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Zero Hour

Play trailer Poster for Zero Hour 1957 1h 21m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Ted Stryker (Dana Andrews) has drifted through life unsuccessfully since he led a dreadful air attack in World War II. When his wife, Ellen (Linda Darnell), and his son leave him, Ted hurries onto their plane, where he tries to convince Ellen that he has changed. Meanwhile, many of the people on the flight, including the pilot (Elroy Hirsch), fall ill with food poisoning. It's left up to Ted, with help from Captain Treleaven (Sterling Hayden) in air control, to safely land the plane.
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Zero Hour

Critics Reviews

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David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Aug 16
2.5/4
...an erratically-paced thriller that never becomes quite as propulsive as one might’ve anticipated... Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 03/06/2010
B-
I give it props for being one of the first of the disaster airplane films. Go to Full Review Christopher Null Filmcritic.com 06/26/2007
3.5/5
Spoof classicity aside, the film is actually well-paced, fun to watch, and genuinely tense at times. It's a hit! Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ernie K @ErnieK Mar 6 Not just because the comedic remake is a dead-on match for this "original," but Zero Hour is also a reasonable drama with good performances from both Dana Andrews and Sterling Hayden. One of the early airline disaster films, and while not spellbinding it's certainly worth a watch. See more Steve D @RT35616104 07/09/2023 About as funny as Airplane! but unintentionally so. See more CodyZamboni @CodyZamboni 04/13/2023 Movie is entertaining, with a fast moving plot. I soon realized the spoof Airplane is nearly a scene by scene remake, with indentical characters and verbatim dialogue Made me appreciate Airplane even more. See more 05/10/2022 Great as it was the basis for the classic 80’s comedy movie ‘Airplane!’ Brilliant See more 12/24/2020 Airplane! must have been largely inspired by this film. That may be it's greatest virtue, er, point of interest. Campy is the word and this film lives it. See more 12/05/2020 Corny, campy fun. The inspiration for the classic comedy Airplane. See more Read all reviews
Zero Hour

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Cast & Crew

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Hall Bartlett

Director

Dana Andrews

Lt. Ted Stryker

Linda Darnell

Ellen Stryker

Sterling Hayden

Capt. Martin Treleaven

Elroy Hirsch

Capt. Bill Wilson

Geoffrey Toone

Dr. Baird
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Zero Hour

Zero Hour (1957) Zero Hour (1957) Zero Hour (1957) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Ted Stryker (Dana Andrews) has drifted through life unsuccessfully since he led a dreadful air attack in World War II. When his wife, Ellen (Linda Darnell), and his son leave him, Ted hurries onto their plane, where he tries to convince Ellen that he has changed. Meanwhile, many of the people on the flight, including the pilot (Elroy Hirsch), fall ill with food poisoning. It's left up to Ted, with help from Captain Treleaven (Sterling Hayden) in air control, to safely land the plane.
Director
Hall Bartlett
Producer
John Champion
Screenwriter
Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, John C. Champion
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Bartlett-Champion Productions, Delta Enterprises Inc., Carmel Productions
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 13, 1957, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 21m
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