24 Hours to Kill

"Twenty four hours to kill" is set in 1965 Beirut at a time when that city perhaps deserved its soubriquet 'The Playground of the Middle East'. Needless to say, today's Beirut has a quite a different international reputation. It is interesting to see the Beirut of nearly 50 years ago in this movie when the French influence on the city was still evident. Other than that, there is little in this film that will hold the interest of the viewer. Lex Barker is somewhat impressive in the lead role and delivers his lines well, but Mickey Rooney adds nothing to this film. Austria-born Walter Slezak plays the villain, but it is not clear whether he is a Fez-cap wearing Turk living in Beirut, or an Arab who was bestowed with a Fez cap by the film's director who thought that every Arab wore one. Of course, in the 1960s, westerners thought Turks and Arabs to be equally exotic and interchangeable. Despite its Middle Eastern setting, local Lebanese are not much in evidence, in this flick. Instead, we have transplanted Westerners dealing with Walter's Slezak's Malouf. Yet, that is not enough to hold the viewer's interest.

An international co-production from the ubiquitous Harry Alan Towers, 24 HOURS TO KILL stars Lex Barker as an airline pilot whose plane, bound for Athens, has engine trouble and is forced to land in Beirut. The mechanics tell him they can have the plane repaired and ready to fly in 24 hours--the 24 hours "to kill" of the title. Mickey Rooney plays a member of the flight crew who, upon landing, is watched and followed by a number of people...and who acts quite suspiciously himself. The question of why Rooney is being followed and what he has done in the past to explain his being followed provides the suspense in the film. The script does not give the always-excellent Barker much particularity of character--he basically has to look handsome and act authoritative. His attitude toward the Rooney character changes throughout the film, and he is entangled in a relationship with a female member of the crew, so there are a few elements in the script that give the character some depth, but not enough. Mickey Rooney is given a far meatier role. Rooney is perfect as "Jonesy", affable on the surface, but complex underneath and with a BIG chip on his shoulder. There's not a lot of action in the film, and the few fight scenes are--as usual for Harry Alan Towers productions--unconvincingly staged. Although made in English, the film has the feel of any number of continental co-productions and an international cast. The ending can be viewed as either ironic or unsatisfying, but it certainly wasn't what I expected! There are a few interesting middle-eastern-looking shots that could either be location shooting or sleight-of-hand involving stock footage, but in any event the film does have a distinct middle-eastern flavor that keeps it from being generic or run of the mill. Overall, this is an entertaining b-movie worth watching for fans of Lex Barker (one of his last English-language starring roles) and for a colorful character role by Mickey Rooney (see PULP with Michael Caine sometime for another fine Rooney performance). If you have two free hours and want a standard-issue dose of b-movie international intrigue, it's worthwhile, but nothing worth seeking out.

Very much a film of its time. Mid-60s, exotic location, imported American stars, glamorous European women and unconvincing fight scenes. I thought I might last ten minutes watching this whilst putting up the Xmas decorations but I ended up watching the whole thing. The reason for that was the excellent direction by Peter Bezencenet and a great turn by the always watchable Michael Medwin. Considering how well directed this film is, I'm surprised to find that Bezencenet only directed four films, and only one after this film.

At two hours (including commercials) it did feel a little on the long side. But the locations, the dresses, the sharp suits, hairstyles and the oblique plot makes for worthwhile viewing.

A passenger plane is forced to make an emergency landing in Beirut. The plane needs 24 hours to make repair. Norman Jones (Mickey Rooney) gets entangled with a murderous smuggling ring.

The movie is a bit of a mess. The directing is weak. The opening landing should be a lot more exciting. I guess the lady screaming into the cockpit is suppose to be that. I don't like Norman and I don't really care about his predicament. The only truly compelling aspect is seeing this city, this culture, and this country before it gets destroyed by the civil war. Maybe it serves as a reminder of the time and place.

"24 Hours to Kill" is a rather illogical thriller. It could have been a lot better but the script lets you down instead of providing thrills.

A plane has engine trouble and is rerouted to the nearest airport which is in Beirut. However, one member of the crew, Norman Jones (Mickey Rooney) is NOT happy about the plane going to Lebanon. Why? Well, he tells his fellow crew members that some guys in town are out to get him because they are mad at a friend of his...though this is clearly a lie. It turns out Norman was a gold smuggler...though the last time he did it for these 'friends', he absconded with the gold! Now they want him...and even after finding out the story, the plane's captain (Lex Barker) STILL wants to risk his life and the lives of other crew members to protect the guy!

Aside from being able to see the lovely city before it was destroyed in the civil war of the early 1980s, I can't think of much reason to see this movie. It's not just that it's illogical but it's also very slow and talky when it should have had a lot more action and suspense.