Crawlspace (1972 film)

For the 1986 film starring Klaus Kinski, see Crawlspace (1986 film). For the 2004 animated short, see Crawlspace (2004 film).

Crawlspace
Written by	Herbert Lieberman (novel) Ernest Kinoy (teleplay)
Directed by	John Newland Buzz Kulik
Starring	Tom Happer Arthur Kennedy Teresa Wright
Theme music composer	Jerry Goldsmith
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Robert Berger Herbert Brodkin (executive producer)
Editor(s)	Carl Lerner Len Saltzberg
Running time	74 minutes
Production company(s)	Titus Productions
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	February 11, 1972

Crawlspace is a 1972 made-for-television horror film and thriller directed by John Newland and Buzz Kulik and produced by Herbert Brodkin and Robert Berger. The movie starred Arthur Kennedy, Teresa Wright, and Tom Happer in the title roles of the movie and Ernest Kinoy wrote the screenplay. The movie aired on February 11, 1972 on CBS.

Movie Origins

The movie was based on the novel of the same name written a year earlier. The novel, entitled Crawlspace, was written by Herbert Lieberman. The plot of the novel surrounds an elderly couple by the names of Albert and Alice Graves. Later on in the story, an oil man named Richard comes by to refill the furnace. In doing so, Alice invites the boy to stay for dinner. Afterwards, to the couple's surprise, they find the boy has been staying in the couple's crawlspace. The novel was published on January 1, 1971.

Plot

The plot of this film was very similar to the novel written by Lieberman, (the teleplay, written by Ernest Kinoy, was also based on the novel).

Albert Graves, (Arthur Kennedy), and his wife Alice, (Teresa Wright), have just moved from the city to this small country town for Albert to recuperate after suffering from a heart attack.

The elderly couple finds that they are having trouble with their furnace in their basement. Upon the discovery, they call for a repairman to come out and take a look at the furnace. The local repair company sends a boy by the name of Richard Atlec, (Tom Happer), to the house. The couple seems to take an interest in Richard so they invite him to stay for dinner.

A few days later, Arthur awakens to hear noise coming from under the house. To Arthur's shock and bewilderment, he finds that the boy, Richard, has taken residence in the crawlspace of the house. Arthur and Alice, who have been longing for a child of their own for years so they decide to take Richard in and, more or less, raise him. But Richard refuses to sleep in the house, only wanting go sleep in the crawlspace. But even after being warned about Richard after the local sheriff, Sheriff Birge, (Eugene Roche) stops by to tell the couple about his suspicions about the boy, the couple still develop a close bond with the boy.

Sheriff Birge's suspicions come true after Richard begins acting violently towards the Graves and the town. Richard even resorts to crime. One of his violent outbursts was smashing up a section of the town's local store.

The movie finally ends with the death of Richard and Albert suffering from another heart attack.

Cast

• Tom Happer as Richard Roy Atlee
• Arthur Kennedy as Albert Graves
• Teresa Wright as Alice Graves
• Eugene Roche as Sheriff Emil Birge
• Matthew Cowles as Dave Freeman
• Dan Morgan as Dr. Harlow
• Roger Serbagi as Davalos
• Louise Campbell as Miz Gerard
• Fleet Emerson as Wheeler

DVD release

Crawlspace was released on DVD on October 1, 2007 by Wild Eye Releasing.

External links

• Crawlspace at IMDb