prosecuted a man for murder and saw him escape the electric chair to kill again, are the police to be blamed for being skeptical of the medical model in dealing with crime? Are we to condemn the doctor's humanist courage as simple folly, or celebrate it as a noble march toward higher existence?

I found the relationship between police and doctor to be unique in cinema, can't remember when I've ever seen it so clearly and dramatically drawn. Also, the characterizing vignettes of the various hostages were deftly wrought. Overall, a remarkable film rendered nearly into the realm of science-fiction by the dominance of a 48 inch flat screen TV over the main set, presaging the looming hypnotic sway the contraption would wield on a developing social world.

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6/10

Cheerless

kalbimassey28 October 2021

Warning: Spoilers

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Anthony Perkins in 'Psycho' and sharing Norman Bates' severely disturbed mental condition, the youthful Marshall Thompson is a fugitive from the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. In his desperate search to locate police psychiatrist Dr. John Faron (Sam Levene) his disregard for the value of human life is evident from the start.

'Chuckles' (William Conrad), is the languid, lugubrious owner of the bare, spartan establishment known as the Oasis Bar, which makes The Rover's Return look like Raffles. Conrad views the world with a face as long as Southend Pier, referring to his mainly glum punters as crumbs, whilst lamenting upon a life spent labouring for a crust. His single concession to the advancing electronic age is a surprisingly large screen wall-mounted T. V., on which the vertical hold habitually goes into spasm. Oasis?.....This dingy, dimly lit dive, this wearisome watering hole serves as a magnet for local loners, losers and lushes, who are likely to leave in a blur before concluding their evening with a generous B-J-O-R-K on the sidewalk,

It is upon this dreary, down at heel dump, that unbalanced, gun toting Thompson decides to descend, holding the five patrons hostage, whilst demanding to see Dr. Faron. Traumatized and delusional about his wartime experiences and still to face the tribulation of encountering a cross-eyed lion, Thompson imposes a short time limit before he opens fire. The authorities debate and deliberate over how to resolve the issue, with Levene asserting that he cannot consult with a patient by phone. (Wait till lock-down mate!). Meanwhile, the frightened, bewildered, clock-watching crew within, including womanizing Leon Ames, hard drinking Virginia Field and lonely Andrea King, who just wanted a little excitement, attempt to reason with their cold, calculating captor. Can they reach the remote, rangy, runaway, or will it be like firing paper darts at a tank. As the clock runs down tension mounts.... without ever quite entering gripping, nail biting territory.

Serviceable and competent, entertaining but not exceptional, Dial1119 checks in as a modestly engaging achievement in the psycho-noir canon.

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5/10

Marshall Thompson Emotes!!!

Bucs196031 May 2007

Warning: Spoilers

Marshall Thompson as an escaped crazed killer and general all-round psycho? I don't think so. He appears to be sleepwalking through his role as a very disturbed young man with issues about his psychiatrist. This could have been a turning point for this contract player but he didn't seem to be up to it. A couple of bursts of hysteria and that's about it.

The story takes place in a small, rather cozy bar in Terminal City (get it?) that looks like the Big Apple. Thompson hold 6 people hostage, (well, really 5 since he guns down the bartender William Conrad right off the bat). He wants to meet up with his former doctor, played rather badly by Sam Levine, who convinced a jury that Thompson was insane, thereby having him sent to an asylum instead of the gas chamber. Needless to say, Thompson is ticked off, escapes from the asylum and threatens to kill the bar patrons unless Levine shows up for a face-to-face. This drags on for a while and Levine finally walks into the bar and proceeds to do what no self-respecting psychiatrist would even consider. Needless to say it doesn't work out and Levine is unceremoniously dispatched. Things get dicey, shots ring out, and then it's over.

The supporting cast is one we all recognize (Andrea Leeds, Keefe Brasselle, Virginia Field, et al) and they do their best with a rather sparse script. This isn't the worst movie you've ever seen but it's not much. So Marshall Thompson rides off into the sunset to second rate roles and probably missed his big opportunity for stardom.

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