Half Moon Street (film)
Half Moon Street is a 1986 British-American erotic thriller film directed by Bob Swaim and starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Caine, Keith Buckley, and P. J. Kavanagh. The film is about an American woman working at a British escort service who becomes involved in the political intrigues surrounding one of her clients.
| Half Moon Street | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bob Swaim |
| Produced by | Geoffrey Reeve |
| Written by | Edward Behr Bob Swaim Paul Theroux |
| Starring | Sigourney Weaver Michael Caine |
| Music by | Richard Harvey |
| Cinematography | Peter Hannan |
| Edited by | Richard Marden |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors 20th Century Fox (US) |
Release date | 13 August 1986 |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.3 million[1] |
Half Moon Street was the first RKO Pictures solo feature film produced in almost a quarter-century. The previous one was Jet Pilot, made in 1957.
The film was based on the 1984 novel Doctor Slaughter by Paul Theroux. Despite the source material, the film and book have distinct endings.
Plot
Dr Lauren Slaughter is an American woman of considerable intellect, an expert on China who now lives in London, working for a think tank.
Unhappy with superiors who take credit for her work and dissatisfied with her low wages, Dr Slaughter moonlights in her new flat on Half Moon Street as a paid escort to lonely rich men. One such, identifying himself by a fake name, turns out to be Lord Bulbeck, a trusted House of Lords member with a key role in national defence.
The two strike up a relationship that goes beyond sex, enjoying each other's conversation and intelligence. However, during a delicate peace negotiation in the Middle East, investigators doing a background check on Lord Bulbeck come upon his relationship with the high-priced call girl, someone they suspect might have an ulterior motive.
Cast
- Sigourney Weaver as Lauren Slaughter
- Michael Caine as Lord Bulbeck
- Patrick Kavanagh as General Sir George Newhouse
- Faith Kent as Lady Newhouse
- Ram John Holder as Lindsay Walker
- Keith Buckley as Hugo Van Arkady
- Ann Hanson as Mrs. Van Arkady
- Patrick Newman as Julian Shuttle
- Niall O'Brien as Captain Twilley
- Nadim Sawalha as Karim Hatami
- Vincent Lindon as Sonny
- Muriel Villiers as Madame Cybele
- Michael Elwyn as Tom Haldane
- Ninka Scott as Mrs. Haldane
- Jasper Jacob as Rex Lanham
- Donald Pickering as George Hardcastle
- Maria Aitken as The Hon. Maura Hardcastle
- Joseph Karimbeik as Colonel Hassan Ali
- Anita Edwards as Mrs. Hassan Ali
- Angus MacInnes as Bill Rafferty
- John Sinclair as French Businessman
- Eiji Kusuhara as Japanese Businessman
- Togo Igawa as Japanese Waiter
- Rupert Vansittart as Alan Platts-Williams
- Anne Lambton as Sidney Platts-Williams
- Philip Whitchurch as Plainclothesman
- Robert Lee as Chinese Ambassador
- Janet McTeer as Van Arkady's Secretary
- Carol Cleveland as American Wife
- Katherine Schofield as Overdressed Lady
- Siobhan Redmond as Institute Secretary
References
- "AN EXPATRIATE IN PARIS GETS THE HOLLYWOOD BUG" Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times 16 Aug 1987: C42.
External links