Actual terrifying events which occurred in Whitemarsh,
Pennsylvania in 1952, inspired author, Joseph Hayes, to write the
novel, "The Desperate Hours" in 1953. The book
vividly recounts the terror and brutality suffered by a family of
four when taken hostage in their home by three escaped convicts. The
desperate fugitives torment and threaten the middle class family
while waiting for an accomplice to bring them the funds necessary to
complete their escape. A resultant statewide manhunt for the
escapees increases the tension of the captive family's plight, and
the long ordeal finally climaxes with a police shootout killing the
leader of the criminal trio.
The terror and fear experienced by the two children and their
parents is graphically portrayed in the novel and It's reception by
critics and readers alike, inspired Joseph Hayes to restructure the
presentation of the scenario and write the 1954 play, "The
Desperate Hours". "The Desperate Hours" first
opened in New Haven's Shubert Theatre in 1955 before premiering on
Broadway later that year.
The play won Tony Awards for "Best Play"
and "Best Direction of a Play" the same year.
The play's theatrical success, in turn, inspired Paramount Pictures
to produce the movie "The Desperate Hours", based on Hayes'
popular play. Directed by William Wyler, "The Desperate Hours"
was released in 1955, starring Humphrey Bogart as the criminal
trio's leader, Glenn Griffin, and Fredric March, in the role of the
distraught father, Mr. Hilliard, whose family's suburban
Indianapolis home is seized by the desperate escaped convicts.
While Joseph Hayes' graphic recounting of the horror experienced
by the family members throughout their long and terrifying ordeal is
captivating, it's his powerful portrayal of the characters, enhanced
by their respective dialogue, that ensures the success of his work
at all three entertainment levels. The fact that it was based on an
actual event, only increased the terror for the work's audience.
But, it turned out to be a strange bit of irony, that brought the
story to national attention.
Author Joseph Hayes, in an attempt to maintain the victim
family's anonymity, had changed their name to "Hilliard", and
changed the location of the incident from their home in Whitehead,
Pennsylvania to a fictitious home in Indianapolis, Indiana. By the
time of the play's theatrical success (1955), the actual hostage
family, former Pennsylvania residents, the Hills, sued Time, Inc.,
because LIFE magazine had published a detailed article about "The
Desperate Hours". The magazine described the play as based on
the actual events, plus the piece was illustrated with staged photos
using actors in place of the actual characters. To increase
authenticity, the eerie images were shot in the actual Pennsylvania
home that was the scene of the gruesome events. The actual
victims, the Hill family, had previously been forced to move from
their home in a desperate attempt to escape all the lurid publicity
generated by the best seller. Suing in a New York court, the
plaintiffs relied on a New York statute which permitted damage suits
for violation of the right of privacy, but only in instances of use
of a person's name or picture for commercial purposes without their
consent. The Hills' complaint was that the article falsely described
the actual events while claiming it represented the truth. In a rare
public appearance after the event, Mr. Hill had told the press that
his family had not been molested or harmed, and, considering the
intense situation and characters involved, they had been treated in
a relatively courteous manner. The Life magazine article, however,
stated that some family members had been assaulted, profanity was
constantly used, and in many other ways (according to the N.Y.
Appellate Court), differed from the actual account given by Hill.
The defense presented by Time, Inc., was that the subject matter was
of general national interest and that the article had been published
in good faith. Although the case concerned privacy from the press,
it continued to receive national attention throughout its many
judgments and subsequent appeals.
In yet another bit of irony - The Hill family was represented in
the Federal High Court hearing by none other than Richard M. Nixon,
at that time a New York attorney in private practice, on hiatus from
seeking public office. Nixon obviously sought the case because of
its broad legal issues, but primarily for its National media
coverage. The Supreme Court refused to make a judgment and sent the
case back to the New York courts for disposition under their newly
announced constitutional standard. This action would no doubt
require a new trial, or perhaps summary judgment rendered on the
basis of affidavits and depositions.
And the final touch of irony is shown by the suit's ultimate
results. Perhaps due to the issues involved, neither the final
outcome of 'Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S. 374 (1967)', nor any
further judicial opinions, have ever been reported. No doubt, in an
effort to avoid more of the ongoing publicity, the Hills abandoned
their suit, or more realistically, accepted a nominal settlement
from Time Inc. which included a non-disclosure agreement.
Following the successful run of
the Broadway play, and follow-up classic Humphrey Bogart film,
"THE DESPERATE HOURS" (1955), the legal issues subsided
for the time being.
After more than 35 years, "DESPERATE
HOURS" was released in 1990.
The
film was a remake of the original 1955 Humphrey Bogart classic,
"The Desperate Hours".
This film, directed by Michael Cimino,
generally received poor reviews, despite a cast featuring such stars
as: Mickey Rourke, Anthony
Hopkins, Mimi Rogers, Kelly Lynch, Lindsay Crouse and
David Morse.
