6 Hours to Live

The possibility of life after death and the existence of God is a very ambitious topic. If we add the critique, albeit very superficial, of the global economic organization, in which rich and powerful countries have influence over small and poor countries, often resorting to corruption or intimidation by force, the goal is harder.

The analysis of these complex issues within the context of a science fiction film, with a mad scientist who invented a machine capable of restoring life for six hours, just once, to any undamaged corpse, and in which the question of the ethical and moral limits of scientific research is also raised, is even more difficult.

If we add to all this a plot with a love triangle and the analysis of the importance of love, altruism, and respect for others in our lives, the bar is raised to stratospheric heights.

Indeed, the feeling we were left with after watching the film is that a much longer film, or even a series, would be needed to address all these issues with reasonable consistency. Indeed, the film promises a lot but falls short.

Despite the strong performances, the characters aren't fleshed out enough to gain the depth necessary to create empathy and for the dramatic process to be intense.

The only redeeming features are the boldness, the well-crafted special effects, the set design, the soundtrack, the costumes, and the bittersweet ending.

Still, despite falling short of initial expectations, and unsuccessfully mixing several genres, it is a film that deserves to be seen.

Fox Films and also William Dieterle films are so inconsistent that they can either be awesome or awful..... this falls into the awful category. Plot, script and acting all complete to be the film's worst aspect.

The winner is however the plot - it sounds intriguing but its execution is dismally disappointing. The premise of someone coming back to life to catch their killer could be - and subsequently has been, a really exciting plot device but not in here! I thought at first the reason this seemed so dreadful was because we've all seen it done better elsewhere but decided that's not why - it's dreadful just because it's dreadful.

The story begins with some grand international trade conference to combat the world depression which Warner Baxter wants to veto. We don't know why he's literally the only man in the world who wants to stop this, or why only he knows best. He's also involved in the dullest relationship with the dullest woman in the world which you couldn't care less about.

After he's assassinated and brought back to life the picture changes from dull to faux-religious (and also suddenly develops a score). As Mr Baxter benevolently walks through the town giving money to the poor and reforming prostitutes like Jesus in a tuxedo, the whole tone of the picture changes to a preachy 'God is good, science is bad' kind of thing. He's been to heaven so now walks in the path of light but it's all so vague, weak and wishy-washy that it just doesn't work. Considering how 'talky' this is, it says very little. It's got no real message like in FRANKENSTEIN or even the weird GABRIEL OVEF THE WHITEHOUSE from 1933 which successfully did put over a moralistic narrative.

Even when it should be at its most exciting Mr Dieterle creates no tension at all. He is usually excellent at bringing his characters to life but in this he seems barely able to get half of them to act like actual people. Only Warner Baxter seems real, the rest are lifeless and lack depth of personality. It does however look good and is well photographed and on that aspect alone, William Dieterle's artistry is still evident....but that's not enough.

This team of artists and professionals should have made this so much better but as it stands it's endurance rather than entertainment.

Like the other reviewer said, films this good shouldn't be so rarely seen and hard to find, that is, if you've even heard of it in the first place. This is definitely in the category of a precode as issues such as life, death, and life after death could not be explored so boldly after the code came into effect in 1934.

This rare Fox horror film is set at an international peace conference in which Captain. Paul Onslow (Warner Baxter), representative from a small fictitious country, is the sole dissenter in an agreement involving all the European countries. The decision must be unanimous or the agreement will not be in force. Onslow feels the agreement will be a disaster for his country and is unmoved by any argument or threat for that matter. Early that afternoon the conference adjourns and is to reconvene that night at 11PM for a final vote.

Onslow has an eventful day. He has an attempt made on his life, he falls in love - or I should say he realizes he has always been in love - with a long-time acquaintance and becomes engaged, an odd little man with a mysterious machine moves into the home of his host, and finally - he is strangled to death by an unknown assailant a little after 6PM in his room.

His body is discovered by a small group of close friends minutes after his death. As luck would have it the odd little man I mentioned earlier is a scientist whose mysterious machine can bring any life form back from the dead, but only for six hours. He demonstrates first on a rabbit, and then Onslow is brought back.

If you're expecting the shocked grunting character from 1936's "Walking Dead" you've expected wrong. Onslow is as articulate and dapper as he was before his death. However, like Karloff's character, he knows all that was going on while he was dead - including the fact that he only has six hours until he dies again - and seems to have the answers to the universe. However, he refuses to tell the few people who know what happened who killed him. Instead he jumps into his car and heads into the night, promising to confront his murderer personally, and also make that final vote at the conference. Remember now, nobody knows he is "dead" except the few who discovered his body, and they're keeping what happened to themselves. Along the way Onslow runs into three people he saw on the street that day and manages to comfort them with his personal knowledge of loved ones lost and a new empathy, although he was a pretty nice guy to begin with.

If the film has one real flaw it is that the revealing of the murderer is rather anticlimactic. There were so many possible suspects and the actual culprit is so nondescript that I had to go back to the beginning of the film to realize who the killer was.

Particularly moving is how Onslow handles the issue of his fiancée, who doesn't know what has happened to him. Also used to good effect is the rabbit that was brought back fifteen minutes before Onslow. It acts as a living hour glass, always letting Onslow know just how much time he has left. Highly recommended.

With a global treaty thwarted by the stubborn refusal of "Capt. Onslow" (Warner Baxter) his life is soon in peril - and not just his, but his affianced baroness "Valerie" (Miriam Jordan) ought to get a bulletproof vest too! Tragically, for him, the perpetrators do manage to do away with him but wait - there are some scientists who have been working on an experimental resuscitation machine, and so "Prof. Bauer" (George F. Marion) suggests to the police that they "borrow" his still lukewarm corpse and put it in their machine. Remarkable success ensues, but only for six hours. Conscious and fully cognisant of what did and will happen, it falls to "Onslow" to ensure the treaty fails, track down his own murderer and do a bit of closing of his own before the grim reaper comes a-calling for a second time. As resurrection thrillers go, this is actually quite a sophisticated little number with no sign of Frankenstein's monster-syndrome, grunting, lurching or carrying off of wenches. This chap is every bit the same as he was when he was alive first time around, only just a lot more narked. It does take a while to get going, and the denouement is a bit undercooked, but Baxter always does debonair well and this feature also has Halliwell Hobbes in one of his few, non-butler, roles - he even gets to play a Baron! There's just an hint of science here, the romance is well under control and the seventy minutes flew by.

"6 Hours To Live" has a terrific, original premise which borrows elements from the previous year's "Frankenstein" but also predates "D. O. A" by almost 20 years (!): scientist brings murdered man back to life, but he is still doomed: he has only six hours to live, in which time he must find his own murderer. It's not as exciting as it might have been, but it does try to dabble in several different fields: political drama, romantic melodrama, sci-fi, murder mystery (the least satisfying part), existentialism, religious parable, etc. It's an ambitious B-movie. The final shot is great. **1/2 out of 4.