A round of applause for Paul Douglas - Some background on his career
It's been perhaps 15 years since I have seen FOURTEEN HOURS and despite the strong and competent cast of Hollywood favorites, it's Paul Douglas who carries this film on the strength of the sincerity and warmth he brings to his character.
Paul Douglas was 42 years old, entering middle age, before he made his first film of any consequence in 1949.
He came from a long career in radio as a very popular announcer at CBS in the 1930s and 1940s who was often the man at the mic for the Glenn Miller show for Chesterfield cigarettes. With Judy Holliday, he scored a major Broadway success in BORN YESTERDAY (though the film role went to Broderick Crawford). He was signed to a contract by 2oth Century-Fox and spent most of the next ten years successfully appearing in dramas, comedies, fantasies and even some science fiction before passing away prematurely in 1959.
FOURTEEN HOURS is typical of the appeal he brought to his many films.
It's not a faultless film, but that doesn't matter. It's a great period piece and a showcase for Douglas.
Cheers for Paul Douglas who has never gotten the acclaim he deserves.