The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (film)
Encyclopedia
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a 1992 American thriller about a vengeful nanny
out to destroy a naïve woman and steal her family. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson
, starring Annabella Sciorra
, Rebecca De Mornay
, and Matt McCoy
. The original music score was composed by Graeme Revell
.
The film's plot was reproduced for the Hindi film Khal-Naaikaa (1993) starring Anu Agarwal
as the nanny, Jaya Prada
as the wife, Jeetendra
as the husband, and Varsha Usgaokar as the wife's friend. The same plot was also reproduced for a Telugu film entitled Kavya's Diary (2009) starring Charmi and Manjula Ghattamaneni
.
) is mother to daughter Emma (Madeline Zima
) and pregnant with her second child. At a routine checkup, Claire is molested by an obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott (John de Lancie
), who is replacing her retired doctor. Claire tells her husband, Michael (Matt McCoy
), about being sexually violated
and the couple decide to report the incident to the authorities. Four more women come forward to corroborate the Bartels' story and Dr. Mott commits suicide
to prevent from being arrested by the authorities.
Dr. Mott's pregnant widow (Rebecca De Mornay
) meets with her lawyers and is told that she will receive no money from her husband's death and will ultimately be forced to vacate their luxurious home. Upon hearing this, Mrs. Mott goes into labor, but hemorrhages badly and loses her baby, causing her to require an emergency hysterectomy
. Later on while still recovering in the hospital, Mrs. Mott sees a news story on television showing Claire as the woman who alerted authorities that led to her husband's death. Mrs. Mott blames Claire for her personal losses and financial ruin.
Months pass and Claire gives birth to a boy, Joey. The Bartels have hired a worker named Solomon (Ernie Hudson
), a man with a developmental disability
, to perform some handywork around the house, such as building a new fence. Solomon takes a liking to the family and wishes to hold baby Joey, but Claire asks him not to. Michael is insistent that the Bartels look for a nanny to help with the children. Claire, in the process of building a greenhouse in the couple's backyard so that she can start a side plant business, goes along only reluctantly, believing she is perfectly capable of doing both as well as being wary of hiring a complete stranger to take care of Joey. Mrs. Mott, now under the pseudonym
Peyton Flanders, applies for the position and is hired after deliberately placing the back of one of Claire's earrings (which was constantly falling off) into baby Joey's mouth and feigning the baby's rescue from potentially choking.
Mrs. Mott begins to subtly terrorize the family in a delusional attempt to replace Claire. She begins breastfeeding Joey in secret (which causes him to no longer take his own mother's milk), encourages Emma to keep secrets from her mother, tempts Michael with her sexuality and plants the thought in Claire's head that Michael may be having an affair with close friend and former girlfriend, Marlene Craven (Julianne Moore
). Mrs. Mott furthers this notion by suggesting that he and Marlene plan a surprise birthday party for Claire, thus leading to Marlene and Michael having to meet in secret. Marlene earlier warns Claire to not let "Peyton" get too close to the family, quoting the line, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world" from the poem "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
" by William Ross Wallace
.
Mrs. Mott continues with her attempt to destroy the family and tries to turn Emma and Michael against Claire. Solomon, who has been wary of "Peyton" from the beginning, accidentally catches her breast-feeding Joey. An enraged Mrs. Mott confronts Solomon and threatens to get rid of him. She initially plants the idea in Claire's head that Solomon, who is by now a good friend of Emma, is inappropriately touching her. Later on, Mrs. Mott plants a piece of Emma's underwear in Solomon's tool wagon, allowing Claire to discover it. Believing Emma has been molested, Solomon is fired, causing Emma to dislike her mother and grow distant from her.
Mrs. Mott continues to drop hints to Claire about Michael's whereabouts as he and Marlene plan Claire's surprise party. Mrs. Mott steals Marlene's cigarette lighter and plants it in one of Michael's shirts. On the day of her surprise party, in order to get her out of the house Claire is asked to bring the shirt to the cleaners, where she discovers the lighter. An enraged Claire returns home and confronts Michael about the lighter by vulgarly accusing him of having a sexual affair with Marlene, only to realize that there is a house full of people, including Marlene and her husband Marty, waiting in the next room who have clearly heard her exclamations. A hurt and embarrassed Marlene hurriedly leaves the party while Claire is shaken up due to the whole episode.
