Road House (1948)

A night club owner becomes infatuated with a torch singer and frames his best friend/manager for embezzlement when the chanteuse falls in love with him.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Edward Chodorov (screen play), Margaret Gruen (story),

Stars:

Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ida Lupino	...	Lily Stevens
Cornel Wilde	...	Pete Morgan
Celeste Holm	...	Susie Smith
Richard Widmark	...	Jefferson T. 'Jefty' Robbins
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Arthur
Robert Karnes	...	Mike
George Beranger	...	Lefty
Ian MacDonald	...	Police Captain
Grandon Rhodes	...	Judge

Storyline

Jefty, owner of a roadhouse in a backwoods town, hires sultry, tough-talking torch singer Lily Stevens against the advice of his manager Pete Morgan. Jefty is smitten with Lily, who in turn exerts her charms on the more resistant Pete. When Pete finally falls for her and she turns down Jefty's marriage proposal, they must face Jefty's murderous jealousy and his twisted plots to "punish" the two.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | torch singer | trip | playboy | judge | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jeftys bar

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three of the people involved in this production - studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, director Jean Negulesco and star Ida Lupino - had previously worked for Warner Bros. In fact, despite the commercial success of his last Warners film, Johnny Belinda, Negulesco had just been fired from Warners when Zanuck signed him to Fox and offered him 'Road House'.

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Quotes

Lily: Well, I'm Lil Stevens, the new entertainer from Chicago. Right now I'd like to sleep.
Pete: Oh. The new equipment.

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Connections

Referenced in Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

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Soundtracks

"The Right Kind"
(uncredited)
Music by Lionel Newman and Charles Henderson
Lyrics by Don George
Sung by Ida Lupino

User Reviews

Noir at its Best!

Currently I'm taking a Film Noir class in college and I must say this is one fine piece of work. Ida Lupino is so overwhelming there are no words to express it but Richard Widmark is surely the finest actor in Noir! He was soooooooo creepy - a real human monster. The fight scene in the bar was hysterically funny though. It looked like it had been lifted out of a Western. Cornel Wilde was also sensational and I wish I'd seen this before meeting him years ago.