The House on Carroll Street

"Emily Crane left her home one morning and stepped into a nightmare."

1988 1h 41m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 60

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.

“Emily Crane left her home one morning and stepped into a nightmare.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Kelly McGillis
Emily
Jeff Daniels
Cochran
Mandy Patinkin
Salwen
Jessica Tandy
Miss Venable
Jonathan Hogan
Alan
Remak Ramsay
Senator Byington
Kenneth Welsh
Hackett
Christopher Buchholz
Stefan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Yates
Writers: Walter Bernstein
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 3% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Yates, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ray Lovejoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels and Mandy Patinkin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Emily Crane left her home one morning and stepped into a nightmare.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095333 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Yates directs. Michael Ballhaus behind the camera. Georges Delerue scores. Ray Lovejoy cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 3% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Peter Yates, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Ray Lovejoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels and Mandy Patinkin carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Emily Crane left her home one morning and stepped into a nightmare.".
8IMDB entry: tt0095333 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 60 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Original score: Georges Delerue
Editing: Ray Lovejoy
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $14,000,000
Box office: $459,824
Return: 3% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The House on Carroll Street (1988)

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Peter Yates

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2023-04-28
★ 6/10
Kelly McGillis plays a Nancy Drew-like character in early 50’s Manhattan 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-

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