House of Strangers | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
Screenplay by | Philip Yordan Joseph L. Mankiewicz (uncredited) |
Based on | I'll Never Go There Any More 1941 novel 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 |
Color process | Black and white |
Production company | 20th Century Fox |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2 million [1] |
House of Strangers is a 1949 American film noir 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 others being the Spencer Tracy western Broken Lance (1954) and The Big Show (1961).
Gino Monetti is a rags-to-riches Italian-American banker in New York City whose methods result in a number of criminal charges. Three of his four grown sons, unhappy at their father's dismissive treatment of them, refuse to help Gino when he is put on trial for questionable business practices. Eldest son Joe seizes control of the bank and brothers Tony and Pietro side with him. Max, a lawyer, is the only son who stays loyal to his father.
The brothers conspire to send Max to jail as well. Max tries to bribe a juror to save his father, but gets disbarred and serves a stretch of seven years in prison. Max must leave behind Maria, the girl he had been expected to marry, and Irene, a client he fell in love with after becoming her attorney.
Max vows revenge on his brothers, but when he is released Max has a change of heart when he realizes that his father had caused all the tension within the family. The three brothers, however, are still worried about his quest for vengeance, and Joe even goes so far as to order Pietro to kill Max. In doing so, however, Joe insults Pietro in the same way their father always had, prompting Pietro to turn on Joe instead.
Max saves Joe from Pietro's wrath by reminding Pietro that if he kills Joe, he would only be doing exactly as their father would have wanted. Max then leaves his brothers to rejoin Irene and travel to San Francisco, where they plan to start a new life together.
Film critic 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." [4]
The film was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival [5] and Edward G. Robinson won the prize for Best Actor. [6]
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.
Edward G. Robinson was an American actor of stage and screen, born in Romania, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films during a 50-year career and is best remembered for his tough-guy roles as gangsters in such films as Little Caesar and Key Largo. During his career, Robinson received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in House of Strangers.
Susan Hayward was an American actress and model. She was best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in consecutive years for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950), the latter of which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six.
Nicholas Peter Conte, known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow, Ocean's 11, and The Godfather.
Luther Adler was an American actor best known for his work in theatre, but who also worked in film and television. He also directed plays on Broadway.
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Broken Lance is a 1954 American Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, and Katy Jurado.
The Harder They Fall is a 1956 American boxing film noir directed by Mark Robson with a screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on Budd Schulberg's 1947 novel. It was Humphrey Bogart's final film role. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography, Black and White for Burnett Guffey at the 29th Academy Awards.
Philip Yordan was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCarthy era. His actual contributions to the scripts he is credited with writing is controversial and he was known to some as a credit-grabber. Born to Polish immigrants, he earned degrees from both University of Illinois and Chicago-Kent College of Law.
The Chase is a 1946 American film noir directed by Arthur Ripley. The screenplay by Philip Yordan is based on Cornell Woolrich's 1944 novel The Black Path of Fear. It stars Robert Cummings as Chuck Scott, a veteran who suffers from hallucinations. When he returns a lost wallet to violent mobster Eddie Roman, Eddie offers to hire him as a chauffeur. Chuck becomes mixed up in a plot to help Eddie's wife Lorna run off to Havana to escape her cruel husband.
Matteo Garrone is an Italian filmmaker. Born in Rome, the son of a theatre critic, Nico Garrone and a photographer, in 1996 Garrone won the Sacher d'Oro, an award sponsored by Nanni Moretti, with the short film Silhouette, that became one of the three episodes that are on his first long feature, Terra di Mezzo in 1997.
The Brothers Rico is a 1957 American crime film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring Richard Conte, Dianne Foster and Kathryn Grant.
The 3rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 2 to 17 September 1949. The previous year, no festival had been held because of financial problems.
The 4th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 20 April 1951. The previous year, no festival had been held because of financial reasons. In 1951, the festival took place in April instead of September to avoid direct competition with the Venice Film Festival.
Keep an Eye on Amelia is a 1949 French-Italian period comedy film directed by Claude Autant-Lara and starring Danielle Darrieux and Jean Desailly and Grégoire Aslan. It is based on the 1908 play of the same name by Georges Feydeau, set in Belle Époque[Paris. It is one of a number of film adaptations to be made of the story. It was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Max Douy.
Incantato is a 2003 Italian drama film directed by Pupi Avati. It was entered into the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
Gomorrah is an Italian crime drama television series created by Roberto Saviano for Sky Atlantic. Based on Saviano's book of the same name, the show premiered on Sky Atlantic in Italy on 6 May 2014 and ran for five seasons; the final season aired in 2021. The 2008 film of the same name is loosely based on the same book, but unrelated to the TV series.
Everybody Knows is a 2018 Spanish-language mystery/crime drama film written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Ricardo Darín. The film was selected to open the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in competition and was released in Spain on 14 September 2018. It was released in the United States on 8 February 2019.
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