The House on Carroll Street (1988) User Reviews

Nazis on Main Street

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 23 January 2006]

**SPOILERS** Beautifully photographed period piece, New York City circa 1951,about a young women asst. photo editor Emily Crane, Kelly McGillis, who's let go by her employer Life Magazine for refusing to give or name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Getting a job as a reader for an old women Miss. Venable ,Jessica Tandy, Emily one afternoon notices this young man Alan ,Jonathan Hogan, across the way in the house on Carroll Street through the window talking to Ray Salwen, Mandy Patinkin,the man who interrogated her at the HUAC hearings. Becoming obsessed with the young man Emily follows him on the subway to Rockaway Queens and finds that he spends his time going to mostly Jewish cemeteries taking down the names of those recently departed? Not knowing what she's getting into Emily uncovers a secret plan to smuggle ex-Nazi scientist's into the US, giving them Jewish name and identities as a cover! These ex-Nazis are to be use by the US Government in their expertise in the fight against the Red Menace, or International Communism.

This secret government operation is headed by the aforementioned anti-Communist fanatic and borderline psycho HUAC investigator Ray Salwen. It was Salwen who later shows how unstable he is by pouring an entire bottle of ketchup, his way of emphasizing the Red Manace, over a clean white table-cloth in order to impress and show a shocked Emily in how the menace of Communisum has spread over the globe!

Emily feels guilty when Alan, who put his trust in her , is murdered before he can talk to G-Man Cochran, Jeff Daniels, who became romantically involved with her. Salwen who's involved with the Nazis being smuggled into the country has his goons try to murder Emily. This before she let's the cat out of the bag about the US Government being allied with high ranking members of the defunct Adolf Hitler's Germany. Salwen ends up on the losing end when he makes a fatal miss-step on the roof of Grand Central Station and takes the fall for what his superiors have been doing since the end of WWII: secretly aiding ex-Nazis in the war against Commnisum.

P.S the movie "The House on Carroll Street" is not as far fetched as one might think with President Turman passing the secret order Project, or Operation, Paper-Clip in September 1946 having the US Immigration Department allow hundreds of ex-Nazi scientists, which many of Truman's supporters and admirers say that he didn't know about, into the US. This was done in order to help in developing rockets and other military hardware in fighting the Communists Menace overseas in far away places like Korea and Vietnam.

Offspring of Hitchcock (good but not great)

[Samiam3 · 7/10 · 9 September 2010]

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.

An engaging, good-spirited thriller thanks to the two appealing leads and the influence of Alfred Hitchcock

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 3 February 2008]

Emily Crane, a photo editor at Life Magazine, refuses to turn over to a Senate committee the names and files of a civil rights organization she's associated with, she doesn't realize she'll soon be out of a job and probably the cause of a young German being stabbed to death. That's not the least of it. Soon she'll be refusing a great hamburger while a senior Senate committee staff man uses catsup on a white dining clothe to illustrate the red menace. And finally, she'll find herself clambering over the interior catwalk of New York's Grand Central Station dome, high above the floor, while killers try to insure she trips. To my mind, The House on Carroll Street is a solid and talented, if not exceptional, child of Hitchcock.

The year is 1951 and anti-Communism hysteria is in full bloom. Congressional demagogues, black-listing and secret FBI files abound. When Emily (Kelly McGillis) loses her job, we learn she's under FBI surveillance. Agent Cochrane (Jeff Daniels) has been assigned to take secret photographs of her, find out who she talks to and to follow her about New York. He observes when, in need of a job, she is interviewed by Miss Venable (Jessica Tandy) to read to the old lady. And one afternoon, relaxing in the townhouse garden of Miss Venable's home, she overhears part of a conversation in German coming from the next house. Naturally nosy, she moves closer through the bushes, glimpses the face of a young German fellow she accidentally met a day or two before on the street...and then sees the face of the Senate staff head, Ray Salwen (Mandy Patinkin). Salwen was responsible for hauling her before the committee. Something is not right. A few days later she follows the German to a Jewish cemetery and finds him writing down the names of dead Jews. He seems scared. Before long, she is helping him escape from the house on Carroll Street, only to see him stabbed death in front of her. By now, FBI agent Cochrane not only realizes something is very off, he realizes Emily Crane has nice legs, is quite likable and may be in danger. He's puzzled when he is warned off by his superiors and then taken off her case. In solid Hitchcockian style, we have been following this nice and nosy woman while she slowly discovers skullduggery and then realizes that she has placed herself at great risk. And in equally solid Hitchcockian style, we have met the man in agent Cochrane who with persistence and humor will attempt to keep her from danger while joining her in uncovering a plot that deals with German war criminals and powerful men in high places.

