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MacDonald Carey stars as an Atticus Finch like attorney in Count The Hours where he's asked to defend George Craven who is accused of killing an elderly rancher and his wife. From the reactions around the town the two were beloved in the community and everyone just wants to hang Craven and be quick about it.

His defense of Craven puts Carey's own relationship with rich girl friend Dolores Moran in jeopardy. And he's certainly not winning any popularity contest defending Craven. Still Carey soldiers on until the truth emerges.

Don Siegel got some beautiful performances from several of his cast members. First Teresa Wright as Craven's wife who is the picture of innocence. Her innocence makes you the audience as well as Carey believe in the rightness of the cause. Also Adele Mara poaches on what is usually Gloria Grahame territory. She plays a real low life white trash slut and she does it magnificently.

Finally though there's Jack Elam who was a former hand at the deceased's place and he's a former mental patient. That blind eye of Elam's served him so well in films he could play some really loony characters. Elam is at his bug-eyed best in this part.

It's sad that Don Siegel did not have a bigger budget to work with. As it is Count The Hours is a real noir classic and Carey's Dave Madison belongs right up there with Atticus Finch in the pantheon of film's incorruptible men of the law.

MacDonald Carey and Teresa Wright, both of whom starred in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, work together again in a less prestigious film, "Count the Hours" from 1953, directed by Don Siegel.

Wright is Ellen Braden, whose husband George (John Craven), a migrant worker, is arrested for the murder of an elderly man and his housekeeper that was done apparently during a robbery - the man kept a lot of money in his house.

When asked if he has a gun, he at first says no. His wife runs home and throws the gun in the lake, but she's seen doing it. By then he's admitted to having one. He's believed to be guilty.

Carey plays attorney Doug Madison, who is asked to take the case but refuses. After speaking with Mrs. Braden, he changes his mind. He's convinced that they have to find the gun. But when they do, it's a disappointment. Doug believes in George's innocence, which means they have to find the killer.

Pretty good mystery-suspense film which also features Jack Elam. Wright is sympathetic as the pregnant Ellen who believes in her husband, but John Craven doesn't register much.

Carey was an affable leading man who found his great success on Days of Our Lives. He had a wonderful speaking voice and a gentle presence. Elam is his usual evil-looking and sleazy self.

On the ordinary side but tense nonetheless.

This is far from the best Don Siegel movie. But, despite flaws in writing and acting, it's gripping and moves along, keeping the viewer on the edge of his or her seat.

Nothing is really credible. Theresa Wright as an itinerant farmer's wife? Actors with pronounced New York accents as menacing rednecks? And something about the script seems truly sub-par. The dialogue is not grammatical and this is not a matter of simulating regional speech or signifying class. The dialogue is just not well written.

The music, too, is strangely self-contradictory. At first it is pure schmalz, and Don Siegel is not the man for romance, even if it's romantic noir. Then a theramon is introduced and it sounds better.

Despite quibbling on my part, it's an engrossing movie. Believable? Not exactly. But, if one cuts it some considerable slack, it works well as a suspenseful kind-of noir.

The great director who would make " invasion of the body snatchers" "the killers" "the beguiled" and even Elvis' best ("flaming star") is already present;his flair for film noir and for disturbing atmosphere is glaring in the scene in which the diver tries to rape T. Wright:the way Siegel films his eyes is absolutely terrifying ;ditto for the scenes when the lawyer looks for the former employee;oddly Siegel does not seem to very interested in T.Wright's character and the last scenes are given over to Dolores Moran and Adele Mara,who are relatively obscured thespians compared to the star of "shadow a doubt" and Wyler's war movies.

However,the movie is absorbing and a must for suspense buffs.

Like this ?try these

"phantom lady" (Robert Siodmak,1944)

"time without pity" (Joseph Losey ,1956)

"they won't forget " (Mervyn LeRoy,1937)

Surprisingly interesting story for a B picture from the early fifties - this could have been made as a major feature if it was given a bigger budget and a director worthy of its plot developments. Sincere performances by Teresa Wright and McDonald Cary are well above the average but director Don Siegel is just not the right man for the job. The story by Doane Hoag has all the right twists and turns and holds the interest but needed more attention to detail and less clichéd handling. The music score was certainly different but seemed to have been lifted from a Si-Fi -'body snatcher' type movie.

