The House on Carroll Street

Although the film's story-line is fiction, the facts of this low-key thriller are based on truth and provide a 'what if' scenario that keeps the viewer engaged. The director, Peter Yates, captured a style of filming and cinematography that makes it feel almost like an undiscovered Hitchcock film. Kelly McGillis is believable, although perhaps not quite the typical Hitchcock blonde, and Jeff Daniels may sound a bit too modern in some of his speech inflections, but Everything else about this film reeked of authenticity, from the genuine feel of the sets and authentic but real clothing, to the dialogue. I don't know why this film rated only a middlin score with viewers - perhaps they were expecting more of an action thriller,rather than the political intrigue style of thriller that it is.

This is a wonderfully Hitchcockian, quite realistic, but also nostalgic return to the time when some people were looking for Communists under every bed, as well as in Hollywood and =Life= magazine. Kelly McGillis is terrific as the idealistic civil liberties type who discovers Nazis in the garden and her own personal SS man in a Senator's office. Mandy Patinkin is really convincing as the Senate staffer who hounds McGillis from her job. He even looks a little like a famous politician with the initials RMN. For a bang-up thriller without any shooting, car chases or explosions, this is one of the best videos around.

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.

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.

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.