From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973)

Director:

Fielder Cook

Writers:

Blanche Hanalis (writer)
E.L. Konigsburg (novel)

Genre:

Family | Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Precocious Claudia and her brother run away from home and hide in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. |

Plot Keywords:

Museum | Brother | New York | Hide Out | Brother Sister Relationship

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Mrs. Frankweiler
Sally Prager	...	Claudia Kincaid
Johnny Doran	...	Jamie Kincaid
George Rose	...	Saxonburg
Georgann Johnson	...	Mrs. Kincaid
Richard Mulligan	...	Mr. Kincaid
Madeline Kahn	...	Schoolteacher
Bruce Conover	...	Kevin Kincaid
Mike Hammett	...	Brucie
Donald Symington	...	Museum Director
Linda Selman	...	Museum Secretary
Peter Turgeon	...	Counterman
Robert Packer	...	2nd Guard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Coe	...	Museum Janitor
Josip Elic	...	Workman
Brendan Fay	...	Guard
John Gerstad	...	Guard
Bruce Kornbluth	...	Taxi Driver
Tom Kubiak	...	Workman
Frank Leo	...	Guard
Lary Spinelli	...	Guard

Also Known As:

The Hideaways (UK)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Madison, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Cinema 5

Quotes:

Claudia: I wanted to be different. I wanted to be different.
Mrs. Frankweiler: And did running away from home made you different?
Claudia: No.

Movie Connections:

Version of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1995) (TV)

Good, although not true to book

I loved E. L. Konigsberg's book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It is one of a few books that I remember fairly vividly from childhood, and I recently read it with my son, so we decided to watch this movie. I liked the movie, and thought that the children and Ingrid Bergman all gave fine performances. However, the movie differs from the book on minor details that I could see no rationale for changing (saying that Mrs. BEF lived in New Jersey, rather than Connecticut, for example). Mainly, though, I was very disappointed in the way the story ends in the movie in comparison to the book. In the book, Mrs. BEF gives the children a time limit and lets them figure out the answer to the mystery themselves. But in the movie, Mrs. BEF leaves Jamie playing cards with her butler, while she takes Claudia to another part of the house, where Mrs. BEF essentially solves the mystery for Claudia. I would still recommend the movie, but it's not nearly as good as the book.