Claire begins to have her doubts about "Peyton" since all these episodes have occurred since she started working for them. She expresses her concerns to Michael while they discuss taking a vacation, one on which Claire does not want "Peyton" to accompany them. Mrs. Mott overhears their conversation and grows more enraged and psychotic. She decides to murder Claire by propping open the glass skylights in Claire's greenhouse ceiling with a shovel by the door, with the idea that, when Claire opens the door to the greenhouse, the shovel will fall over, causing the skylights to lose their support and come crashing down on her. Meanwhile, Marlene has become very suspicious of "Peyton". A realtor by trade, Marlene comes across Dr. Mott's house, which is still up for sale. She notices in the listing that there are wind chimes located outside the nursery, distinctly remembering a similar gift that "Peyton" gave Claire for Joey's nursery. After some investigating Marlene comes across a newspaper clipping at the library showing Dr. Mott's funeral in which there is a picture of Mrs. Mott mourning alongside family. Marlene rushes over to the Bartel house to warn Claire only to find that she is not home. Confronted and threatened with exposure of her true identity, Mrs. Mott lies and tells Marlene that Claire is in the greenhouse. Marlene storms outside calling for Claire and pushes open the greenhouse door where she is killed by the trap that was set earlier for Claire. Mrs. Mott, who knows that Claire suffers from asthma
, seizes the opportunity and goes around the house emptying all of Claire's medicinal inhalers by piercing them with a sharp pin. She then takes Joey for a walk in his stroller. While she is out, Claire returns and heads for the greenhouse where she sees Marlene's dead and bloody body, which causes her to have a severe asthma attack. She searches desperately for her inhalers only to find them all empty and collapses unconscious after trying to call the police.
After recuperating, Claire finds an urgent phone message from Marlene in the pocket of her jeans. After investigating the situation, she realizes that "Peyton" is Mrs. Mott. Claire returns home, punches Mrs. Mott in the face and fires her. Mrs. Mott reveals her true identity to Michael and attempts to allege that the two of them were having an affair. Michael immediately denies this and orders Mrs. Mott to leave at once. However, Mrs. Mott re-enters the house and lures Michael down to the basement where she hits him with a shovel, knocking him down the stairs and breaking his legs, though he still survives. Upon being found by Claire, Michael orders her to hide the children and call the police. Mrs. Mott then stalks Claire and the children as they hide. After knocking down Claire with the same shovel, Mrs. Mott attempts to take Emma and Joey to herself as her new family, but after seeing Mrs. Mott assault her mother, Emma turns on her and escapes to the attic with Joey. Mrs. Mott eventually finds them there attempting to escape, with the help of Solomon, who has returned due to his vow never to let Mrs. Mott hurt the Bartels. She assaults Solomon with a fireplace poker until Claire reaches the attic where she and Mrs. Mott fight. During the scuffle, Claire fakes an asthma attack, causing Mrs. Mott to let her guard down, revealing to Claire of her advances towards Michael and her secret breastfeeding for Joey. Mrs. Mott then turns her attention to Solomon once again. Claire then catches Mrs. Mott by surprise and pushes her out of the attic window. Mrs. Mott is killed when she tumbles down the roof of the house and hits the fence below, impaling herself to death.
Soon after, a repentant Claire offers Solomon his job back and allows him to hold Joey, finally demonstrating her trust in him. They all go down, presumably to help Michael, as police sirens come by to the house.
Cybill Shepherd originally was assigned the role of the nanny.
down to #2 from its 4-week triumph at #1. The film lasted at #1 for four consecutive weeks, then was upended by Medicine Man
. By the end of its run, the film earned a domestic total of $88,036,683. The movie had an impact on contemporary culture.
