Although compared with Grand Hotel (and with good reason), Four Hours to Kill is as much an example of the crime genre as it is of the multi-story soaper genre -- and it's not a bad little murder flick, either. Four Hours is also unusual in that, unlike most films with a theatrical setting, it spends hardly any time showing the audience the play that's being presented on-stage. While the viewer frequently hears some of the numbers being performed, director Mitchell Leisen eschews the choice of cutting away to a song-and-dance routine for two or three minutes at a time, and it gives Four Hours a nice little flavor all its own. Indeed, Leisen does a very fine job throughout, playing up the romance, the mystery, the thrills, and the comedy in just the right amounts. He's hampered by a script that falls into cliché a little too often, but he benefits from a strong central performance from Richard Barthelmess and a nice "cad" turn by Ray Milland. Throw in fine support from Gertrude Michael and Dorothy Tree and the result is a nifty little film that's a nice way to wile away an hour or so.
by Craig Butler
review
