House of Strangers (1949)

In New York, after seven years in prison, the lawyer Max Monetti goes to the bank of his brothers Joe, Tony and Pietro Monetti and promises revenge to them. Then he visits his lover Irene ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Philip Yordan (screenplay), Jerome Weidman (novel),

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, Richard Conte

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
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

Storyline

In New York, after seven years in prison, the lawyer Max Monetti goes to the bank of his brothers Joe, Tony and Pietro Monetti and promises revenge to them. Then he visits his lover Irene Bennett that asks him to forget the past and start a new life. Max recalls the early 30s, when he is the favorite son of his father Gino Monetti, who has a bank in the East Side. Gino is a tyrannical and egocentric self-made man that raises his family in an environment of hatred and Max is a competent lawyer engaged with Maria Domenico. When Max meets the confident Irene, he has a troubled love affair with her. In 1933, with the new Banking Act reaches Gino for misapplication of funds. Max plots a plan to help his father but is betrayed by his brothers. Now Max will see his brothers that have also being raised under the motto "Never Forgive, Never Forget".

---

Plot Keywords:

bank | manipulating | domineering father | father son relationship | italian american | 

---

Genres:

Film-Noir | Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1 July 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

East Side Story

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:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 25, 1951 with Edward G. Robinson reprising his film role.

---

Goofs

In flashbacks dating back to 1932, Irene wears hairstyles and clothing that are not significantly different from the fashionable look she sports during the 1939 framing story, 7 years later, and all of which are strictly in the significantly different mode of 1949, the year the film was made.

---

Quotes

Helena Domenico: I'll have you know my husband died happy.
Gino Monetti: Your husband was happy to die, which is a different thing.

---

Connections

Version of The 20th Century-Fox Hour: The Last Patriarch (1956)

---

Soundtracks

"La donna è mobile"
From the opera "Rigoletto"
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Lyrics by Francesco Maria Piave
Sung briefly by Edward G. Robinson in the bath

User Reviews

Smoothly crafted studio product.

This is one of those well-crafted films from Twentieth-Century Fox when that studio employed some extraordinary talents both before and behind the cameras. Although he wasn't a Fox contractee, Edward G. Robinson gives a great performance as a wealthy Italian family's patriarch and he is well-matched by everyone else in the cast, especially Richard Conte, Luther Adler, and Susan Hayward, looking terrifically classy. The script bears some obvious signs of being polished by the director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and the technical credits are absolutely top-drawer.

Remade as a Western in CinemaScope and Color by DeLuxe in 1954, entitled "Broken Lance" with Spencer Tracy cast as the domineering father, the direction by Edward Dmytryk was not up to the standard of this earlier film with its then contemporary setting. This one is available on video (and seems to be very rarely exhumed on TV now) and is definitely worth a look.