David Mamet

House of Games

House of Games

The Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and screenwriter David Mamet sat in the director’s chair for the first time for this sly, merciless thriller. Lindsay Crouse stars as a best-selling author and therapist who wants to help a client by making restitution for the money he owes to a gambler. After she meets the attractive cardsharp (Joe Mantegna), her own compulsions take hold as he lures her into his world of high-stakes deception. Packed with razor-edged dialogue delivered with even-keeled precision by a cast of Mamet regulars, House of Games is as psychologically acute as it is full of twists and turns, a rich character study told with the cold calculation of a career con artist targeting his next mark.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1987
  • 102 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.78:1
  • English
  • Spine #399

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • High-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photog­raphy Juan Ruiz Anchía, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 2007 featuring director David Mamet and consultant and actor Ricky Jay
  • Interviews with actors Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna from 2007
  • David Mamet on “House of Games,” a short documentary shot on location during the film’s preparation and production
  • Detail from a storyboard of a short con suggested by Jay
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Kent Jones and excerpts from Mamet’s introduction to the published screenplay

    Cover illustration by Eric Skillman, design by Jamie Keenan

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • High-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photog­raphy Juan Ruiz Anchía, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 2007 featuring director David Mamet and consultant and actor Ricky Jay
  • Interviews with actors Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna from 2007
  • David Mamet on “House of Games,” a short documentary shot on location during the film’s preparation and production
  • Detail from a storyboard of a short con suggested by Jay
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Kent Jones and excerpts from Mamet’s introduction to the published screenplay

    Cover illustration by Eric Skillman, design by Jamie Keenan
House of Games
Cast
Lindsay Crouse
Dr. Margaret Ford
Joe Mantegna
Mike Mancuso
Mike Nussbaum
Joey
Lilia Skala
Dr. Maria Littauer
Walsh J. T.
The businessman
Willo Hausman
Girl with book
Karen Kohlhaas
Prison-ward patient
Steven Goldstein
Billy Hahn
Jack Wallace
Bartender, House of Games
Ricky Jay
Vegas man
G. Roy Levin, Bob Lumbra, Andy Potok, Allen Soule
Poker players
Michael Hausman
Doctor in hall
Ben Blakeman
Bartender, Charlie's Tavern
Scott Zigler
Western Union clerk
William H. Macy
Sgt. John Moran
John Pritchett
Hotel desk clerk
Meshach Taylor
Mr. Dean
Johnny "Sugarbear" Willis
Hotel doorman
Jacqueline de La Chaume
Woman with lighter
Credits
Director
David Mamet
Producer
Michael Hausman
Screenplay
David Mamet
Story
Jonathan Katz
Story
David Mamet
Director of photography
Juan Ruiz Anchía
Editor
Trudy Ship
Music
Alaric Jans
Production designer
Michael Merritt
Assistant editor
Barbara Tulliver
Sound
John Pritchett
Unit production manager
Lee R. Mayes
First assistant director
Ned Dowd
Costume designer
Nan Cibula
Set decorator
Derek Hill
Script supervisor
Christine Wilson
Casting
Cyrena Hausman
Makeup
Pamela Westmore
Hair
Laurent Delouya, Erin Lyons, Gregory Villamil
Consultant on confidence games
Ricky Jay

Current

Driven: Lindsay Crouse in House of Games

Performances

Driven: Lindsay Crouse in House of Games

Film scholar Shonni Enelow reveals the methods of the Mamet style of acting in this examination of Crouse’s subtly feminist lead performance.

By Shonni Enelow

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