36 Hours *** (1964, James Garner, Rod Taylor, Eva Marie Saint) – Classic Movie Review 12,986

The 1964 thriller 36 Hours stars James Garner as a US Army Major kidnapped by the Germans to brainwash him into believing World War Two is over so he will divulge Allied invasion plans.

‘The Wildest Spy Adventure A Man Ever Lived!’ ‘Give Me Any American for 36 Hours And I’ll Give You Back a Traitor.’

Writer/ producer/ director George Seaton’s 1964 psychological war-drama thriller 36 Hours stars James Garner as a US Army Major kidnapped by the Germans to brainwash him into believing World War Two is over so he will divulge Allied invasion plans. It also stars Rod Taylor and Eva Marie Saint, who turned 100 on July 4, 2024.

James Garner plays Major Jefferson Pike, an American soldier captured by the Germans in 1944 and drugged to make him think that it is actually 1950, that the war is over, that he is safe in hospital in the USA, and that his in-depth specialist knowledge of the D-Day landings need to longer be kept a secret.

Rod Taylor is suitably nasty as German Major Walter Gerber, his psychiatrist inquisitor, and Eva Marie Saint provides the allure and glamour as Anna Hedler, who masquerades as Garner’s wife to fool him.

With a screenplay based by George Seaton on stories by Roald Dahl, Luis H Vance and Carl K Hittleman, this is an intriguing, if far-fetched spy yarn with a fine central performance by Garner, several good support turns, plenty of tension, a decent production, and fast-moving direction. It is stylishly shot in black and white and Panavision 35 mm by Philip H Lathrop, and the production designs by by George W Davis and Edward Carfagno are particularly smart looking.

It is co-produced by William Perlberg and George Seaton’s company and by James Garner’s Cherokee Productions.

Writer-director Seaton is best known for his heart-warming Christmas tale Miracle on 34th Street and the disaster movie Airport.

Also in the cast are Werner Peters, John Banner, Alan Napier, Celia Lovsky, Russell Thorson, Oscar Beregi, Sig Ruman, Karl Held, Martin Kosleck, Marjorie Bennett, Henry Rowland, Otto Reichow, Hilda Plowright, Walter Friedel, Joseph Mell, James Doohan, Richard Peel, Roy Eason, Leslie Bradley, Louis Sarrano, Luis Delgado, and Roy Jenson.

James Doohan, then about-to-be Scotty (Montgomery Scott) in Star Trek (1966) plays uncredited as a British orderly in the opening scenes. Doohan served in Canadian forces during the Normandy Invasion.

The writing credits are for Roald Dahl’s short story Beware Of The Dog and original film story by Luis H Vance and Carl K Hittleman. Everyone was unaware of the Dahl story, but by chance the script was offered to Dahl’s wife Patricia Neal, who alerted her husband to the resemblance. Neal then turned down the female lead and Eva Marie Saint took over. MGM paid Dahl a large sum for the film rights to his story to avoid a lawsuit.

Though shot in black and white, it is also available in a computer colorized version.

It premiered in London on November 26, 1964.

36 Hours is directed by George Seaton, runs 115 minutes, is made by Perlberg-Seaton Productions and Cherokee Productions, is released by MGM, is written by George Seaton, based on a story by Luis H Vance and Carl K Hittleman, is shot in black and white and Panavision 35 mm by Philip H Lathrop, is produced by William Perlberg and George Seaton, is scored by Dimitri Tiomkin, and is designed by George W Davis and Edward Carfagno.

Eva Marie Saint turned 100 on July 4, 2024.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,986

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com