House of Strangers (1949)

 House of Strangers (1949)

An Italian immigrant barber-turned-banker, though a very unconventional banker not only accused of usury but who openly admits the rules don’t apply to him inside a courtroom, finally gets in trouble with the law after years of questionable business practices. Of all his offspring only his favorite stands by him for obvious reasons, he reneges on a raise for one, continuously insults another, etc.

All of this is revealed in flashback after a lengthy prologue where we see the favorite son (a somewhat crooked lawyer and the only one with higher education, all his brothers have low level jobs at the bank,) come back home after spending seven years in prison, thirsty for revenge against his brothers’ betrayal.

This is a film with a very contemporary feel, though not really a mob film it has a very mob-like feel to it down to the protagonist’s strong-arm tactics, his dalliances with shady clients and, openly cheating on his fiancé with a comare, with his father’s support, even.

Set in New York’s Little Italy of the 1940s, the establishing shots are great. Edward G. Robinson, (who was a Romanian Jew in real life) is having a lot of fun playing the opera-loving banker who doesn’t mind openly expressing his disgust for sons he perceives to be losers; his Italian delivery sounds pretty authentic to me.

Great music all around including that of a songstress at a night club.

With Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Luther Adler, Paul Valentine, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

This one was a blast.