Guilty by Suspicion (1991)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Irwin Winkler

Writer (WGA):

Irwin Winkler (written by)

Release Date:

15 March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

All it took was a whisper.

Plot:

David Merrill (Robert De Niro), a fictitious 1950s Hollywood director, returns from filming abroad...

Plot Keywords:

1950s | Hearings | Blacklist | Political | House Unamerican Activities Committee

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	David Merrill
Annette Bening	...	Ruth Merrill
George Wendt	...	Bunny Baxter
Patricia Wettig	...	Dorothy Nolan
Sam Wanamaker	...	Felix Graff
Luke Edwards	...	Paulie Merrill
Chris Cooper	...	Larry Nolan
Ben Piazza	...	Darryl Zanuck
Martin Scorsese	...	Joe Lesser
Barry Primus	...	Bert Alan
Gailard Sartain	...	Chairman Wood
Robin Gammell	...	Congressman Tavenner
Brad Sullivan	...	Congressman Velde
Tom Sizemore	...	Ray Karlin
Roxann Dawson	...	Felicia Barron (as Roxann Biggs)
Stuart Margolin	...	Abe Barron
Barry Tubb	...	Jerry Cooper
Gene Kirkwood	...	Gene Woods
Margo Winkler	...	Leta Rosen
Allan Rich	...	Leonard Marks
Illeana Douglas	...	Nan, Zanuck's Secretary
Al Ruscio	...	Ben Saltman
Bill Bailey	...	20th Century Fox Guard
Adam Baldwin	...	FBI Agent #1
Nicholas Cilic	...	Matt Nolan
Claude Rauvier	...	Claude Rowan
Stephen Root	...	RKO Guard
John Horn	...	Mike Rainey
Jon Tenney	...	Shopper Husband
Cecile Callan	...	Shopper Wife
Tom Rosqui	...	Norman
Monica Carrico	...	Nelly Lesser
Jonathan Ames	...	Cabbie
Brant von Hoffman	...	Stanley
F.J. O'Neil	...	Ad Agency Executive
Joan Scott	...	Teacher
Dianne E. Reeves	...	Singer
Paul Collins	...	Bernard
James Mathers	...	Director
Kevin Page	...	FBI Agent #2
Joe Bennett	...	Choreographer
Robert Chimento	...	Assistant Director
Craig Smith	...	Director of Photography
Maurice Marciano	...	Costume Designer
Martin Arsenault	...	Waiter
Ben Dinsdale	...	Maurice
Russell Bobbitt	...	Prop Master
Cindy Carey	...	Party Guest
Ivor Leslie Dilley	...	First Assistant Director
Natalie Zimmerman	...	Woman on Buckboard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Apolito	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Sophiah Koikas	...	Party guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Irwin Winkler

Writing credits (WGA)
Irwin Winkler		(written by)

Produced by
Alan C. Blomquist	....	co-producer
Nelson McCormick	....	associate producer
Arnon Milchan	....	producer
Steven Reuther	....	executive producer

Original Music by
James Newton Howard

Cinematography by
Michael Ballhaus

Film Editing by
Priscilla Nedd-Friendly		(as Priscilla Nedd)

Casting by
Marion Dougherty

Production Design by
Leslie Dilley

Art Direction by
Leslie McDonald

Set Decoration by
Nancy Haigh

Costume Design by
Richard Bruno

Makeup Department
Fríða Aradóttir	....	hair stylist
Julie Hewett	....	key makeup artist (as Julie Hewitt)

