11 Harrowhouse is a film most people will not be familiar with. Released in 1974 this crime thriller, comedy has been mostly unavailable on home video for more than two decades. It's broadcasts on network and cable TV have been few and far between. The film had a short run on VHS in the early eighties and then was discontinued. 20th Century Fox released a laser disc of the film (which I still own) but until now the film has never been on released on DVD.
The film stars Charles Grodin as a diamond merchant who is hired by an oil magnate to steal billions of diamonds from the consortium that controls the diamond wholesale market, located at 11 Harrowhouse. He enlists the aid of his wealthy girlfriend Candace Bergen and a disgruntled employee, James Mason, to aid in the heist. The actual theft of the diamonds is very low tech, but quite clever. The film also stars Trevor Howard as the oil tycoon and John Gielgud as the snobby head of 11 Harrowhouse.
The film is based on the book by Gerald A. Browne, adapted by Grodin, and follows the template of many heists movies of the time including The Anderson Tapes, $ (Dollars), Gambit, How To Steal A Million, Topkapi and The Thomas Crown Affair, except that the film has a narrative soundtrack, created by Charles Grodin, detailing his inner thoughts as the story unfolds, turning this caper into a comedy. Grodin's trademark deadpan humor is evident throughout the film as he comments on everything. The movie was also released as a straight forward thriller, without the narration, but that version is rarely available.
11 Harrowhouse is off beat in it's pacing but has some deft comic moments. It holds up well today as a comedy, suspense thriller and is worth checking out for Grodin's unique comic style.
At The Movie House rating *** stars
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