The house on Carroll Street
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The house on Carroll Street |
| Original title | The House on Carroll Street |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1988 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Yates |
| script | Walter Bernstein |
| production | Robert F. Colesberry , Peter Yates |
| music | Georges Delerue |
| camera | Michael Ballhaus |
| cut | Ray Lovejoy |
| occupation | |
| |
The House on Carroll Street is an American thriller from the year 1988 . Directed by Peter Yates .
action
The USA in 1951 is at the height of the McCarthy era , in which communism is being persecuted by all means. The young editor Emily Crane , who works for the magazine Life , is supposed to name the supposed American communists before a committee of inquiry . When she refuses, she is first bribed and then released.
Emily soon finds a new job as a lecturer and reader for the elderly Miss Venable . In the course of this activity, she notices suspicious activities in the neighboring house, which she is investigating. Here she observes a meeting of three men: the apparently corrupt Senate member Ray Salwen , with whom she had already clashed before the investigative committee, an apparently young man who acts as a translator, and an unknown elderly man who discovers Emily spying.
Crane soon realizes that she has stumbled into a wasp's nest with her snooping, because one after the other she makes the acquaintance of FBI agent Cochran , who is shadowing her, and again with Salwen, who breaks into Emily's apartment and threatens her. But Crane is not intimidated and continues to investigate.
She follows the heels of the young man named Stefan , whose acquaintance she makes and who obviously lives illegally in the USA. Stefan feels threatened and turns to Emily, whom he has trusted. When Emily tries to get him to safety, they are met by Salwen's henchmen in a bookstore. Emily and Stefan can escape, but Crane has to watch helplessly as Stefan is stabbed in front of a theater.
When she then breaks into the mysterious house, in which obviously German refugees were housed, and is again overwhelmed, her Cochran comes to the aid, who followed Emily. In addition to his skills, he is now also beginning to be interested in the case and supports Emily, with whom he also fell in love. After investigations in a cemetery as well as at a Jewish wedding, both come to the background: Salwen is the mastermind of a smuggling ring that illegally transfers Nazi war criminals to America and gives them new identities. Stefan was his assistant, who collected the names of the recently deceased in cemeteries, which those smuggled in were then given.
Emily and Cochran are discovered at the wedding and are threatened: Emily again from Salwen and Cochran from his boss, who is apparently covering Salwen's activities. After Emily and Cochran escape a bomb attack on Crane's apartment, they both make their way to Grand Central Terminal because the Nazis are to be transferred to Chicago by train . Both manage to escape Salwen - who falls through the station dome and falls to his death - and his henchmen. Ultimately, Cochran arrests both the smugglers and the old Nazis before they leave.
In the end, Cochran visits Emily, who is living her old life again, and tells her that he has been transferred to the provinces. Both say goodbye to each other.
Reviews
- Jonathan Rosenbaum commended Peter Yates' directing in Chicago Reader . The thriller imitates films by Alfred Hitchcock . Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels' game was pleasant; Mandy Patinkin plays particularly efficiently.
- Hal Hinson wrote in the Washington Post , March 4, 1988 issue that the cast and plot were B-movie. The thriller looks like films that are shown on television late at night. There is no tension or chemistry between the main actors.
“A political thriller that promotes democratic virtues and takes a critical look at a dark chapter in American post-war history. Carefully and well cared for in terms of staging and acting, in the end he gets stuck in all too rough cinema clichés and watered down his story too much with nostalgic and melodramatic ingredients. "
Awards
Peter Yates won an award at the Mystfest Festival in 1988 in the category of best film.
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Remarks
- The film, shot in New York City, grossed US $ 460,000 in US cinemas .
- When Emily enters the Schleuserhaus, she finds a copy of the newspaper “ Neues Deutschland ” on the table , which at the time was the main newspaper of the GDR party SED .
Web links
- The House on Carroll Street in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The House on Carroll Street at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jonathan Rosenbaum: The House on Carroll Street. In: Chicago Reader. Retrieved December 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Hal Hinson: The House on Carroll Street . In: The Washington Post . March 4, 1988 ( online [accessed March 12, 2016]).
- ↑ The house on Carroll Street. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 3, 2016 .