If looking for a 50s time passer (with undeveloped possibilities) this is still worth a look. Prolific and inventive Award winning Hungarian cinematographer John Alton shows terrific flair for B/W photography and lighting - lifting this little crime meller to above average standards. The ending is typical of the era - but, still better than many other average B pictures.

A lawyer defends a migrant worker falsely accused of two murders.

What is interesting, first of all, is how the defendant is described as a "migrant worker". That is not incorrect, but I think perhaps the connotation in 1953 is different than in 2017, because now the term would almost exclusively be referring to a Latino employee. In fact, the United Nations defines a migrant worker as "a person who is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national." This, more often than not, would be Mexican farmhands in the case of the United States.

Anyway, the film is quite good. I don't know if it was a feature or a B-movie, as it does give the impression of not having big names attached and perhaps a smaller budget. But for entertainment purposes and a but of suspense, it does the job. In retrospect, it also serves as a great example of early work from director Don Siegel.

A robber breaks into a farm house. He is confronted by the owner and ends up killing the elderly couple. George Braden and his wife Ellen (Teresa Wright) are the neighbors. After some questionable responses, George is arrested for the murders. Doug Madison (Macdonald Carey) takes the case despite not believing in George's innocence.

At first, I thought some of this plot goes too far. I don't want to nitpick but I can't believe that they couldn't find the gun. Everybody knows where she threw it. It's not a raging river. Then I relaxed about it and realized that it's more about the acting style. The movie is doing that old melodramatic style. Teresa Wright is a great actress, but she's using her skills to do her utmost overwrought acting. I actually grew to like the plot especially if they could tweak some of it. I can see it be remade into something better.

The scenes with Macdonald Carey and Teresa Wright are the only dull ones in Hitchcock's classic "Shadow Of A Doubt", so it should come as no surprise that when these two are asked to carry a film it will be on the enervating side, as indeed this early offering from Don Siegel, before he learned to be an exciting action director, is.

Biggest problem, as a previous reviewer pointed out, is crappy acting from just about everyone in the cast except Jack Elam (Was he ever close to bad? Doubt it). Carey is, as usual, terminally stiff and self righteous, Wright is terminally hysterical, Dolores Moran is a pretty hole in the screen while Adele Mara is a second string Carol Landis and a third string Gloria Grahame. And, yes, Siegel must shoulder some of the blame for this cornucopia of bad thespianism.

Writing kinda sucks too, with an alarming dearth of humor, almost always a minus in these noir/crime tales. Give it a generous C plus 'cause I'm a huge Siegel fan.

PS...If the cinematography, especially the nightime stuff, strikes you as a cut above that's because the DP is the great visual noir meister, John Altin (or Alton, depending on how the guy felt at the time).

Despite the economical running time, very much more of this unexceptional movie may well have felt like counting the hours as the finale approached.

Opening as a spine tingling creepshow, rapidly followed by gunfire and a double murder, 'Count the Hours' soon settles upon a pedestrian plateau as John Craven desperately pleads innocent of any crime, his case seriously damaged when panic stricken wife, Teresa Wright disposes of his gun in a nearby lake. The ensuing, protracted courtroom scene does little to reignite the adrenaline levels.

Sceptical, inexperienced lawyer, MacDonald Carey, is initially unwilling to take the case, until he spots Wright risking life and limb, repeatedly diving as she attempts to retrieve the gun. Carey is also confronted by the prevailing small town ethos (even evident amongst all the fun and games of My Cousin Vinny) in which everybody knows everybody else and nobody knows anybody who would ever do anything to hurt anyone.....Does that make sense? Therefore, Craven and Wright tick all the boxes as drifters, out- of- towners, new kids on the block, who simply MUST be guilty!

It's all rapidly rolling into the realms of rigmarole, until a much needed shot in the arm arrives in the form of loopy local loony, Jack Elam and his kooky, money grabbing, gold digging moll, Adele Mara. A femme fatale failure, whose feminine wiles fall foul of the unpredictable Elam and the reputable Carey.

