5 Against the House (1955)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Jack Finney (novel) and
John Barnwell (writer)

Release Date:

10 June 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Film-Noir

Plot:

Four college buddies enjoy a night at a Reno casino and overhear a cop saying that robbing the casino...

Plot Keywords:

Casino | College | Friend | Robbery | Police

Cast

Guy Madison	...	Al Mercer
Kim Novak	...	Kay Greylek
Brian Keith	...	Brick
Alvy Moore	...	Roy
Kerwin Mathews	...	Ronnie
William Conrad	...	Eric Berg, the cash cart man
Jack Dimond	...	Francis Spiegelbauer (Spiegy)
Jean Willes	...	Virginia, Brick's pickup

Also Known As:

Five Against the House (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Lake Tahoe, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: En route to Reno while riding in house trailer, thieves put on gloves and begin wiping down interior so their fingerprints can't be traced, but in following scenes, before they've reached destination, are no longer wearing gloves and are touching everything.

First Rate "Buddy" Picture

Uneven heist film. Making 30-somethings Madison and Keith into college students is a bit of a stretch. But I guess pairing them with the youthful Moore and Mathews presented a problem that a college dorm room could solve. Screenplay is by the celebrated TV writer Stirling Silliphant who, nonetheless, can't seem to script a line without a wise-guy quip. It's clever, but does get tiresome.

The movie has two things going for it. First is an absolutely superb performance by Brian Keith. Few actors could get more mileage out of a squint and a cigarette than this low-key tough guy. His final descent into battle-shock madness is both persuasive and oddly touching. The entire movie turns on an ability to convey the required changes and he brings them off beautifully. The other plus is the location photography in Reno. It's entertaining to watch the crowds milling around the casinos, circa 1955. How the production crew get the crowds to act so natural, without acknowledging the camera, amounts to a real feat. Also, the parking garage makes for good staging, but apparently is a commercial novelty that never caught on.

At the time, Columbia's head Harry Cohn was promoting Novak into the studio's newest sex goddess. Novak is okay in the role, but unfortunately her scenes with Madison slow down the pacing. Her role here looks like a rather awkward add-on to the main plot. In fact the heart of the film is neither the casino heist nor the Madison-Novak romance. Rather, the emotional center is the solid bond between the two Korean war vets. The chemistry between the two older men strongly portrays the kind of special kinship forged only in combat

Certainly director Phil Karlson knows his way around action movies as proved by his gripping Phenix City Story. I suspect that had he a freer hand here, a leaner, sharper, more coherent movie would have resulted. As is, the 90 minutes is entertaining, but not front rank. As a heist movie, it's so-so; as a buddy film, it's first rate. (In passing-- Looks like the producers of Oceans 11 {1960} sat through this film more than once.)