Sliver (film)
Sliver is a 1993 American thriller film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York high-rise sliver building.[3] Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas.[4] Because of a major battle with the MPAA (which originally gave the film an NC-17 rating), the filmmakers were forced to make extensive reshoots before release. These reshoots actually necessitated changing the killer's identity. The film stars Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, and Tom Berenger.
Plot[edit]
Carly Norris, a book editor and divorcee in her mid-30s, moves into the exclusive New York City sliver building "113". She meets other tenants including Zeke, a video game designer; Jack, a novelist; Vida, a fashion model who moonlights as a call girl; and Gus, a professor of videography at New York University. They tell Carly that she bears a striking resemblance to Naomi Singer, the previous tenant of her apartment who fell to her death from her balcony.
After running into Zeke numerous times, Carly invites him to her housewarming party. Soon afterwards, they begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, Jack starts stalking Carly and warning her about Zeke who he says is "sick". He also points out that Zeke's deceased mother, a soap opera actress named Thea Manning, bears a resemblance to Carly. As Jack's behavior becomes more erratic, Gus dies in the shower under suspicious circumstances and Vida is murdered, with police suspicion falling on Jack for her death after Carly discovers him in the stairwell with her corpse. Zeke reveals to Carly that he is the owner of 113, which he bought with his inheritance from his wealthy father. As owner of 113, Zeke has installed a comprehensive video surveillance system throughout the building, allowing him to spy on all of the tenants from his own secret surveillance room. Through deduction and eventually one of Zeke's secret recordings, Carly learns that Jack killed Naomi in a crime of passion. Jack was jealous of Zeke, who had sexual relations with both Naomi and Vida. Jack attacks Carly in her own apartment, and she accidentally shoots him dead.
Angry at Zeke for withholding evidence in Naomi's murder, and jealous of his liaisons with Naomi and Vida, Carly destroys Zeke's surveillance room, tells him to "get a life", then leaves.
Production[edit]
Location[edit]
In the film, the tall and narrow sliver building is located at 113 East 38th Street in Manhattan, placing it at 38th Street and Park Avenue. The actual building used in the film is known as Morgan Court, located at 211 Madison Avenue New York, one block west and two blocks south of the fictional address.[1] The building has since become a condominium development. It was built in 1985 and has 32 floors. While the movie made use of the building's courtyard, the lobby was a Los Angeles film set.[1]
Original ending[edit]
In the film's original ending Zeke, instead of Jack, turns out to be the antagonist. After the police assume Jack to be the murderer Carly and Zeke burn the videotapes. Soon afterwards they wed atop the Sliver building. On their honeymoon they fly a helicopter over a Hawaiian volcano where Carly reveals that she knows he is the killer. She tells him she still has the tape of him murdering Gus in the shower and that "it's safe", implying she is willing to cover up his crimes and that she has found the excitement missing from her previous marriage. With their seatbelts off and Carly videotaping the scenery Zeke lowers the aircraft into the volcano as they both laugh gleefully. The scene then cuts to Zeke's surveillance room where the televisions display nothing but static. The end credits roll and leave the audience to decide whether they survive.[5]
The shooting of the final scene resulted in the crashing of the helicopter.[1] After an investigation the pilot's certificate was temporarily suspended. The footage shot during the flight was destroyed.[3]
Preview audiences disliked the idea of Carly turning immoral.[3]
Allegations on Robert Evans' behavior[edit]
In her 2021 memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, Stone alleged but did not name a producer who in her career had told her to sleep with a costar in a film; in 2024, on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Stone would name Robert Evans as the producer in question, further stating that Evans had wanted Stone and Baldwin to have sex in order to "have chemistry onscreen" and it would " save the movie", alleging that Evans had told her that "the real problem is that I was such a tight-ass," while Stone refused.[6][7][8] Baldwin later attacked these allegations on social media, claiming that Stone had "a crush" on him, and to have "so much dirt on" Stone and sarcastically asking if he should write a book to "tell the many, many disturbing, kinky and unprofessional tales about Sharon",[9][10] with at least one entertainment blog calling the posts "a bizarre, misogynistic rant" and "dripping with hatred for Stone", while noting that Janice Dickinson, whom Baldwin had claimed said Stone had expressed interest in him, had denied his claims.[11]