House of Strangers

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House of Strangers
House of strangers68.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay by Philip Yordan
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (uncredited)
Based onI'll Never Go There Any More
by Jerome Weidman
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Starring Edward G. Robinson
Susan Hayward
Richard Conte
Cinematography Milton R. Krasner
Edited by Harmon Jones
Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • July 1, 1949 (1949-07-01)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2 million (US/Canadian rentals) [1]

House of Strangers is a 1949 American drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte. [2] [3] The screenplay by Philip Yordan and Mankiewicz (who chose to go uncredited) is the first of three film versions of Jerome Weidman's novel I'll Never Go There Any More, the other two adaptations are the Spencer Tracy western Broken Lance (1954) and The Big Show (1961).

Contents

Plot

Gino Monetti is a rags-to-riches Italian-American banker in New York City whose questionable business practices result in a number of criminal charges. Three of his four grown sons, the ambitious Joe, playboy Tony, and physically imposing Pietro (a budding prize-fighter), unhappy at their domineering father's dismissive treatment of them, refuse to help Gino when he is put on trial. Joe is especially angry--he has to support a wife with expensive tastes on $65.00 a week (about $1500 in 2025). Max, a lawyer, is the only son who stays loyal to his father. He believes Gino has done nothing that warrants punishment by jail time, and serves as Gino's attorney during the trial.

After Gino signs ownership of his bank over to his wife Theresa as a temporary protective measure, Joe persuades his mother to sign it over to him and seizes control. Gino is relegated to an early retirement with a meager monthly allowance. The three brothers conspire to send Max to jail as well. When Max tells Joe of his plan to bribe a sympathetic juror to ensure a mistrial for Gino, Joe arranges for the police to catch him in the act. Max is disbarred and sentenced to seven years in prison; Max's fiancé Maria Domenico breaks off their engagement to marry Tony, but Irene Bennett, a former client of Max's whom he fell in love with, waits for him.

Meanwhile, Gino's trial ends in an acquittal, but he remains humiliated by Joe, Tony, and Pietro's betrayal and is directionless without his bank to run. He drinks and smokes heavily, and writes countless letters to Max decrying his other sons' mistreatment of them both. Irene urges Gino to stop sending the letters, knowing that Gino is trying to divide the brothers and provoke Max to take revenge, but Gino refuses. Eventually, Gino dies, and Max is let out of prison for a half-day to attend the funeral. There, Max vows revenge on his brothers and ignores his mother's pleas to let go of the hate that Gino had cultivated between them.

Max returns to the family home after completing his sentence, intent on destroying his brothers and their bank, but has a sudden change of heart when he realizes that his father was the source of the family conflict. Max is then confronted by his brothers, who still believe Max will follow through on his vow. After a fight in which Max is incapacitated, Joe orders Pietro to throw Max off their house's balcony to his death. Pietro hesitates, and Joe begins insulting Pietro in the same way their father always had, prompting Pietro to turn on Joe instead. Max saves Joe from Pietro's wrath by convincing Pietro that if he kills Joe, he would be doing exactly as their father would have wanted. Max then leaves his brothers to re-join Irene and travel to San Francisco, where they plan to start a new life together.

Cast

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote the film was "a sizzling and picturesque exposure of a segment of nouveau-niche life within the Italian-American population". He also noted Edward G. Robinson "does a brisk and colorful job of making 'Papa' Monetti a brassy despot with a Sicilian dialect, and Paul Valentine, Luther Adler and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. are good as his weak sons. Likewise Richard Conte plays Max with a fine, superior air." [4]

Variety called House of Strangers "a strong picture" and noted "Joseph L. Mankiewicz has directed with a feeling for balancing the more humorous moments with the dramatic ones. Sol C. Seigel has given the film good production values. Philip Yordan's screenplay is a faithful, workmanlike adaptation of the Jerome Weidman novel." [5]

Harrison's Reports called House of Strangers "[a] gripping drama, excellently produced, directed and acted [...] Edward G. Robinson gives an exceedingly fine performance, probably, the best in his career; he arouses considerable sympathy, despite his faults and shortcomings." [6]

Time magazine noted: "Except for a wobbly beam or two—notably some unlikely melodramatics at the end—House is a well-constructed movie. Into its making went an intelligent screen play by Playwright Philip Yordan; some distinguished lighting effects and camera work by Milton Krasner; and Director Joseph Mankiewicz's talent for handling atmosphere and sets as effective projections of character." [7]

Among retrospective reviews, Dennis Schwartz liked the film, writing, "Joseph L. Mankiewicz stylishly helms the dark screenplay by Philip Yordan of Jerome Weidman's novel I'll Never Go There Any More ... It's a bitter psychological family drama that focuses on hatred as the family's driving force instead of love. Max is the ambivalent hero, the only one in the film who is a true film noir character, who is punished for being loyal to his father yet is someone who has rejected the ways of the old-country and its traditionalism for the ethics of the New World. Superb performances by Conte, Robinson, and Adler lift the ordinary dramatics into loftier territory." [8]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 7 critics gave the film a positive review. [9]

Accolades

The film was entered into competition at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival. [10] [11] While it lost to Carol Reed's The Third Man , Edward G. Robinson won the prize for Best Actor. [12] [13]

References

  1. "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59 via Internet Archive.
  2. "House of Strangers". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. House of Strangers at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  4. Crowther, Bosley (July 2, 1949). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times. p. 8. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  5. "Film Reviews: House of Strangers". Variety. June 15, 1949. p. 13. Retrieved September 9, 2025 via Internet Archive.
  6. "'House of Strangers' with Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward and Richard Conte". Harrison's Reports. June 18, 1949. p. 98. Retrieved September 9, 2025 via Internet Archive.
  7. "Cinema: The New Pictures". Time. July 18, 1949. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  8. Schwartz, Dennis (December 13, 2004). "House of Strangers". Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  9. "House of Strangers". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  10. "Festival de Cannes: House of Strangers". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  11. "Pix Lineup at Cannes". Variety. September 7, 1949. p. 15. Retrieved September 9, 2025 via Internet Archive.
  12. "Festival de Cannes: Awards 1949". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  13. "British Film Wins Cannes Fete Prize" . The New York Times. September 18, 1949. p. 83. Retrieved September 9, 2025.