The House on Carroll Street (1988)

Emily Crane is fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, and takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. One day her attention is drawn to ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Yates

Writer:

Walter Bernstein

Stars:

Kelly McGillis, Jeff Daniels, Mandy Patinkin

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelly McGillis	...	Emily
Jeff Daniels	...	Cochran
Mandy Patinkin	...	Salwen
Jessica Tandy	...	Miss Venable
Jonathan Hogan	...	Alan
Remak Ramsay	...	Senator Byington
Kenneth Welsh	...	Hackett (as Ken Welsh)
Christopher Buchholz	...	Stefan (as Christopher Rhode)
Charles McCaughan	...	Salwen Aide 1
Randle Mell	...	Salwen Aide 2
Michael Flanagan	...	Senator
Paul Sparer	...	Randolph Slote
Brian Davies	...	Warren
Mary Diveny	...	Maid
Bill Moor	...	Teperson

Storyline

Emily Crane is fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, and takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. One day her attention is drawn to a noisy argument being conducted largely in German in a neighbouring house, the more so since one of those involved is her main senator prosecutor. Starting to look into things, she gradually enlists the help of FBI officer Cochran who was initially detailed to check her out. Just as well when things turn nasty.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi | topless female nudity | lingerie slip | female frontal nudity | woman in bathtub | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Une femme en péril

Filming Locations:

Cherry Lane Theatre - 38 Commerce Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$459,824 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In one scene, Emily overhears The Women in the House character (who is off-screen) speaking to one of the Russians through an interpreter. The Woman is telling the Russian that they will leave for Chicago "tomorrow." The interpreter mistakenly says "tomorrow" in English and then corrects himself mid-word to the correct Russian word "zaftra."

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Quotes

Hackett: You call this spring? I'm freezing to death.
Cochran: Doesn't feel cold to me.
Hackett: That's because where you come from, twenty below's a heat wave.
Cochran: At least where I come from, the people aren't colder than the weather. It's a dry cold, not like here. Doesn't feel the same.
Hackett: Yeah, till your nose drops off. I'm putting on the heat.
Cochran: Don't look suspicious! A motor running but no move?
Hackett: What are they gonna do, call the cops?

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Soundtracks

"Excerpts from 'A WOMAN CALLED FANCY'"
By Frank Yerby

User Reviews

Offspring of Hitchcock (good but not great)

The House on Carroll Street is a movie that knows what it is like to be a movie from thirty years before it.

It is a delicious throwback to the days of Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, there are only two items in the House on Carroll Sreet to suggest that this movie is NOT a product of that decade. A) the cast of this movie were just being born when Hitchcock was in his prime. and b) there is a bit of frontal nudity. Needless to say, you would never see that in Hitchcock's days (in fact before he made Psycho it was considered indecent to show qa toilet being finished on screen, or so I heard)

The makers of The House on Carroll Street have a great eye for detail, and they recapture the period beautifully. Everything has been carefully assembled, down to the last fat stripped tie. If the House on Carroll Street was released thirty years earlier, it may have been a classic, but by the 1980's the Hitchcock/film-noir formula had become somewhat generic. There are still great movies like Chinatown, but there are a lot of critically bashed items as well such as Brian de Palma's work. The look of this movie took me back, but not the storyline. It feels shallow, derivative and also rushed, so it's not as great a movie as it could've been. It's just a good movie.

Leading the cast is Kelly McGillis. Her performance is not that great, but her screen presence is interesting. She plays the role with a sort of Grace Kelly mindset, and she knows how to act with her face (although the makeup job deserves a bit of credit there too). In terms of character, she doesn't have a whole lot to work with, in fact most of the characters in the film are genre stereotypes. On screen, this film is full of life, but on the pages it could use a bit more strength. The House on Carroll Street is not great, but it's enjoyable.