'Count the Hours' has its moments, it's worth the time, but hardly the film noir fireball it promises to be at the start. Elam and Mara largely steal the show, well supported by the endearingly sincere, guilt ridden Wright. In contrast, neither Carey nor Craven radiate any significant on screen charisma, while Dolores Moran is serviceable as the bride to be. The movie always struggles to maintain momentum following its Wham-Bam-Thankyou-Mam launch. Perhaps it's just a bit too obvious, right down to Elam's name in the opening credits. Could you REALLY imagine him as a doting, favourite uncle, or the kindly family doctor?

A murder-robbery takes place, and eventually the police settle on John Craven. His wife, Teresa Wright, appeals to lawyer Macdonald Carey, who begins a long, desperate effort to find him not guilty. Alas he's scheduled to be hanged when Jack Elam turns up as a possible murderer.... but how to prove it.

It's another cheap, badly written film noir that turns out pretty good. It's certainly not because of the script, but director Don Siegel was just about to burst his bonds as a B movie director and turn out a series of tough prison movies. He even includes a montage sequence straight out of his days as an expert in them for Warner Brothers. DP John Alton's camerawork is, as always, spot on, with a particularly striking chase through a copse of leafless trees. Adele Mara makes the most of her role as Elam's *ahem* object of affection, and Edgar Barrier's ambiguously corrupt DA is nicely done. If some of the dialogue is ridiculous, if the court is run like nothing else I've seen, if Miss Wright has nothing to do, if the occasional theremin warbling makes me sneer, well, for a movie shot in nine days, it's got enough going for it to keep me interested.

MacDonald Carey stars as a public defender taking on the case of a migrant farm worker accused of killing his employer in this unusual RKO production. Directed stylishly by Don Siegel and marvelously photographed by the great John Alton, whose penchant for deep, angular shots is on display throughout, Count the Hours has plenty of the ingredients you'd expect a noir classic to feature. Sadly, it's let down by a drab screenplay by Karen Dewolf and a dull, Lon Chaney Jr.-style performance by John Craven as the falsely accused handy man. The film also suffers from a Louis Forbes score that features an overdone theremin theme whenever the real villain appears on the screen. Count the Hours looks great and also features good performances by Teresa Wright (in a role that seems tailor made for Patricia Neal) and Jack Elam, but on balance, it remains a frustrating though watchable failure.

Count the Hours (AKA: Every Minute Counts) is directed by Don Siegel and written by Karen DeWolf and Doane R. Hoag. It stars Macdonald Carey, Teresa Wright, John Craven, Jack Elam, Dolores Moran, Adele Mara and Edgar Barrier. Music is by Louis Forbes and cinematography by John Alton.

When a farmer and his housekeeper are murdered, suspicion falls on the hired hand George Braden (Craven). Owning a gun that matches the bullets used in the killings, Braden and his wife Ellen (Wright) are taken in for questioning when Ellen panics and is seen to throw the weapon into a lake. Under pressure and wanting to free his wife from duress, Braden confesses to the crime and finds himself on trial for his life. Enter Doug Maddison (Carey), a local lawyer who comes to believe that Braden is innocent and faces a fight against the clock to save Braden from the hangman's noose.

The pairing of Don Siegel and John Alton alerts the noir crowd to this compact low budget race against the clock thriller. In truth it's standard fare on a plot basis, with a mixed bag of acting performances (Elam and Wright exempt) and poor use of the Theramin in the musical score (it telegraphs what we should expect and feels on this occasion it's in the wrong movie), but within simplicity of story also comes potent points of worth.

As the clock ticks down and the stakes are raised, Siegel and the writers slot in the distasteful workings of the human being. Not only is there the running theme of the law quite frankly being an ass, but there is the bite of the rumour mill, a man forcing himself on to a desperate woman (Siegel zooms in for an emphasised facial shot that is bone chilling) and psychiatry playing a judicial hand; and not a good one at that!

