11 Harrowhouse

I saw Harrowhouse on TV many years ago and loved it for it's period atmosphere, modest intrigue, topped off with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek narration by Grodin. Where the B-grade plot and action fell short, the dry humour of the narration supplied irony and maybe self-parody. Renting it on VHS many years later, it took some time to figure why it fell so flat - the VHS version had no narration, and presented as merely a sincere but inadequate attempt at thriller/drama genre.

I'd be curious to know which version each reviewer saw - the 'vanilla' but one-dimensional (original?) version, or the narrated and somewhat quirky TV version. I'm hoping that the narrated version eventually appears on DVD - it's on my list.

I am biased- I love this movie.

In the theaters when I was a kid it was so much fun thanks to the added commentary over the movie by Charles Grodin. It was dry and hilarious and brought the story to life. Years later, on a video I found at a store the narration was gone and the movie seems flatter.

It is a diamond heist movie filled with unique characters and it has a lighter tone than the novel it was based on which was not only darker and tougher but had a very different ending.

The mostly English cast is great, Candice Bergen is gorgeous, Grodin seems like an odd choice but by the end turns out to have been right for it, Michael Lewis' score is wonderful, and I laughed a lot (as did the rest of the audience in 1974). On top of that the caper plot is very clever and overall I think it is worth your time- if you like such things.

"11 Harrowhouse" is a heist film from 1974 starring Charles Grodin, Candice Bergen, James Mason, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, and the recently deceased Peter Vaughan.

I, unfortunately, saw a bad print of this which took away from my viewing. I love heist films, and the robbery of jewels here is clever and entertaining, as is the car chase toward the end.

Grodin is a diamond trader, Howard R. Chesser, though he is not a major player. The Diamond Exchange in London, address 11 Harrowhouse, monitors the control of diamonds, hoarding tons of them to keep the value high.

A multi-millionaire, Clyde Massey (Howard) wants a large diamond named after him and gives the million-pound deal to Chesser. Alas, when Chesser and Maren (Bergen) go to have the diamond cut, it's stolen from them.

Massey then blackmails him and orders him to steal the four tons of diamonds at the Exchange. With the daredevil Maren and an inside man (Mason), Chesser gets to work.

The film painstakingly shows the planning and execution of the heist, so the real excitement is the car chase that takes place.

Grodin has that wry way about him that worked for the character. Though I love Candice Bergen, I've never held her acting in high esteem - her metier turned out to be comedy. She's beautiful - it's not a great role. And you can't go wrong with people like Gielgud, Mason, and Howard, all of whom are terrific.

Clever heist film, attractive stars, and entertaining.

Apparently someone had a really good idea to save 11 Harrowhouse. They added a voice-over narration by star Charles Grodin, sharp and laconical that really lifts the film from the mediocre to the good. There seems to be another version of the film without it, but I can't imagine it being as good as this.

11 Harrowhouse is the name of the address where a few people headed by John Gielgud control the diamond market of the world. They have billions of dollars or English pounds if you will of gems in their vaults and manipulate the world market value like a yo-yo. Gielgud is a cold and forbidding man and he's one who delights in screwing the little people in his employ. One of them is diamond cutter James Mason who is as reliable as Alec Guinness was in The Lavendar Hill Mob. He's also got a plan. When Grodin and Candice Bergen come up short with 'the System' as Gielgud's consortium is called, Mason has them as allies.

The three of them have the backing of billionaire Trevor Howard who also likes messing with people. He messes with Grodin and Grodin has no choice but to aid in the robbery.

The best part of the film is the robbery itself. Someone has to be sacrificed, but the idea is incredibly ingenious and bloody simple.

Mason comes off best in this, a little man who just wants to get even with those who have treated him like a doormat all his working life.

An enjoyable caper film, diamond exchange in Amsterdam, take note.

One with the Grodin narration, and one without. I suspect many of the negative reviews refer to the highly edited TV-version. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the commercial VHS tape offered is the edited version, so caution is advised.

As a fan of heist films, I only recently learned of this rare film and had an opportunity to obtain the widescreen laserdisc presentation. And while it's true that this isn't a top-notch comedy or thriller, it's certainly better than you would think given the majority of less-than-flattering reviews here.

There are clever heist tricks - many of which have not been used again since this film. You know how much Hollywood likes to "borrow" clever ideas and use them over and over to the point where they become sad clichés. Well, you have to admire the use of cockroaches and chocolate cake to defeat an ultra-secure vault! How many times have you seen that done before? Or since?

If you're a fan of the heist genre or a Grodin devotee - this is a 'must see'. Otherwise, I'd wait 'til it gets a DVD release.