A Transcontinental Airlines airliner on an international flight develops engine trouble en route to Athens. Pilot Jamie Faulkner (Lex Barker) is forced to land in Beirut, where the aircraft is to layover for 24 hours. Although the crew look forward to rest and relaxation in the then glamorous tourist hot spot, one of the crew members is in fear of his life due to his being a target of a criminal organisation based in the city.
Purser Norman Jones (Mickey Rooney), on the run from a gang of gold smugglers headed by Malouf (Walter Slezak), a smuggler, gains the sympathy of the flight's captain and other members of the crew who believe that Jones has been wrongly associated with the syndicate.
The gang twice attempts to kill Jones and tries to kidnap air hostess Louise Braganza (Helga Sommerfeld), the captain's girl friend. Jamie learns that Jones is a member of Malouf's gang and has actually stolen £40,000 worth of bullion from the syndicate.
Although the gangsters kidnap air hostess Françoise Bertram (France Anglade) to propose an exchange. Françoise, however, after a fight, is rescued by the airline crew. Jones is captured by Malouf but saved by Jamie and the crew, but just as the airliner takes off, Jones is killed by one of Malouf's men.
From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin stated the film was pleasantly photographed but "slackly directed" that mostly worked due to the "two bizarre characterizations" by Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak.[1]
Andy Webb, writing in The Movie Scene noted the beauty of Beirut before Mid-East strife destroyed the once glamorous capital. Webb considered 24 Hours to Kill "quite entertaining and has a touch of 60s spy movie about it with a few moments of action, drinks laced with drugs, shady people following Norman around and of course some danger."[7]
^After a lengthy film career in North America, "As work in Hollywood dried up, Barker spent most of the 1960s in Germany, where he enjoyed much popularity and made a great many films."[4]
Gifford, Denis (2001) [1973]. The British Film Catalogue. Vol. 1 (3 ed.). Routledge. ISBN978-1-57958-171-8.
Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Penquin Books, 1994. ISBN978-0-45227-058-9.
Mann, Dave. Harry Alan Towers: The Transnational Career of a Cinematic Contrarian. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2014. ISBN978-0-78647-982-5.
Taylor, Tadhg. "Peter Yeldham Interview" in Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2015. ISBN978-0-78649-406-4.
