http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041487/House of Strangers (1949) 9/10Lawyer Max Monetti gets out of prison and has an antagonistic encounter with his three brothers, now executives at the bank founded by their late father. Through flashbacks, we learn the story of the Italian immigrant family: the patriarch Gino Monetti, whose had one favored son, Max, but alienated the other three.
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
Esther Minciotti ... Theresa Monetti
Diana Douglas ... Elaine Monetti
Tito Vuolo ... Lucca
I loved this movie. Edward G. Robinson -- who won Best Actor at Cannes for this performance -- is terrific as the tyrannical patriarch with the Italian accent; and he has a great entrance, singing opera while in the bubble bath!
And just before that we have the most beautiful shot in the movie, one of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen, as Richard Conte is listening to opera, and the camera travels slowly up the staircase, as we go the flashback.
There is one previous post on this movie in the Film Noir Discussion Thread, http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1822.msg149659#msg149659
by
cigar joe:I should warn you that his post contains
spoilers House of Strangers (1949) Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with Richard Conte, Susan Hayward, Edward G. Robinson, Luther Adler, Paul Valentine, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Didn't know what to expect from this Noir, since I'd never heard of it. It was actually a quite good family drama Noir, with a story told mostly in flashback about an Italian patriarch with four sons who originally ran a barbershop and parlayed that into a money lending bank on NYC'sLower East Side. With the passage of new banking laws the Monetti bank is in trouble and lawyer son Conte ends up in jail doing seven years for trying to bribe a juror while the other three brothers reopen the bank and cut out the old man. Robinson is quite convincing as Monetti.
Conte is almost consumed with hate while in prison but love interest Hayward is the antidote and is very good in this film playing a high-class dame and they mutually fall in love at first sight. A nicely done denouement that keeps you guessing. No big set pieces or outstanding action sequences but above average. 8.5/10