House of Strangers (Dům cizinců)

House of Strangers tells the story of an Italian-American family whose patriarch, Gino Monetti, owns a bank and uses more intuition than law to approve loans. The focus, however, is mainly on Gino’s relationships with his sons – three outcasts and his beloved Max. The film does not have a classic crime plot, the filmmakers put the emphasis mainly on (often destructive) interpersonal relationships. The film depicts the unequal position of men and women in the family hierarchy and the generational clash between Gino and his sons. Most of the action takes place in the first half of the 1930s, during the Depression, and Milton Krasner’s cinematography evocatively captures the atmosphere of New York and its crowded streets. The film relies on a star cast led by Richard Conte, Susan Hayward, and Edward G. Robinson, with the latter standing out the most and giving one of the best performances of his illustrious career.

Milan Hain