It was also placed at 24 in Bravo's special 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments.
on December 8, 1998. The film was presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, approximately 1.85.1. The only special feature included on the DVD is the film's original theatrical trailer.
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
out to destroy a naïve woman and steal her family. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
, starring Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
, Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay is an American film and television actress. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business opposite Tom Cruise...
, and Matt McCoy
Matt McCoy (actor)
Matt McCoy is an American actor.McCoy was born in Ohio. Since starring as Sgt. Nick Lassard in two Police Academy films, his motion picture credits have included the Curtis Hanson films The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and L.A. Confidential , as well as the action comedy National Security ...
. The original music score was composed by Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
.
The film's plot was reproduced for the Hindi film Khal-Naaikaa (1993) starring Anu Agarwal
Anu Agarwal
Anu Agarwal is an Indian model who later became a Bollywood actress. Born in New Delhi, she is best known for her leading role in the movie, Aashiqui.-Career:...
as the nanny, Jaya Prada
Jaya Prada
Jaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...
as the wife, Jeetendra
Jeetendra
Jeetendra born Ravi Kapoor is an Indian actor and television producer...
as the husband, and Varsha Usgaokar as the wife's friend. The same plot was also reproduced for a Telugu film entitled Kavya's Diary (2009) starring Charmi and Manjula Ghattamaneni
Manjula Ghattamaneni
Manjula Swaroop , better known as Manjula, is an Indian film producer & Actress from Telugu Cinema. She is the daughter and third child of renowned actor Krishna Ghattamaneni and sibling of actor Mahesh Babu. She is married to producer & actor Sanjay Swaroop and has a daughter with him....
.
Plot
Claire Bartel (Annabella SciorraAnnabella Sciorra
Annabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
) is mother to daughter Emma (Madeline Zima
Madeline Zima
Madeline Rose Zima is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes.-Early life:Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and...
) and pregnant with her second child. At a routine checkup, Claire is molested by an obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott (John de Lancie
John de Lancie
John de Lancie is an American actor. He has been active in screen and television roles since 1977, though he is best known for his recurring role as Q on the various Star Trek series and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1....
), who is replacing her retired doctor. Claire tells her husband, Michael (Matt McCoy
Matt McCoy (actor)
Matt McCoy is an American actor.McCoy was born in Ohio. Since starring as Sgt. Nick Lassard in two Police Academy films, his motion picture credits have included the Curtis Hanson films The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and L.A. Confidential , as well as the action comedy National Security ...
), about being sexually violated
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
and the couple decide to report the incident to the authorities. Four more women come forward to corroborate the Bartels' story and Dr. Mott commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
to prevent from being arrested by the authorities.
Dr. Mott's pregnant widow (Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay is an American film and television actress. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business opposite Tom Cruise...
) meets with her lawyers and is told that she will receive no money from her husband's death and will ultimately be forced to vacate their luxurious home. Upon hearing this, Mrs. Mott goes into labor, but hemorrhages badly and loses her baby, causing her to require an emergency hysterectomy
Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, usually performed by a gynecologist. Hysterectomy may be total or partial...
. Later on while still recovering in the hospital, Mrs. Mott sees a news story on television showing Claire as the woman who alerted authorities that led to her husband's death. Mrs. Mott blames Claire for her personal losses and financial ruin.
Months pass and Claire gives birth to a boy, Joey. The Bartels have hired a worker named Solomon (Ernie Hudson
Ernie Hudson
Ernest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
), a man with a developmental disability
Developmental disability
Developmental disability is a term used in the United States and Canada to describe lifelong disabilities attributable to mental or physical impairments, manifested prior to age 18. It is not synonymous with "developmental delay" which is often a consequence of a temporary illness or trauma during...
