Rating: PG13
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 03/15/1991(USA)
Release Date: 11/10/1998
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: 5.1/2
Run Time: 105 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
The directorial debut of producer
Irwin Winkler,
Guilty by Suspicion is a sobering account of one movie executive's woes in dealing with the political fallout from the McCarthy Era Hollywood blacklist.
Robert De Niro stars as David Merrill, a film director in the 1950s whose obsession with his burgeoning career has estranged him from his wife Ruth (
Annette Bening) and their son. When he returns from a trip to Paris, Merrill is surprised when told by his boss, Darryl F. Zanuck (
Ben Piazza) that he's been summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which is investigating Communist ties to Hollywood. Although Merrill once attended a meeting years before, he's not a Communist, and he refuses to help the committee wreck the career of his friend Bunny Baxter (
George Wendt). Merrill becomes blacklisted, unable to find work even in menial positions or under assumed names as the editor of a B-movie or the director of a low-budget Western. Reconciled with his family, Merrill caves in and agrees to testify, but as he prepares to "name names," his conscience plagues him.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
;)
