Fourteen Hours is a 1951 American drama directed by Henry Hathaway that tells the story of a New York City police officer trying to stop a despondent man from jumping to his death from the 15th floor of a hotel.

The film stars Richard Basehart, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Debra Paget.

The psychiatrist tells the chief she is “a case, just like her boy.” A reporter observes: “The lady doth protest too much.” Among the watchers, cabbies take bets on when Cosick will jump, a young couple meet and a woman who is seeking a divorce changes her mind.

Among the watchers, the young couple who have become separated Dunnigan reconnects with Cosick who says he could come in for 10 good reasons—but “life stinks.

The character of Charlie Dunnigan was based on Charles V. Glasco, a policeman who tried to convince Warde to return to the safety of the hotel.

During his 14 hours on the ledge, traffic was stopped for blocks around the hotel and thousands watched the drama unfold.

[2][4] Writer Joel Sayre wrote about the Warde suicide in The New Yorker in an article entitled "That Was New York: The Man on the Ledge", which was published on April 16, 1949.

The story was purchased by Twentieth Century-Fox in April 1949 and the studio assigned Sol C. Siegel to produce the film.

[5][6] In August 1949, Fox announced that the team of James Gow and Arnaud d'Usseau, who had written the Broadway hits Tomorrow, the World!, and Deep Are the Roots, would write the script.

[7] In January 1950, Fox assigned screenwriter John Paxton to write the script, which was entirely fictional despite the real-life event.

[9] Twentieth Century-Fox changed the title in April 1950 from The Man on the Ledge to Fourteen Hours following a request from Warde's mother, who wished to distance the film from her son's story.

[1] The role of Cosick was awarded to Richard Basehart, who had achieved stage fame in The Hasty Heart and had just signed a long-term contract with Fox.

[14] Grace Kelly, previously known for appearing in The Father on stage, made her film debut in Fourteen Hours, besting Anne Bancroft for the role of the would-be divorcée.

[5] Barbara Bel Geddes, who plays Cosick's love interest, would not appear in another film until Vertigo, seven years later.

[9] Basehart had to endure more than 300 hours on the ledge himself with little movement, despite having a sprained ankle and poison oak rashes on his legs.

[22] In many American markets, Fourteen Hours was presented as the headliner in a double feature with My Outlaw Brother.

[23] In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called Fourteen Hours a "superior American film" with "hard, staggering shocks" and wrote: "Fox has taken the story of that poor, unbalanced young man, as it recently was recollected in The New Yorker Magazine by Joel Sayre, and has staged it, with liberal alterations and some added atmospheric details, to put on display a hotly throbbing, brutally candid slice of metropolitan life.

Fitly directed by Henry Hathaway in crisp journalistic style and played to the hilt down to its "bit" parts, it makes a show of accelerating power.

"[24] Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The cast is good, the subject unusual, and 'Fourteen Hours' is suspenseful in essence.

"[23] The New Yorker praised Basehart's performance, writing that he "succeeds in conveying the notion that he is indeed sorely beset.”[17] Rotten Tomatoes rates the film at 63%, based on 8 reviews.

[25] The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller, Thomas Little and Fred J.