The movie has well-directed set pieces, ranging from a covert meeting in a huge, dim Greenwich Village book store to a spooky breaking-and-entering into the now abandoned house on Carroll Street (where Emily meets a man with a knife) to the exploration of the tunnels below and the girders high above the Grand Central main station. Most of all, it has two instantly appealing main characters in McGillis and Daniels. Both are completely natural in their portrayals. They have guileless faces. We immediately like both of them. Daniels in particular shows the kind of open-faced honesty that makes the movie so satisfying. The caveat I have is Mandy Patinkin. He is a forceful, intense actor. Patinkin makes Salwen a creature of such supreme self-confidence, such repellent humor that Salwen doesn't just stand for the evils of the period, he disgusts us. Patinkin's self-serving, power-justifying Salwen, full of phony patriotism and contemptuous high spirits, in my opinion very nearly overbalances the movie. Patinkin is just an inch away from becoming a caricature. Added to that are two speeches that Patinkin is given to justify his actions. Unfortunately, they move over into manipulated melodrama. The speeches are so over-the-top they tend to place the movie on hold while Patinkin gives them. However, the screenwriter is Walter Bernstein, a talented man who was black-listed for years. I'm more than willing to cut him some slack.

I think The House on Carroll Street is a well-crafted semi-romantic thriller which doesn't use explosives (well, there's one), cynicism or cumbersome back stories. It has two attractive and likable leads, a plot with a message or two which keeps moving along and a bit of humor. It also has a happy ending which, in one regard, may be unexpected.

Hitchcock style movie

[drum · 7/10 · 21 August 1999]

This movie had its moments, but i actually enjoyed it. Hitchcock style film with an interesting plot. If you like hitchcock, you will like this. The cast is good with Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels very well casted and Mandy Patinkin is excellent in a rare role.

Comments on the film rather than its subject

[holt-4 · 1 February 2003]

The film has good pace, and excellent photography, and is very much in the style of Hitchcock even to the music which, at times, one feels was almost written by Bernard Herrmann. A simple story perfectly developed, with an economical and sharp script.

Government shenanigans

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 25 March 2008]

Many of us are too young to remember the McCarthy era, but that doesn't mean we should not be aware of it because many of the actions occurring during that time have been going on the last seven years.

Kelly McGillis, who did a great job in Witness with Harrison Ford, is Emily, a woman caught up in the witch hunt that occurred during that era. Quite by accident, she stumbles on a plot by these same people in power to smuggle Nazi war criminals into the country, using the names of dead Jews, if you can believe that.

Mandy Patinkin plays a great evildoer in the government, and he even looks like the former President that made his reputation during this time.

Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale , Good Night and Good Luck) is very good a a farm-boy turned FBI agent who falls for Emily and helps her uncover the plot.

In the absence of CGI and FX, it was great acting that really made this an enjoyable movie.

Misses the target

[winsfordtown · 7/10 · 1 November 2001]

Like Guilty By Suspicion this film follows the tale of what it was like to be on the wrong side of a McCarthy style witch hunt looking for reds under the bed. Not having lived through it however I can not judge how accurate this account is. Certainly old film footage of a man with a gavel shouting down anybody who he believes is obstructing justice looks intimidating. This story follows idealist Life magazine picture editor Emily (McGillis) who falls foul of an ambitious politician (Potentkin)who himself as a few skeletons in his own closet. It's about being on the right side. You can bring ex-Nazis into America as long as you have no conscience and are quiet happy to win the space race with information they have given you, the problem is you just don't get caught. With the help of her FBI watcher, Cochran (Daniels) they begin to unwind this crooked scam, unfortunatly it's hard to except that they find every clue and the man who is her tormentor in chief just happens to be involved as well. The story just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. On the plus side the look and feel of the film are great and if prepared to overlook the outrageous and some what slow plot it's watchable.

