review for Dial 1119 on AllMovie

The title of Dial 1119 refers to the 1950s equivalent of our current "911" phone number. Clearly, 1119 is intended as a tense, gripping hostage drama. But the best intentions don't always pan out, and what 1119 turns out to be is a sometimes tense, sometimes dull hostage drama. It's worth watching, especially for fans of noir-ish films of the period, but it's not the exciting thriller that it wants to be. A large part of the blame for this lies with Marshall Thompson, who plays the psychopathic killer. Thompson, who got his start as a fresh-scrubbed boy-next-door type and generally played good, decent people, is daringly cast against type here. He's not bad, but he's not the kind of overwhelming presence that the part demands. What's needed is someone whose mere silence screams menace. When Thompson is silent, it's just an absence. Granted, he could sue more help from the script, which is a bit too terse in places and which has some believability issues here and there. 1119 does have solid direction from Gerald Mayer and an excellent supporting cast, with stand-out work from Andrea King and William Conrad.