A taut hostage drama takes place in a film noir titled Dial 1119 (1950), which today would have been called Dial 911 due to the revision of emergency telephone service numbers.  Not knowing the then-present American system of emergency communication, British distributors simply called the film The Violent Hour.

Escaped mental patient Marshall Thompson travels back to Terminal City to find the psychiatrist responsible for institutionalizing him.  But the doc isn’t home, so Thompson holes up in a bar across the street and waits for him.  Eventually, of course, his identity is revealed and he holds a varied group of socializers hostage.

Thompson, a boyish and naturally pleasant actor, is cast against type as Gunther Wyckoff, a delusional killer with revenge on his mind.  He is convincingly nervous most of the time and refreshingly cold-blooded when cornered.

The barflies include such familiar faces as Leon Ames and William Conrad, as well as others not so well known — Virginia Field, Andrea King, Keefe Brasselle and James Bell.  And outside the bar, a few more familiar faces can be seen:  Frank Cady, Paul Picerni, Barbara Billingsley.  Part of the fun of an old movie like this is spotting and identifying those faces.

Gerald Mayer’s film is very realistic, not only in terms of the hostage situation that develops in the bar, but how it is covered by the local media and the steps the police take to capture Wyckoff.  Especially true to life is the hard-headed stubbornness of the police captain in charge (Richard Rober) in keeping the psychiatrist (Sam Levene) away from his former patient, despite the doc’s belief that he can defuse the explosive situation.

Many films of this ilk establish the situation and then tease viewers with the threat of mayhem; to its credit Dial 1119 delivers on its portent.  All in all, it’s a quietly exciting little movie.  My rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆.  (10:1).