House of Strangers

"A powerhouse of emotion."

1949 1h 41m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 92

DramaCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“A powerhouse of emotion.”

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Cast

Edward G. Robinson
Gino Monetti
Susan Hayward
Irene Bennett
Richard Conte
Max Monetti
Luther Adler
Joe Monetti
Paul Valentine
Pietro Monetti
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Tony Monetti
Debra Paget
Maria Domenico
Hope Emerson
Helena Domenico

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writers: Philip Yordan
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

77 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, shot by Milton Krasner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Daniele Amfitheatrof. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Harmon Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Edward G. Robinson and Susan Hayward and Richard Conte carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A powerhouse of emotion.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0041487 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph L. Mankiewicz directs. Milton Krasner behind the camera. Daniele Amfitheatrof scores. Harmon Jones cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

177 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, shot by Milton Krasner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Daniele Amfitheatrof. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Harmon Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Edward G. Robinson and Susan Hayward and Richard Conte carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A powerhouse of emotion.".
8IMDB entry: tt0041487 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 92 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Original score: Daniele Amfitheatrof
Editing: Harmon Jones
Makeup / hair: Ben Nye
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: House of Strangers (1949)

Also by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2018-12-13
★ 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

Production companies