, to perform some handywork around the house, such as building a new fence. Solomon takes a liking to the family and wishes to hold baby Joey, but Claire asks him not to. Michael is insistent that the Bartels look for a nanny to help with the children. Claire, in the process of building a greenhouse in the couple's backyard so that she can start a side plant business, goes along only reluctantly, believing she is perfectly capable of doing both as well as being wary of hiring a complete stranger to take care of Joey. Mrs. Mott, now under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Peyton Flanders, applies for the position and is hired after deliberately placing the back of one of Claire's earrings (which was constantly falling off) into baby Joey's mouth and feigning the baby's rescue from potentially choking.
Mrs. Mott begins to subtly terrorize the family in a delusional attempt to replace Claire. She begins breastfeeding Joey in secret (which causes him to no longer take his own mother's milk), encourages Emma to keep secrets from her mother, tempts Michael with her sexuality and plants the thought in Claire's head that Michael may be having an affair with close friend and former girlfriend, Marlene Craven (Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
). Mrs. Mott furthers this notion by suggesting that he and Marlene plan a surprise birthday party for Claire, thus leading to Marlene and Michael having to meet in secret. Marlene earlier warns Claire to not let "Peyton" get too close to the family, quoting the line, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world" from the poem "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (poem)
"The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World" is a poem by William Ross Wallace that praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world. The poem was first published in 1865 under the title "What Rules The World". The refrain of the poem is a commonly quoted...
" by William Ross Wallace
William Ross Wallace
William Ross Wallace was an American poet, with Scottish roots, best known for writing "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World"....
.
Mrs. Mott continues with her attempt to destroy the family and tries to turn Emma and Michael against Claire. Solomon, who has been wary of "Peyton" from the beginning, accidentally catches her breast-feeding Joey. An enraged Mrs. Mott confronts Solomon and threatens to get rid of him. She initially plants the idea in Claire's head that Solomon, who is by now a good friend of Emma, is inappropriately touching her. Later on, Mrs. Mott plants a piece of Emma's underwear in Solomon's tool wagon, allowing Claire to discover it. Believing Emma has been molested, Solomon is fired, causing Emma to dislike her mother and grow distant from her.
Mrs. Mott continues to drop hints to Claire about Michael's whereabouts as he and Marlene plan Claire's surprise party. Mrs. Mott steals Marlene's cigarette lighter and plants it in one of Michael's shirts. On the day of her surprise party, in order to get her out of the house Claire is asked to bring the shirt to the cleaners, where she discovers the lighter. An enraged Claire returns home and confronts Michael about the lighter by vulgarly accusing him of having a sexual affair with Marlene, only to realize that there is a house full of people, including Marlene and her husband Marty, waiting in the next room who have clearly heard her exclamations. A hurt and embarrassed Marlene hurriedly leaves the party while Claire is shaken up due to the whole episode.
Claire begins to have her doubts about "Peyton" since all these episodes have occurred since she started working for them. She expresses her concerns to Michael while they discuss taking a vacation, one on which Claire does not want "Peyton" to accompany them. Mrs. Mott overhears their conversation and grows more enraged and psychotic. She decides to murder Claire by propping open the glass skylights in Claire's greenhouse ceiling with a shovel by the door, with the idea that, when Claire opens the door to the greenhouse, the shovel will fall over, causing the skylights to lose their support and come crashing down on her. Meanwhile, Marlene has become very suspicious of "Peyton". A realtor by trade, Marlene comes across Dr. Mott's house, which is still up for sale. She notices in the listing that there are wind chimes located outside the nursery, distinctly remembering a similar gift that "Peyton" gave Claire for Joey's nursery. After some investigating Marlene comes across a newspaper clipping at the library showing Dr. Mott's funeral in which there is a picture of Mrs. Mott mourning alongside family. Marlene rushes over to the Bartel house to warn Claire only to find that she is not home. Confronted and threatened with exposure of her true identity, Mrs. Mott lies and tells Marlene that Claire is in the greenhouse. Marlene storms outside calling for Claire and pushes open the greenhouse door where she is killed by the trap that was set earlier for Claire. Mrs. Mott, who knows that Claire suffers from asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, seizes the opportunity and goes around the house emptying all of Claire's medicinal inhalers by piercing them with a sharp pin. She then takes Joey for a walk in his stroller. While she is out, Claire returns and heads for the greenhouse where she sees Marlene's dead and bloody body, which causes her to have a severe asthma attack. She searches desperately for her inhalers only to find them all empty and collapses unconscious after trying to call the police.
