# Three Hours to Kill

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{{Short description|1954 film by Alfred L. Werker}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Three Hours to Kill

| image          = Three Hours to Kill poster.jpg
| caption        =
| director       = [Alfred L. Werker](/source/Alfred_L._Werker)
| producer       = [Harry Joe Brown](/source/Harry_Joe_Brown)
| writer         = [Richard Alan Simmons](/source/Richard_Alan_Simmons)<br>[Roy Huggins](/source/Roy_Huggins)<br>[Maxwell Shane](/source/Maxwell_Shane)
| based_on       = a story by [Alex Gottlieb](/source/Alex_Gottlieb)
| starring       = [Dana Andrews](/source/Dana_Andrews)<br>[Donna Reed](/source/Donna_Reed) <br> [Dianne Foster](/source/Dianne_Foster)
| music          = [Paul Sawtell](/source/Paul_Sawtell)
| cinematography = [Charles Lawton Jr.](/source/Charles_Lawton_Jr.)
| editing        = [Gene Havlick](/source/Gene_Havlick)
| color_process  = [Technicolor](/source/Technicolor)
| studio         = [Columbia Pictures](/source/Columbia_Pictures) 
| distributor    = Columbia Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|1954|09|03|New York City|1954|11|04|United States}}
| runtime        = 77 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          =
}}
'''''Three Hours to Kill''''' is a 1954 American [Western film](/source/Western_film) directed by [Alfred L. Werker](/source/Alfred_L._Werker) and starring [Dana Andrews](/source/Dana_Andrews), [Donna Reed](/source/Donna_Reed) and [Dianne Foster](/source/Dianne_Foster).<ref name=HHT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/09/04/archives/a-western-is-presented-by-the-globe.html|author=Thompson, Howard|title=A Western Is Presented by the Globe|website=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=September 4, 1954}}</ref>

It inspired the 1956 [Roger Corman](/source/Roger_Corman) film ''[Gunslinger](/source/Gunslinger_(film))''.<ref name="Senses">[http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/35/charles_b_griffith/ Aaron W. Graham, 'Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith', ''Senses of Cinema'', 15 April, 2005] accessed 25 June 2012</ref>

==Plot==
Jim Guthrie ([Dana Andrews](/source/Dana_Andrews)) returns to town three years after being falsely accused of murdering Carter Mastin ([Richard Webb](/source/Richard_Webb_(actor))). Jim finds that his old friend Ben East ([Stephen Elliott](/source/Stephen_Elliott_(actor))) is now the sheriff. In a flashback, Jim recounts his near-lynching by a mob convinced he had shot Carter in the back. Laurie ([Donna Reed](/source/Donna_Reed)), Carter's sister, who was planning on marrying Jim, disrupts the lynching, and Jim narrowly escapes. He still bears a neck scar from his ordeal. Ben gives Jim three hours to find the true killer. Through confrontations with several of the men who had been eager to hang him, Jim is led to the guilty man.

==Cast==
* [Dana Andrews](/source/Dana_Andrews) as Jim Guthrie
* [Donna Reed](/source/Donna_Reed) as Laurie Mastin
* [Dianne Foster](/source/Dianne_Foster) as Chris Palmer
* [Stephen Elliott](/source/Stephen_Elliott_(actor)) as Sheriff Ben East
* [Richard Coogan](/source/Richard_Coogan) as Niles Hendricks
* Laurence Hugo as Marty Lasswell
* [James Westerfield](/source/James_Westerfield) as Sam Minor
* [Richard Webb](/source/Richard_Webb_(actor)) as Carter Mastin
* [Carolyn Jones](/source/Carolyn_Jones) as Polly
* Charlotte Fletcher as Betty
* [Whit Bissell](/source/Whit_Bissell) as Deke
* [Francis McDonald](/source/Francis_McDonald) as Deputy Vince

==Reception==
In ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', [Howard Thompson](/source/Howard_Thompson_(film_critic)) wrote:<blockquote>[This] lusterless drama adds a few mild psychological overtones to a familiar story, a varmint's return to his home town... Mr. Andrews plays the ne'er-do-well of a prairie spot called Furnace Flats...<p>[The] actors, as we say, acquit themselves respectively. Mr. Andrews, for instance, is bedraggled bitterness personified... As for this saga of Furnace Flats, it's flat all right, but not so hot.<ref name=HHT /></p></blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{AFI film|id=51379|=Three Hours to Kill}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0047581|title=Three Hours to Kill}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=3818|title=Three Hours to Kill}}

{{Alfred L. Werker}}

Category:1954 films
Category:American Western (genre) films
Category:1954 Western (genre) films
Category:Columbia Pictures films
Category:Films directed by Alfred L. Werker
Category:Films scored by Paul Sawtell
Category:1954 English-language films
Category:1954 American films
Category:English-language Western (genre) films

{{1950s-US-Western-film-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Three Hours to Kill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hours_to_Kill) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hours_to_Kill?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.