Weak and Disappointing

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 24 August 2013]

Another uneven Hollywood attempt to capture the devastation and destructive consequences of the McCarthy Era. It was a confusing time for Everyone, not the least of which was our Government. After the Atom was cracked it seems so did We, unable to understand Who was Who, What was real and not Paranoia, How to handle the exponential accelerating Pace of World Events, and just When, Where, and How it would all End. The Why was left for the Philosophers and Historians.

In an attempt to stop Communism as well as Free Speech our Leaders went to Unconstitutional means to uncover and eradicate its "infiltration" in our Society and they were looking everywhere, even under the bed. Is anyone Youngish aware of the slogan "Better Dead than Red"?

This homage to Hitchcock is a rather flat and uninteresting take on some of that with a bit more of bring the Nazis over here before the Soviets get them. There are moments that are Suspenseful but not enough to maintain any sense of urgency. The Film is Shallow and flirts around with a Romantic Subplot that fizzles and a defusing Bomb Scene that plays, unintentionally like a Comedy.

Recommended for the better parts, but be advised that some of it just doesn't work and is really a let down considering the Weight of the Subject Matter.

Kelly McGillis for Miss Girl Scout 1951!

[manuel-pestalozzi · 4/10 · 13 July 2006]

Watching beautiful women sneaking around, playing cops and robbers is one of the most delightful guilty pleasures the medium film lets me enjoy. So The House on Carroll Street was not entirely a waste of time, although the story is contrived and the screenplay uninspired and somewhat irritating.

There are many allusions to different Hitchcock pictures, not least the choice of Kelly McGillis in the starring role. She is dressed up as Grace Kelly, and she is not far off the mark. Not at all. But her character is not convincing. The way she is introduced to the audience, she should be someone with political convictions and a purpose in life. After all the movie deals with a clearly defined time period, true events and a specific issue. But the story degenerates within the first minutes into a sorry run-off-the-mill crime story with unbelievable coincidences, high predictability and a set of two dimensional characters. This is all the more regrettable, as the performances of the actors are good, as are the photography and the set design.

The finale in Central Station, New York is breath taking. It starts in the subterranean section and then moves up to the roof. The movie can be praised for its good use of architecture.

interesting but not wholly successful

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 23 December 2018]

"The House" has quite an intriguing (and brave) plot. It also contains a fairly accurate reconstruction of a certain period in history, complete with in-built warning : beware the super-patriots who fight for Truth, Justice and The American Way by smearing, blackmailing and incarcerating anything that moves. Another pertinent warning : beware those who defend a society by flouting its laws and betraying its core values.

Viewed as a thriller, "The House" plays fair with the viewer. Clues are handed out honestly, developments are logical and the ending is nicely apt, in a poetical justice sort of way.

Sadly the execution is not entirely up to the challenge. For some reason or another the movie rarely evokes a sense of breathless suspense, even when characters rush down a fire escape in order to flee an imminent explosion. Directors such as, say, a Polanski or a Hitchcock can make the viewer quake in his seat by showing him a ferry leaving a port or a class of schoolchildren playing in a yard ; here you've got pretty much the opposite quality. It's a pity.

The shades of noir become a bit blurry.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 4 January 2017]

What starts intriguing and keeps on the right path seems to go off into a direction that doesn't quite take the audience with them. It's a well meaning return to the world of film noir that paints a fine picture of the dark world of McCarthyism and the still dangerous remaining members of the Nazi party in post war New York City. Kelly McGillis is a Life magazine photography editor fired after refusing to give names in the red scare. She is identified as a member of a subversive group out to improve society, obviously no real threat, but enough to make the government paranoid. A chance encounter with a young German immigrant brings her into real danger as the threats of a Nazi re-growth are revealed to her.

