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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).

House of Strangers
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	July 1, 1949 (1949-07-01)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2 million[1]

Plot

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, the ambitious Joe, playboy Tony, and physically imposing Pietro, unhappy at their domineering father's dismissive treatment of them, refuse to help Gino when he is put on trial for questionable business practices. Max, a lawyer, is the only son who stays loyal to his father, and he serves as Gino's attorney during the trial.

When 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 tries to bribe a juror to save his father, his crime is exposed; he is disbarred and sentenced to 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. Meanwhile, humiliated by Joe's betrayal and directionless without his bank to run, Gino's health deteriorates and he dies shortly before Max is released.

At his father's funeral, Max vows revenge on his brothers, but that night he has a change of heart when he realizes that his father had caused all the tension within the family. The three brothers are still worried about his quest for vengeance, however, and confront him. After a fight in which Max is incapacitated, Joe even goes so far as to order Pietro to throw Max off their house's balcony to his death, but in doing so, 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.

Cast

• Edward G. Robinson as Gino Monetti
• Susan Hayward as Irene Bennett
• Richard Conte as Max Monetti
• Luther Adler as Joe Monetti
• Paul Valentine as Pietro Monetti
• Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Tony Monetti
• Debra Paget as Maria Domenico
• Hope Emerson as Helena Domenico
• Esther Minciotti as Theresa Monetti, wife of Gino Monetti

Reception

Critical response

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]

Accolades

The film was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival[5] and Edward G. Robinson won the prize for Best Actor.[6]

References

External links

• House of Strangers at the American Film Institute Catalog
• House of Strangers at IMDb
• House of Strangers at AllMovie
• House of Strangers at the TCM Movie Database
• House of Strangers at Rotten Tomatoes
• House of Strangers film trailer on YouTube

На других языках

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- [en] House of Strangers

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[ru] Дом незнакомцев

«Дом незнакомцев» (англ. House of Strangers) — американский чёрно-белый фильм нуар с элементами драмы режиссёра Джозефа Л. Манкевича, премьера которого состоялась в 1949 году.

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