House of Strangers

1949

1h 41m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

18 Images

Drama

Crime

Thriller

Ruthless Italian-American banker Gino Monetti is engaged in a number of criminal activities. Three of his four grown sons refuse to help their father stay out of prison after he's arrested for his questionable business practices. Three of them take over the business but kick their father out. Max, a lawyer, is the only son that remains loyal.

Directors

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers

Jerome Weidman(novel by)

Philip Yordan(writer by)

Stars

Edward G. Robinson

Susan Hayward

Richard Conte

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch House Of Strangers 1949 Trailer

Photos18

Top cast

Gino Monetti

Irene Bennett

Max Monetti

Joe Monetti

Pietro Monetti

Tony Monetti

Maria Domenico

Helena Domenico

Theresa Monetti

Elaine Monetti

Lucca

Construction Worker (uncredited)

Maxine Ardell

Chorus Dancer (uncredited)

Al Bain

Fight Spectator (uncredited)

David Bauer

Prosecutor (uncredited)

Eumenio Blanco

Man on Street (uncredited)

Lelia Goldoni

Italian Girl (uncredited)

Sid Tomack

Waiter (uncredited)

Directors

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers

Jerome Weidman(novel by)

Philip Yordan(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

7/10

It's still being done you know, outside the jungle. House of Strangers is directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and adapted to screenplay by Phillip Yordan from Jerome Weidman's novel I'll Never Go There Any More. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Luther Adler, Paul Valentine and Efrem Zimbalist. Plot finds Robinson as Gino Monetti, an Italian American banker who whilst building up the family business has ostracised three of his four sons. When things go belly up for Gino and the bank, the three sons turn against their father, the other, Max (Conte), stays loyal but finds himself set up for a prison stretch. Untimely since he's started to fall in love with tough cookie Irene Bennett (Hayward). Jerome Weidman's novel has proved to be a popular source for film adaptation, after this 20th Century Fox produced picture came the Western version with Broken Lance in 1954 (Yordan again adapting), and then Circus set for The Big Show in 1961. While its influence can be felt in many other, more notable, crime dramas along the way. The divided clan narrative provides good basis for drama and lets the better actors shine on the screen with such material. Such is the case with House of Strangers, which while hardly shaking the roots of film noir technically, does thematically play out as an engrossing, character rich, melodrama. Propelled by a revenge core peppered with hate motives instead of love; and dabbling in moral ethics et al, Mankiewicz spins it out in flashback structure. The primary focus is on Max and Gino, with both given excellent portrayals by Conte and Robinson. Gino is a driven man, very dismissive towards three of his boys (Adler standing out as Joe) who he finds easy to find fault with. But Max is spared the tough love, Gino admires him and sees him very much as an equal, which naturally irks the other brothers something rotten. This all comes to a head for the final quarter where the pace picks up and the tale comes to its prickly, if not completely satisfactory, ending. In the mix of family strife we have been privy to Max's burgeoning relationship with Irene (Hayward sassy), which positively simmers with sexual tension, or maybe even frustration? This in spite of the fact he is engaged to be married to the homely innocent Maria (Debra Paget). So with dad Gino proving to be, well, something of an ungrateful bastard, and Max cheating on his intended, clearly this is not a film about good old family values coming to the fore! Then there's the small matter of brother betrayal and the case of the foolish decision making process, all elements that keep the viewer hooked till the last. 7/10

John Chard13 Dec, 2018