For about the first 45 minutes, the film seems to be going down all the right paths, but all of a sudden, it starts to become a bit convoluted and unbelievable. The film does remain suspenseful and features a fun late 40's/early 50's look at New York City. Subway stations haven't changed, neither has Strand bookstore or off Broadway theaters. McGillis has a fine leading man with American agent Jeff Daniels, boyishly sheepish but handsome, and theater legends Mandy Patinkin and Jessica Tandy in major supporting roles. Peter Yates directs this modern film noir thriller with passion, but something is clearly missing. I can say that I enjoyed this more the second time as opposed to back in 1988 when this hit the theaters. My rating hadn't changed, but my observations about smaller details were greatly different.

Hitchcock's baby

[VanheesBenoit · 8/10 · 24 May 2010]

Excellent and entertaining movie in many regards. The 1950's atmosphere is caught very well: elegant clothing, superb cars, leafy New York streets, New York's Grand Central Station and a cameo role for the shiny Chicago Express. The OST by George Delarue too is worth while listening to. It does more than just underpin the action in the movie, it stands perfectly well on its own legs.

I've noticed some reviewers made a link between the looks of Ray Salwen (Mandy Patinkin) and a young Richard Nixon, who was heading the House on Un- American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the early fifties. I'd rather compare the smug Salwen figure with Roy Cohn, McCarthy's right hand and ax man. (Patinkin would have been a perfect choice for the main role of "Citizen Cohn" in 1992, although James Woods too did a nice job) As other reviewers have pointed out, there are indeed some similarities with Hitchcock movies from the 1950's. All shots show clean streets, nice looking people, shiny cars… You won't see any hoodlums, hobo's, mean looking motorcycle gang members. There's not even the page of a newspaper pushed around by the wind in the New York streets. Even the bad guys that kill the German young man with a knife are dressed up as if they come from the horses or some fancy restaurant. The romance between McGillis and FBI man Cochran (Daniels) too is treated in a very 1950's way. To many viewers, this will be seen as a lack of chemistry between the two main characters. However, to my h.o. an all too steamy relationship would have somehow spoiled this elegant movie, and especially slowed down the pace considerably.

OK, there are a number of weak points in the scenario: it's highly improbable that a hush hush operation of smuggling Nazi's into the US would have used such an "unsafe safe-house" as the one in Carroll Street. ID papers would have been arranged for, while those war criminals were still in Europe, to reduce as much as possible the risks. And it's rather silly seeing a Senator's aide going as far as entering into Emily's bathroom. Very intimidating, OK, but I'd rather think this kind of a job would have been left to some low ranking goons. And finally, what the heck is he doing on the roof of New York's Grand Central Station ??? Still, nobody complains about similar weaknesses in let's say "North by Northwest", or "Sabotage". Indeed, this movie doesn't pretend being a semi-documentary, like De Niro's "Guilty by suspicion" (1991) or Citizen Cohn are. And as pure entertainment, House on Carroll Street does a nice job. I'd rate it 8/10

A Thriller From The Red Scare Era

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 9 October 2017]

Released the same year as "The Accused"--a better film that received plenty of attention by critics and the media--"The House on Carroll Street" is another Kelly McGillis vehicle, but it suffered from a lack of interest.

McGillis plays Kathryn Murphy, an editor for "Life" magazine who loses her job after being targeted in a 1951 Senate hearing by the zealous committee that capitalized on the Red Scare.

She takes a lesser job but unexpectedly (and very coincidentally) finds herself embroiled in a dangerous intrigue.

Unfortunately, the script lacks motivation for some actions taken by Murphy. As she plays sleuth, there are some Hitchcockian touches, but they only serve to remind the viewer of how this film is lacking.

Shot in Manhattan, the exteriors are sometimes interesting.

Jeff Daniels is an FBI agent who is charged with investigating Ms. Murphy. Mandy Patinkin plays the heavy. And Jessica Tandy plays the strict employer who is reluctantly charmed by Murphy's disarming demeanor.