Then there is Alton bringing his photographic tricks to compliment Siegel's efforts to lift a standard screenplay to greater things. Angular shots feature but it's with shadows and light that Alton excels, none more so than with the prison sequences. Here is where a frantic Braden is being held and it is a caged hell, because Alton highlights the shadows from the bars on the doors and windows as well, there is no escape from bars, they literally are all around, with one shot showing Alton at his best.

It's little seen and most likely forgotten about, and certainly its qualities have been ignored by the none film noir loving crowd, yet this is well worth a peek for those film lovers who like trawling the back alleyways for Siegel and Alton peccadilloes. 7.5/10

A B movie or B film (akin to B-sides for recorded music in 78 r.p.m.) is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not an art-house film. Count the hours is a typical example of B-movie. Although the term B movie continues to be used in its broader sense to this day, the U.S. production of movies intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950's. CTH! is dated 1953. Unlike most B movies of that time, it did display a certain degree of craft and aesthetic ingenuity, thanks to director Don Siegel, who shot it in just 9 days. Whilst its short running length and some slim scenes make it feel like a movie made quickly, there are scenes which feel greater than the movie itself. The synopsis looks today like none but a jumble of clichés. Otherwise let's see: after the murder of a farmer and his housekeeper, farmers George (John Craven) and Ellen Braden (Teresa Wright) are arrested on suspicion of murder. Seeing that his pregnant wife is not able to cope with the fierce police questioning, George signs a confession. Reluctant attorney Doug Madison (Macdonald Carey), seeing how desperate Ellen is to clear her husband, throws himself into finding the proof, never gives up and finds Max Verne (Jack Elam), the murderer. District Attorney Gillespie (Edgar Barrier), though, won't be publicly humiliated by having the conviction of Braden overturned. Why should you rent and watch it this little thriller? The answer: it is a Don Siegel movie. What Siegel always did was brilliant because he paced his movies perfectly and in between a lot of usual looking scenes he threw in a few really great ones, using lighting and close-ups to create impact.

This is a lesser known film noir, but interesting on several points. It involves a young successful lawyer named Doug Madison (Macdonald Carey) who is defending a migrant or itinerant worker George Braden (John Craven), who he believes is innocent of murdering his new employer. Unfortunately for George and his pregnant wife Ellen (Teresa Wright), the town is filled with locals who violently believe in his guilt and they aren't the type to consider "Harvest tramps and fruit bums" innocent until proven guilty.

Ellen, scared for her husband while the police are questioning him, throws his gun into the lake which ends up being a critical mistake as it could have been used to prove his innocence. This is a point of the film that never makes sense to me as they were in bed together when she hears gunfire and knows her husband didn't do it...so why would she get rid of the gun?

This film is really defined by the three women more than the men...there is the lawyer's neglected almost fiancée Paula Mitchener (Dolores Moran). She is initially discouraging of Doug taking the case until she meets Ellen and begins to believe in George's innocence, but then she flips again becoming petulant and wanting Doug to give up the case all over again. The second of the three is Ellen herself...she goes through the biggest emotional upheaval of the film, which may be explained by her pregnant state. At one point she is desperate to keep the professional diver diving after Doug runs out of money, so she offers the only valuable she has...only to have it rejected and for the diver to try to collect payment in sex instead. The third and most clichéd of the three is the money grubbing harlot Gracie Sager (Adele Mara). Gracie ends up being key to the whole case, not that she knows or cares...but she sure looks good in her white polka dot dress.

Not my favorite film noir, but for film noir fans probably worth a watch.

(1955) Count The Hours CRIME DRAMA

An unknown culprit breaks into a house and shoots an older couple Fred Morgan and his housekeeper, Sarah Watson to death. By the time the relative shows up in the morning, he discovers the bodies with a substantial amount of money missing, pointing the young couple of George Braden (John Craven) and his wife, Ellen Braden (Teresa Wright) to be the likely suspects since they carry the same 32 caliber that killed them. Ellen then does the dumb thing by throwing it into the lake after her husband confessed to police he owned a 32 revolver. Because George's wife, Helen is interrogated to death, he then decides to agree to sign the confession presented by the police. It is during then attorney general, Doug Maddison (Macdonald Carey) then shows up to represent the young couple.

