The Long Wait

The Long Wait
The Long Wait
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Victor Saville
Screenplay by	Alan Green; Lesser Samuels;
Based on	The Long Wait; by Mickey Spillane
Produced by	Lesser Samuels
Starring	Anthony Quinn; Charles Coburn; Gene Evans; Peggie Castle;
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Edited by	Ronald Sinclair
Music by	Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Production; company	Parklane Pictures
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	May 26, 1954;
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.5 million

The Long Wait is a 1954 American crime drama film noir directed by Victor Saville starring Anthony Quinn, Charles Coburn, Gene Evans and Peggie Castle. The film is based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Mickey Spillane. It was an independent production distributed by United Artists.

Plot

Johnny McBride is badly hurt while hitch hiking and loses his memory when the car he is riding in crashes; he also has his fingerprints burned off. Two years later, a clue leads him to his old home town, where he finds he is a murder suspect. McBride tries to clear his name of the presumed murder charges. Thugs working for the local mob boss try to end his meddling.

Cast

Anthony Quinn as Johnny McBride
Charles Coburn as Gardiner
Gene Evans as Servo
Peggie Castle as Venus
Mary Ellen Kay as Wendy Miller
Shirley Patterson as Carol Shay
Dolores Donlon as Troy Avalon
Barry Kelley as Tucker
James Millican as Police Capt. Lindsey
Bruno VeSota as Eddie Packman
Jay Adler as Joe—Bellhop
John Damler as Alan Logan
Frank Marlowe as Pop Henderson

Reception

The New York Times called it slow-paced, boring, and likely to disappoint fans of the novel.^[3]

Noir analysis

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward writes: "The inclusion of amnesia, giving the hero a sense of hopelessness compounded by the frustration of his loss of identity, instills a distinct existential bias into McBride's search. This attitude combines with a pervading sense of corruption and dehumanization to give The Long Wait a fatalistic noir ethos."^[4]

References

^ "TMe: Box Office Tops from 1950-1959".
^ "1954 Box Office Champs". Variety Weekly. January 5, 1955. p. 59. - figures are rentals in the US and Canada
^ T., H. H. (1954-07-03). "The Long Wait (1954)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
^ Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1992). Film Noir An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.

External links

The Long Wait at IMDb
The Long Wait at AllMovie
The Long Wait at the TCM Movie Database
The Long Wait film clip on YouTube

[1] "TMe: Box Office Tops from 1950-1959".

[box-2] "1954 Box Office Champs". Variety Weekly. January 5, 1955. p. 59. - figures are rentals in the US and Canada

[3] T., H. H. (1954-07-03). "The Long Wait (1954)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-15.

[book1-4] Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward (1992). Film Noir An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.

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