Murder at 1600 (1997)

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Writers (WGA):

Wayne Beach (written by) &
David Hodgin (written by)

Release Date:

18 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

He's a D.C. cop on the outside. She's a Secret Service agent on the inside. Tracking a White House homicide to the First Family's front door.

Plot:

At a time of international incident, the body of a young female staffer is found in a White House wash room...

Plot Keywords:

Secret Service | White House | Investigation | Political | North Korea

Cast

Wesley Snipes	...	Detective Regis
Diane Lane	...	Nina Chance
Daniel Benzali	...	Spikings
Dennis Miller	...	Detective Stengel
Alan Alda	...	Jordan
Ronny Cox	...	President Jack Neil
Diane Baker	...	Kitty Neil
Tate Donovan	...	Kyle Neil
Harris Yulin	...	General Clark Tully
Tom Wright	...	Cooper
Nicholas Pryor	...	Paul Moran
Charles Rocket	...	Jeffrey
Nigel Bennett	...	Burton Cash
Tamara Gorski	...	Young Woman In Bar
Douglas O'Keeffe	...	Assassin - John Kerry

Also Known As:

Murder at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | France:Unrated | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

36-42 Maitland Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The 13 July 1996 draft of the script credits 'Wayne Beach' and David Hodgin as writers, with revisions by Steven Maeda, Vince McKewin, and Anthony Peckham. Beach and Hodgin are the only two who received credits.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Nina steals Carla's Filofax, she places it in the waist of her trousers. When she is running away from the secret service agents in the alley, the Filofax isn't there.

Quotes:

Alvin Jordan: I think President Teddy Roosevelt said it best: "If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pootie Tang (2001)

An intriguing premise.

When it comes to thrillers I usually find that smaller is better. I almost always enjoy the small independent films with the second- and third-levels stars rather than the big Hollywood productions made with the A-team that cater to a broader public taste. But when your thriller is set at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the District of Columbia, it's awfully hard for a low-budget production to pull it off credibly. Besides, I'm interested in the presidency and like films that purport to give you a behind-the-scenes look, even if it is fictional, so I gave 'Murder at 1600' a chance.

Of course, if the movie is going to be longer than 15 minutes, you have to allow it some license. A lot of its success is based on how much you're willing to let go without saying, "Wait a minute!" A lot, too, depends on the cast and Wesley Snipes is a likable enough actor. Diane Lane is a big plus here as the Secret Service agent who works with him. They have a typical rocky relationship, but it's enjoyable. Daniel Benzali is ominous as the head of Secret Service. Snipes asks him what it would take for him to see some White House records and Benzali dryly answers, "Oh, not much. Just an act of Congress." Other veterans in the cast include Alan Alda, Ronny Cox and Harris Yulin. Bigger wasn't necessarily better this time but it was good enough.