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Sammy Davis Jr. -
starring in
"The Desperate Hours"
The play was to be directed by the hot young composer, record
producer, arranger, celebrity conductor, and TV bandleader, Buddy Bregman.
At a very young age, Bregman's famed uncle, Jules Styne (Sammy
Cahn's songwriting partner - "Let It Snow! Let It Snow"),
took the youngster under his wing. With the support of his musical
parents, Buddy was a piano prodigy, who learned musical composition
simultaneously, and could orchestrate at the age of 11. By 14, he
was writing charts for jazz musician Bill Russo. At 17, he landed a
job as arranger for the hottest songwriting team in music, Leiber &
Stoller, at Capital Records. His recording debut, "Bazoom I Need
Your Loving" by the "Cheers", was a smash hit, and veteran
producer, Norman Granz, heard it on the radio, which led to a
terrific career break. Granz was starting up a new record label and
offered Bregman a chance to work for him. The label turned out to be
Verve, which quickly grew to be one of the most celebrated labels in
Jazz. Bregman was appointed head of A&R and was instrumental in the
label's success. He is best known by jazz fans for his arranging and
conducting talents on a stack of sides by famed jazz greats,
including Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O'Day. He also made what might
arguably be one of Bing Crosby's best records, "Bing Sings Whilst
Bregman Swings". He worked with some of the greatest
musical artists of 20th Century popular music, including: Judy
Garland, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Jerry Lewis,
Rick Nelson, Count Basie, Joe Williams, Bobby Short, Buddy Rich,
Joel Grey, Louie Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Carmen McRae, Ethel
Merman, Bobby Darin and Eydie Gorme. He was directly responsible for
at least four of the label's platinum albums. He also scored and
orchestrated many major motion pictures including; '
The Pajama
Game, Crime in the Streets, Secret of the Purple Reef,
to name a
few.
After his success at Verve, Bregman became the youngest musical
director ever hired by NBC for "The Eddie Fisher Show".
The
next year, the network offered him his own TV music
series, "Buddy Bregman's Music Shop". The new show was
designed to feature Buddy in the style of TV legend Dick Clark. The
series lasted for an unlucky 13 shows, hardly knocking Clark off
American Bandstand.
The TV series convinced Buddy that he wasn't going to be a TV
star, but he aspired for fame behind the camera, specifically, in
the roles of director, producer, and writer, as well as his many
musical contributions.
http://community.mcckc.edu/crosby/bregman.htm
Buddy had befriended Sammy Davis Jr. while he was producing
Frank
Sinatra at Verve Records. but Davis would later suffer a career setback
on November 19, 1954, when he almost died in an automobile accident
in Victorville, California on a return trip from Las Vegas to Los
Angeles. Davis lost his left eye as a result. The accident occurred
on a bend in U.S. Highway 66 -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Davis,_Jr.
After he was discharged, Davis rejoined the dance act which played
at a wide variety of spots around Portland Oregon, and began to
achieve success on his own as he was singled out for praise by
critics. The next year, he released his second album. The next move
in his growing career was to appear in the Broadway show
Mr.
Wonderful in 1956.
The two new friends would soon work together on a few recording
sessions, including the classics:
L 11270: I Loves You Porgy -
03:48 (Dubose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
Date: December 8, 1958
Location: Decca Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Label: Decca
Sammy Davis, Jr., Carmen McRae (ldr), Buddy Bregman (arr), Jack
Pleis (dir)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time After Time (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)
Date: December 11, 1958
Location: Decca Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Label: Decca
The Buddy Bregman Orchestra (acc), Buddy Bregman (dir), Sammy
Davis, Jr. (v)
It was during this period that the pair had decided to
collaberate on the little theater production of "The Desperate
Hours" in Los Angeles, in hopes of spotlighting both of their
'non-music' careers.
NOTE:
Despite the fact that it had been almost
three years since Sammy's tragic auto accident,
Davis was still wearing his infamous black patch, over his missing
left eye.
It was just prior to this Los Angeles live
theatrical performance,
that he had been fitted with a replacement glass eye.
Following the production of
The Desperate Hours, Sammy became an
official charter member of the Rat Pack, which was led
by his old friend Frank Sinatra, and included such fellow performers
as Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford.
Whatever the cause of their play's shortened run, it didn't end
the talented musical pair's collaberation. Following their Hollywood
theatrical presentation, the returned to the recording studio for:
Hooray For Hollywood - 05:09 (Johnny Mercer, Richard
Whiting, Sammy Cahn)
Date: April 1960
Location: Los Angeles
Label: Colpix
Sammy Davis, Jr. (ldr), Morty Stevens (con), Sammy Davis, Jr. (v)
-
Special lyrics by Sammy Cahn were added to "Horray For Hollywood"
for this performance, which was a faux 'live' performance used in
the 1960 film
"Pepe".
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