This period piece does a good job of recalling the fifties, but the meat of this story leaves one wanting.

Forgettable film with McCarthy era intrigue.

[Steve-318 · 5/10 · 3 February 2001]

When I checked this one out of the library, I thought it might be an early 50's film-noir about spy smuggling but it turns out to be a 1988 effort to reconstruct an era circa 1951 when World War II memories were fresh and looking for Reds was becoming a national pastime.

Unfortunately, the reconstruction of 50's scenes comes off a whole lot better than the picture. Jeff Daniels does a nice little job as the government agent with a heart but the story has more holes than McCarthy's logic.

Kelly McGinniss spends the movie being pursued--in libraries, on roof tops, in train stations, you name it, but there's something lacking--I think it's called a plot.

They would have been better off chucking the Nazi bad guy stuff and straying with the McCarthy smear of our heroine. Do it in black and white and build the picture of the sinister democracy it could have been.

Another Hollywood Blacklist Era Fable

[Eric-62-2 · 2 October 1999]

In the tradition of "The Front" and "Guilty By Suspicion", the "House On Carroll Street" is little more than Hollywood's latest attempt to rewrite the history books about the "McCarthy" era in which all those accused of communist sympathies were innocent as the driven snow, and all accusers were really closet Nazis at heart. Well, too bad for the fantasy weavers but the factual record still shows that there were more people in America who licked Joseph Stalin's boots at a time when he murdered tens of millions, and even went so far as to commit treason on behalf of the Soviet Union (Alger Hiss, Julius Rosenberg, Harry Dexter White, and a score of other government employees now linked to espionage through both American and Soviet files) than there were anti-communists in Washington who harbored Nazis during America's Cold War struggle (i.e. a big fat zero. Indeed, one can argue that this movie borrows a page from the McCarthy handbook of using a false accusation to smear a group of people even more than the the McCarthyites themselves did in real life toward Hollywood communists!).

An thriller set during the summer of 1951,worth a rental!!

[Doc_Who · 7/10 · 19 November 1999]

Jeff Daniels(Fly Away Home,Dumb and Dumber,Speed) and Kelly MCGillis(Witness,Top Gun) star in thriller set in New York City in the summer of 1951. Emily Crane (McGillis) uncovers a plot by the U.S goverment to secretly bring Nazi war criminals to the U.S. But she has a man to watch for her!Jeff Daniels plays Cochran a federal agant sent to protect her. Eventually the two people fall in love. Then they must flee for their lives as the government knows that they know of the secret Nazi criminals coming over to America. The love story is OK for the movie , I just wish they would of shown us the criminals coming over , instead all we get those already here!!If you like love story thrillers, you might like this movie!!Or if you are either fans of Jeff Daniels or Kelly McGillis, you might like this movie!!If you decide to buy it, rent it before you do!!!It 's an average love story set during the era of post World War 2!!It has had neat ending , but i'm gonna give it away!!!So remember rent it before you buy as it may not be everything you though it was going to be!!!

Kelly McGillis plays a Nancy Drew-like character in early 50's Manhattan

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 28 April 2023]

A picture editor for Life magazine (McGillis) loses her job in the Big Apple upon refusing to name names for the House Un-American Activities Committee. She then snoops around a German-speaking man with dubious immigration status, which draws the ire of the Committee's main Senate prosecutor (Mandy Patinkin) and the assistance of an amicable FBI agent (Jeff Daniels).

"The House on Carroll Street" (1988) is an old fashioned Hitchcockian crime drama/thriller in which an innocent person stumbles upon something nefarious involving shady government officials and the corresponding cover-up. The events take place four years after the start of the Cold War when the US Government wanted to secure a scientific lead over the Soviets. The pièce de résistance is a clash at Grand Central Station in the last act.

It plays like Indiana Jones during the early Cold War years, albeit with a female protagonist and less hamminess, although there's some silliness in the bomb sequence (like people are going to casually joke around while a bomb's about to explode). I like the irony of good citizens being smeared as evil and bad officials being presumed good. It's a worthwhile period piece with definite points of interest, but somehow underwhelming. It needed a rewrite to flush out the potential.