Production Management
Michael Polaire	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jan Sebastian Ballhaus	....	second second assistant director
Jeanne Caliendo	....	second assistant director
Rob Cowan	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Russell Bobbitt	....	property master
Dean R. Brown	....	construction coordinator
Michael T. Daigle	....	scenic artist
Roger L. King	....	property maker
Jim Landis	....	set dresser
Leslie 'Tinker' Linville	....	set dresser
Daren Dochterman	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Philip Mayor	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Chris L. Spellman	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Amy Vuckovich	....	set painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bob Beemer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Hilkene	....	supervising sound editor
Rick Kline	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lance Laurienzo	....	first assistant sound editor
Richard Lightstone	....	production sound mixer
Joseph A. Mayer	....	supervising adr editor
Donald O. Mitchell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joel Moss	....	sound recording engineer
Pat Suraci	....	boom operator
Audrey Trent	....	foley artist
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Christopher T. Welch	....	supervising sound editor
Gabriel Cubos	....	sound utility (uncredited)

Stunts
Edward J. Ulrich	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Herb Ault	....	key grip
Florian Ballhaus	....	first assistant camera
David M. Dunlap	....	camera operator
Mikael Glattes	....	second assistant camera
Danny Jimenez	....	dolly grip
Kenny King	....	best boy grip (as Ken King)
Joyce Rudolph	....	still photographer
James R. Tynes	....	gaffer
James F. Cornick	....	gaffer: second unit (uncredited)
Kurt Grossi	....	grip (uncredited)
Lowell Peterson	....	camera operator: "b" camera (uncredited)
John 'Fest' Sandau	....	assistant chief lighting technician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurie Riley	....	costume supervisor
Victoria Bruno	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mike Stanwick	....	color timer

Music Department
Brad Dechter	....	orchestrator
Tom Kramer	....	music editor
Barry Levine	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Wayne Nelson	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Vic Heutschy	....	unit publicist
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Craig Pointes	....	location manager
Carolyn Quinn	....	assistant to executive producer
Sioux Richards	....	script supervisor
Douglas Yellin	....	production executive
William Chartoff	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Matt Gatson	....	first assistant accountant (uncredited)
George Herthel	....	location manager (uncredited)
Liz Probst	....	payroll accountant (uncredited)
Errol Reichow	....	assistant location manager (uncredited)
David Sherry	....	researcher (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• MK2 Diffusion
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• XYZ Desarrollos S.A. (Spain)

Special Effects

• Creative Effects

Other Companies

• Completion Bond Company  completion bond
• Sunrise Films  negative cutting
• Tux Wagon Catering  catering
• Varèse Sarabande  soundtrack

Also Known As:

La liste noire (France)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:M | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Blacklisted writer/director Abraham Polonsky wrote the original screenplay for the film. When Irwin Winkler decided to rewrite the script by changing DeNiro's character from a Communist to a more generic Liberal, Polonsky had his name removed from the film's credits. "I wanted it to be about Communists because that's the way it really happened. ... They didn't need another story about a man who was falsely accused," he said in an interview in the New York Times.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There is a Milwaukee Braves baseball pennant on the wall of Merrill's son's room. This film takes place in 1951 and 1952. The Braves didn't move to Milwaukee from Boston until 1953.

Quotes:

Ruth Merrill: Uh, I'm seeing Dorothy tonight. Paulie's gonna stay at his friends. I thought I'd take her to one of those places out by Malibu.
David Merrill: Malibu, can you afford that?
Ruth Merrill: Can you believe you said that?
David Merrill: No, I'd never say anything like that.
Ruth Merrill: Wanna go?
David Merrill: Sure, do you mind?
Ruth Merrill: Yeah.
[she leaves]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#9.2)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

EASY COME, EASY GO

"Guilty By Suspicion" Is True to Form ***1/2

Robert DeNiro will not give names to the House UnAmerican Activities committee. There goes his Hollywood career. His marriage to Ruth, Annette Bening, has already ended in divorce, so why not the rest of his life down the drain as well?

The film is very similar in nature to Woody Allen's "The Front" of the 1970s. If you've seen the latter, you know what the ending shall be. It's called principles above all.

Patricia Wettig gives a fine supporting performance as an actress turned in by her own husband with tragedy resulting.

Nice to see Martin Scorsese go in front of the cameras for this film. He is fleeing to England to escape testifying.

We get a wonderful sense of the 1950s in Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe is hot and so is this film.