11 Harrowhouse is a 1974 British film directed by Aram Avakian

Aram Avakian

Aram A. Avakian was an American film editor and director.Directed ground-breaking indie film End of the Road- Life and work :...

. It was adapted by Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin is an American actor, comedian, author and former cable talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. He had a small part as an obstetrician in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby in 1968...

 based upon the novel by Gerald A. Browne

Gerald A. Browne

Gerald Austin Browne is an American author and editor.-Biography:Browne was raised in Litchfield County, Connecticut. He attended the University of New Mexico, The Sorbonne and Columbia University, where he won several literary awards. His first novel, It's All Zoo, was written while he was living...

 with the screenplay by Jeffrey Bloom. It stars Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin is an American actor, comedian, author and former cable talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. He had a small part as an obstetrician in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby in 1968...

, Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen

Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...

, James Mason

James Mason

James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...

, Trevor Howard

Trevor Howard

Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...

 and John Gielgud

John Gielgud

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...

.

Plot synopsis

In England, a small-time diamond merchant (Grodin) is unexpectedly offered the chance to supervise the purchase and cutting of an extremely large diamond to be named for its wealthy owner (Howard). When the diamond is stolen from him, he is blackmailed into pulling off a major heist at "The System," located at 11 Harrowhouse, with the help of his beautiful and wealthy girlfriend (Bergen). The key figure in the theft, however, is the inside man (Mason) who works in the vault at The System. He is dying of cancer and wants to leave his family financially secure.

Reviews

Time Magazine reviewed the film positively, and described the cast as "poised and stylish."

Relevance

A prominent theme of the film revolves around how the primary world diamond producer controls the price of diamonds by creating artificial scarcity.

Versions

This film has been screened in two versions in the past - both with and without a retrospective commentary from Grodin's character, H.R. Chesser. Only the version without commentary seems to be widely available in published form, and neither version seems to have been screened to great extent on TV, though the original version with commentary holds up very well today. The film was released on LaserDisc by Fox Video in Widescreen Format and with the commentary intact.

DVD Release

On February 2, 2011 Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...

 is to release the film for the first time on DVD, but only on Region 1 (USA) Disc.

Cast

• Charles Grodin
  Charles Grodin
  Charles Grodin is an American actor, comedian, author and former cable talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. He had a small part as an obstetrician in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby in 1968...
  
   as Howard R. Chesser
• Candice Bergen
  Candice Bergen
  Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
  
   as Maren Shirell
• James Mason
  James Mason
  James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
  
   as Charles D. Watts
• Trevor Howard
  Trevor Howard
  Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
  
   as Clyde Massey
• John Gielgud
  John Gielgud
  Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
  
  as Meecham