The film only runs 1 hour, 41 minutes (as if it didn't have the confidence to go longer), and was shot in Manhattan.

GRADE: B-

80s thriller with Nazis

[parkerbcn · 6/10 · 16 July 2021]

A classic entertaining thriller from the 80s, well directed by Peter Yates and with Jeff Daniels and the then famous Kelly McGillis. Very interesting to see Mandy Patinkin playing the villain the same year as his famous role in "The Princess Bride". And there are Nazis too!

I grew on in a house on 76 Carroll st

[brooklynsouth-36776 · 6/10 · 28 October 2021]

Brooklyn NY 76 Carroll st my father's Nick name was Jimmy Carroll in the 70s and early 80s then we moved around the corner to Summit Street in my grandmother's building Red Hook Brooklyn when those were the days.

Nick Bamundo Brooklyn NY.

Very Average Thriller with a Very Attractive Kelly McGillis

[med_1978 · 5/10 · 21 November 2007]

I watched this on video, I had seen it a while ago but did not recall most of the film (this should have given me an idea of its routine nature).

Having viewed the film again I found it to be a strictly routine effort all round. The direction, the acting are very average and the plot predictable throughout.

Kelly McGillis is possibly at her most attractive here and the film is worth catching if you are a fan of hers. Jeff Daniels is okay but there is no chemistry between the leads and the romantic subplot detracts from the film. Mandy Patinkin is the chief villain of the piece and the scene with him in the restaurant tipping ketchup on the table in an attempt to show his maniacal nature is truly ridiculous. The scene where Jeff Daniels is defusing the bomb and cannot decide which wire to cut was reminiscent of a similar scene from Lethal Weapon.

The storyline seemed watered down, so as to dispense of matters such as a decent plot. Instead the film opts for a more lightweight approach giving us an Agatha Christie type lead character that is caught snooping into top secret government business, the pace picks up but the film fails to grip the viewer in a way that creates tension or excitement. The ending was not bad but it all seemed like a straight to video movie that probably got released due to its star being in the box office hits Top Gun & Witness. This did not however prevent the movie from being a box office failure.

Good paced thriller, with good performances

[coolplanter · 7/10 · 11 September 2017]

This is a thriller that provides home entertainment, and is preferred alternative to what competes with it today on TV screen. The performance of Jeff Daniels, Kelly McGillis, and Mandy Potemkin live up to expectations --and there are good supporting performances provides as well. The Korean war was going on that time this movie was framed (1951), and if you can accept the absence of this, you'll probably be wondering about the timing/intent of bringing former Nazi physicians into the country. The scenes from Grand Central Station are some best parts of the movie--and compare favorably with all others I've seen. An aside point, the sound recording level is poor--we cranked it up while watching it--and was shocked at the regular volume when we switched back to regular TV. Record this on your digital recorder.

Woman in Jeopardy!

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 3 March 2013]

This was directed by Peter Yates -- responsible for a number of true originals, such as "Bullitt" -- and all this time I thought Brian De Palma owned the franchise on imitations of Alfred Hitchcock.

I can't understand how Yates could simply thrown up his hands and given up. Everything about this story of Kelly McGillis and FBI agent Jeff Daniels uncovering a scheme to smuggle post-war Nazis into the US, disguised as dead Jews. Mandy Potinkin is the chief heavy but the sullen Nazis and their agents are all around, hulking in doorways, dressed in dark suits, following the innocent McGillis around the streets of New York, destroying furniture, smoking in public, and committing other unforgivable sins.

Hitchcock was fond of point-of-view shot and used them judiciously. They're notable here as well. McGillis slowly climbs the wooden stairway of a dangerous old house, just like Lila in "Psycho." She's also threatened while nude in the bathtub, just like Marion in "Psycho." And her name is Miss Crane, just like Janet Leigh's. A scene takes place aboard the Chicago Express, which bore Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint west. The couple tries to disappear in a theater crowd while being hunted by the bad guys. (Cf., "Saboteur", "Torn Curtain.") The final chase takes place through a kind of national monument -- not Mount Rushmore or the British Museum but rather Grand Central Station, whose Oyster Bar I highly recommend. Potinkin winds up hanging hundreds of feet above the floor of the station, holding on to a bank of chicken wire that slowly parts under his weight. He suffers the same fate as the villain whose jacket sleeve parts, strand by strand, until he falls from the Statue of Liberty in "Saboteur."