After recuperating, Claire finds an urgent phone message from Marlene in the pocket of her jeans. After investigating the situation, she realizes that "Peyton" is Mrs. Mott. Claire returns home, punches Mrs. Mott in the face and fires her. Mrs. Mott reveals her true identity to Michael and attempts to allege that the two of them were having an affair. Michael immediately denies this and orders Mrs. Mott to leave at once. However, Mrs. Mott re-enters the house and lures Michael down to the basement where she hits him with a shovel, knocking him down the stairs and breaking his legs, though he still survives. Upon being found by Claire, Michael orders her to hide the children and call the police. Mrs. Mott then stalks Claire and the children as they hide. After knocking down Claire with the same shovel, Mrs. Mott attempts to take Emma and Joey to herself as her new family, but after seeing Mrs. Mott assault her mother, Emma turns on her and escapes to the attic with Joey. Mrs. Mott eventually finds them there attempting to escape, with the help of Solomon, who has returned due to his vow never to let Mrs. Mott hurt the Bartels. She assaults Solomon with a fireplace poker until Claire reaches the attic where she and Mrs. Mott fight. During the scuffle, Claire fakes an asthma attack, causing Mrs. Mott to let her guard down, revealing to Claire of her advances towards Michael and her secret breastfeeding for Joey. Mrs. Mott then turns her attention to Solomon once again. Claire then catches Mrs. Mott by surprise and pushes her out of the attic window. Mrs. Mott is killed when she tumbles down the roof of the house and hits the fence below, impaling herself to death.
Soon after, a repentant Claire offers Solomon his job back and allows him to hold Joey, finally demonstrating her trust in him. They all go down, presumably to help Michael, as police sirens come by to the house.
Cast
- Annabella SciorraAnnabella SciorraAnnabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
as Claire Bartel - Rebecca De MornayRebecca De MornayRebecca De Mornay is an American film and television actress. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business opposite Tom Cruise...
as Peyton Flanders / Mrs. Mott - Matt McCoyMatt McCoy (actor)Matt McCoy is an American actor.McCoy was born in Ohio. Since starring as Sgt. Nick Lassard in two Police Academy films, his motion picture credits have included the Curtis Hanson films The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and L.A. Confidential , as well as the action comedy National Security ...
as Michael Bartel - Ernie HudsonErnie HudsonErnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
as Solomon - Julianne MooreJulianne MooreJulianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
as Marlene Craven - Madeline ZimaMadeline ZimaMadeline Rose Zima is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes.-Early life:Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and...
as Emma Bartel - John de LancieJohn de LancieJohn de Lancie is an American actor. He has been active in screen and television roles since 1977, though he is best known for his recurring role as Q on the various Star Trek series and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1....
as Dr. Victor Mott - Kevin Skousen as Marty Craven
Cybill Shepherd originally was assigned the role of the nanny.
Reception
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle opened on January 10, 1992 and grossed $7,675,016 in its opening weekend, bringing HookHook (film)
Hook is a 1991 American fantasy film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and features Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, and Dante Basco. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing...
down to #2 from its 4-week triumph at #1. The film lasted at #1 for four consecutive weeks, then was upended by Medicine Man
Medicine Man (film)
Medicine Man is a 1992 American film directed by John McTiernan. The film stars Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco. It also features a noteworthy score by composer Jerry Goldsmith.- Plot :...
. By the end of its run, the film earned a domestic total of $88,036,683. The movie had an impact on contemporary culture.
It was also placed at 24 in Bravo's special 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments.
Home media
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on December 8, 1998. The film was presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, approximately 1.85.1. The only special feature included on the DVD is the film's original theatrical trailer.
See Also
- Khal-Naaikaa, a 1993 Bollywood film which is a scene-by-scene replication of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.