The Desperate Hours

The Desperate Hours Summary | Act 1 Summary

The Desperate Hours is a three-act play about the terror inflicted on a suburban Indianapolis family by three escaped convicts. The interpersonal dynamics exhibited by those under pressure is borne along by the classic theme of good versus evil.

As the play begins, a deputy sheriff named Jesse Bard is arriving for his morning shift at the Indianapolis sheriff's department. Everything seems quiet until another deputy named Winston reads a wire report about a jailbreak in nearby Terre Haute. Winston in unmoved by the report, but the name of one of the escapees, Glenn Griffin, strikes fear in Bard, on whom Griffin has sworn revenge.

Bard notifies a man named Fredericks of the Indiana state police, and Fredericks casually takes note of the situation and determines that it is the F.B.I.'s responsibility. Bard ends the call, and Winston removes his coat realizing that there is a long day ahead. An F.B.I. agent named Carson has heard about the jailbreak and arrives at the sheriff's office to help out in the situation. Bard tells Winston about Griffin's vendetta and that Griffin is traveling with his brother, Hank. Winston fills in the name of the third man, Samuel Robish.

The play transitions to the home of Dan and Eleanor Hilliard, who are going about their usual morning routine. One of the Hilliard children, twenty-year-old Cindy, is preparing for her work day at a downtown law firm, and ten-year-old Ralphie, their other child, is getting ready for school. Eleanor feels a sense of relief when her family is out the door on the way to their destinations. She begins her housework.

A knock at the door reveals Griffin acting the part of a farmer stopping for directions to a dairy farm. Eleanor is puzzled because the Hilliard home is not in a rural area, but before she can respond, Griffin pushes Eleanor inside while Hank and Robish enter the house by a side door. The getaway car is hidden in the Hilliards' garage, and the house is searched to determine that Eleanor is the only person at home.

Griffin tells Eleanor that they just need a place to hide out until midnight when they expect to receive money from Glenn's girlfriend to help them with their getaway. Griffin makes Eleanor place a long distance call and then takes the line to deliver a coded message to his girlfriend, Helen Laski.

With roadblocks and other measures in place, the police determine that Helen Laski has been spotted in Pittsburgh, and the authorities hope that she will lead them to the convicts.

After a tense day in the household, the Hilliard family begins to return home. Cindy is the first to come home, dropped off by her young lawyer boyfriend named Chuck. Quickly sizing up the situation, Cindy thinks about turning around and running, but Griffin stops her with the threat that he will kill Eleanor if Cindy tries to leave.

Not long after, Dan Hilliard arrives home and is suspicious because the family car has been moved out of the garage and replaced by a gray one. Dan bursts into the house and runs into Griffin and his loaded gun. Dan immediately understands the situation, having recognized Griffin from the evening newspaper. Dan warns that any gunshot will alert the neighborhood, and Griffin states that he does not want any problems.

Griffin makes it plain to Cindy and Dan that any false move or attempt to escape or notify the police will result in the criminals killing Eleanor. Griffin repeats that they only need to hide until midnight, and then they will be gone. Dan tries to offer the criminals money to leave, but they are fixed on waiting for the money from Helen so that they can get away to Louisville.

Ralphie is the last one to come home and tries to leave when he sees the situation in the house. Robish grabs the boy, an act that infuriates Dan, who tries to attack Robish with his bare hands. Griffin orders Eleanor and Cindy to the kitchen to fix some food, and Hank blocks Cindy's path and taunts her for a few moments before letting her pass.

Dan is outraged at the advances toward his daughter and warns Griffin that if anyone in his family is touched again, he will go for a gun and use it. Griffin smiles but can hear the conviction in Dan's voice.

News at the sheriff's department is that Helen Laski has been spotted in Columbus, Ohio, and is headed west for Indianapolis toward Griffin and his cohorts.

Griffin makes sure that everything seems normal in the Hilliard household and even positions the family in the living room with the drapes open so that it looks like the family is watching TV. Ralphie implores his father to let him try to escape, but Dan impresses upon the boy the seriousness of the situation and warns him not to try anything foolish. Dan tells Ralphie that it is ok to be scared and that sometimes it's better to be scared than foolish.

A phone call from Chuck invades the tension of the house, and Cindy tries to thwart Chuck's intentions to come over but to no avail. Griffin proposes that Cindy go out with Chuck for normal appearances but warns the young woman that her family will be killed if she should try to notify the authorities.

Griffin also sends Dan out to get gas in the Hilliard car and to pick up some whiskey. Robish, who has been in prison for eighteen years, is furious that Dan brings back only a pint of whiskey. Dan determines that Eleanor and Ralphie are fine upstairs and informs Griffin that he did not tell anyone of the situation at the Hilliard house.

As the convicts settle in to wait for the money, Hank gets melancholy because he will never have a girl like Cindy or live in a nice house like the Hilliards'. Griffin attempts to cheer up Hank by saying that he can take Cindy with him when he leaves and that he will take Eleanor because no one will stop them if they have two women with them.

Dan joins Eleanor in their bedroom and shares with his wife that he is ready to initiate a gunfight so that the bullets will be used up. Eleanor tries to show Dan the insanity of that plan, knowing that the convicts can use other methods to kill the family.

Cindy's arrival home causes more commotion in the house. Chuck demands to come in, but Cindy cannot allow it. The situation is even more complex for Cindy because Chuck has chosen to propose marriage tonight. Finally Cindy is able to convince Chuck to leave, and she enters the house where the drunken Robish begins to make advances toward the young woman. Hank intervenes and lets Cindy go upstairs to her room.

While the action with Cindy diverts the convicts, Ralphie slips down the side stairwell, and Cindy fakes a fainting spell. This allows Ralphie the diversion he needs to run outside. Dan and Cindy are able to get Hank's gun from him and push Hank outside. Just as father and daughter are ready to lock the convict outside and Dan gets the operator on the phone, Eleanor screams from upstairs that Ralphie is not in the house.

Dan replaces the phone on the hook and sends Ralphie upstairs to Eleanor. Griffin has beaten Robish for insolence and then proceeds to beat Dan with his pistol handle before joining Hank in the other room.