The plot I described briefly above is conjectural because it's never made entirely clear what's going on. Nobody sits down and explains carefully to McGillis exactly what the MacGuffin actually is.

Peter Yates seems to have surrendered his own unique style and given us a pale imitation of De Palma's paler imitations.

"A rock through a window should do the trick"

[SteveSkafte · 10/10 · 25 April 2010]

Much has been made of films which use past decades to set their stories in, but much less praise has been directed at those which emulate the style originally employed in that period. There has, of course, been many failures to replicate the successful Alfred Hitchcock formula. "The House on Carroll Street" is not one of those. It falls into neither common failing of such films - there is no attempt to graft an anachronistic approach to an older style, nor to bring that older style into a modern decade. This film understands that such a style cannot be separated from the emotions and perceptions of the time.

Peter Yates, a director who generally creates for the present time, does an unexpectedly excellent job at recreating this lost world. He uses cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (who went on to photograph "Quiz Show", another 1950s recreation) to wonderful effect, letting him capture his scenes in a manner that never once strays from the older approach. Yates shows us how thrilling the suspense and big set-pieces can be when not buried in special effects and quick cuts. Yates proves why he's one of the great overlooked talents.

Jeff Daniels and Kelly McGillis have very much that 'star chemistry' valued for this sort of picture. McGillis, especially, brings a lightness and intensity most modern actresses could only pretend at. Patinkin is appropriately menacing. Jessica Tandy was my favorite performance, a tiny role nonetheless brightened by the nuances she brings to it. Christopher Buchholz provides an engaging, fearful, yet somehow innocent performance to the character of Stefan.

Imagining that "The House on Carroll Street" were somehow released during the era in which it is set, I have little doubt it would be considered one of the great classics. Films such as "North By Northwest" have all the same limitations and plot implausibilities, yet are no more or less thrilling than this one. I see nothing of lower quality to be found here, only a picture made in a period where it couldn't be recognized. If you love the classic thrillers, you should certainly love this one as well.

Bland, obvious, and lacking in chemistry and personality.

[=G= · 5/10 · 23 February 2002]

Not unlike a simple-minded Nancy Drew, McGillis plays a nosey but reluctant witness to Nazi war criminal underground railroad skullduggery who foils countless bad guys while falling in like with an FBI agent (Daniels) who doesn't carry a gun because they're too heavy. Yeah, right. Good old fashioned melodrama, "The House on Carroll Street" is a stagey, obvious, scripted, stiff, and sanitized for your protection. Recommended for viewers who prefer melodrama over reality.

a thriller without thrills,

[verbumctf · 2/10 · 16 March 2010]

romance without feeling, drama of issues without point (or drama).... This film is supposed to be all these and fails on every account, as if it isn't trying. Or as if the director/editor/scriptwriter team isn't really trying. The actors are able--they need better support.

One element that doesn't fail is the score by George Delarue. Beautiful and moving. What a shame it's attached to this film. In a good film actors' words and movements and music synchronize and enhance the impact. This editor plastered on music with no regard for dialogue and movement. The love scene is particularly grating in this respect: an insult to the talents of the lead actors.

There is another element in the film that works: location photography. Notably one moment in Grand Central Station. I'd guessed in advance what was going to happen; but the filming was breathtaking.

Some commentators on this board have pointed out that US assimilation of criminal Nazi scientists actually happened during these years of the MacCarthy scare. The moment the film seems to start looking seriously at American society, it switches into conventional romance; before any human feelings can move us, it's away on a (predictable) 'thriller' escapade.

Just as the film insults the talents of the actors, it insults the issues it's pretends (and fails) to take up.