One of the biggest inconsistencies about this film is the fact that as soon as authorities find out that an incriminating revolver has been thrown into the lake. It is the police's job to secure the lake or lock the lake down until the gun had been uncovered, it did not happen in this case.

The movie's an okay crime drama, but nothing more. There's some suspense near the end as lawyer Madison (Carey) gives exoneration one more try before his client Braden is executed. That manages some dramatic tension. Still, the opening hook may be the movie's best sequence as the mysterious intruder ends up shooting two old people while rifling a desk for money. It's effectively done in creepy shadow. The story's remainder, however, fails to rise above standard melodrama.

Fans of Wright will be disappointed, since her role is relatively small and overshadowed by two Monroe-like blondes. Speaking of blondes, Mara does a good imitation of Daisy Mae from Dogpatch, a backwoods caricature instead of a performance. I wish director Siegel had stepped in to prevent the disruptive effect. Of course, Elam's wild-eyed presence remains a big draw for many of us, and he doesn't disappoint. Get a load of his pants and shirt that look like rag-bin rejects. What a great character actor he was, and to think he was an A-grade studio accountant before turning thespian. Hard to figure him in a suit and tie after seeing his disheveled nut-case here.

Anyway, the movie was apparently shot in just nine days, which may account for its general lack of consistency, given the presence of virtuosos like Siegel and Alton. Had the movie been made several years earlier, I expect RKO would have come up with a noir. As things stand, however, the results are an adequate time passer but nothing more.

Although described as film noir, this average crime movie lacks the biting dialogue, intriguing plot development and menacing atmosphere of more acclaimed and competent films in this category.

The plot has been outlined well enough in other reviews here and evaluation of performances are referred to. But really, this is very much a B grade movie with neither plot or characterisation memorable in any positive way.

But the musical score, especially when the murder suspect (Jack Elam) is being chased at night by law authorities is as way over the top as any musical score you will ever hear. Ludicrously resembling the cry of a banshee or demented psychopath superimposed on the actual musical score, the movie is well worth viewing just for the laughs this music will engender. Really remarkable!!

Director Don Siegel's Cynicism is on full Display in this Underseen Minor Work that fits in the Film-Noir Category quite Firmly. Siegel once Again Displays some of the Seedier aspects of the Human Condition. Quick on the Trigger Law Enforcement, an Attorney who has a Dual Nature willing to Help the Helpless but Not Adverse to Seducing an Unwilling and slightly Dim Female, and a Court System with some Serious Flaws.

Director of Photography John Alton Adds much Atmosphere to the limited Budget, and Jack Elam is a Standout mentally Disturbed Criminal. The much Hated Theremin inclusions are Misplaced but can be Ignored because of the better Touches used by Siegel, Alton, and a good Trio of Actors, MacDonald Carey, Theresa Wright, and Jack Elam. The other Actors Strain for Credibility.

Overall, a Minor Film-Noir but Worth a Watch for sure. It's Odd enough and Tense throughout thanks to the Creative Hands of Siegel and Alton.

In this Don Siegel's absorbing thriller, the marvelous Teresa Wright plays the par excellence William Irish heroine :all she tries to do to save her beloved husband backfires on her.

The whodunit does not matter ,for the viewer knows at least halfway through who committed the murder ; but George and Ellen are some kind of aliens , they have no allies to side with them ; thus an attorney , engaged to Paula ,will go out of his way to clear their name ;reluctant Paula , first tired of seeing her fiancé busy or perhaps jealous of pretty Ellen ,finally shows compassion and provides a moral pillow to her sweetheart .Besides , the George /Ellen couple is not shown at all in the last pictures,which may amaze the viewer.Pathos is thus avoided.

Don Siegel is not a sentimental (see "the killers" "beguiled" "flaming star" or "invasion of the body snatchers " and its last kiss) and some scenes are ruthless: Ellen trying to pay the frogman with a broach and almost victim of a rape , the convict learning that he will be released just to be confronted with a harsh reality, the house where the murderer hides like a beast.

Suspense sustained till the last minute ,and an excellent cast.