House of Strangers 1949

Gino Monetti, Edward G. Robinson, is a rags-to-riches Italian-American banker in New York City whose questionable business practices land him in a tangle of criminal charges. Three of his four grown sons—Joe Monetti, Tony Monetti, and Pietro Monetti—resent his domineering control and refuse to help when he is put on trial. Max Monetti, the loyal lawyer, is the only son who stays by his father’s side.

After Gino signs ownership of his bank over to his wife Theresa Monetti Esther Minciotti as a temporary protective measure, Joe persuades his mother to sign it over to him and seizes control. Gino is relegated to an early retirement with a meager monthly allowance. The three brothers plot to ruin Max as well. When Max reveals plans to bribe a sympathetic juror to force a mistrial, Joe arranges for the police to catch him in the act. Max is disbarred and sentenced to seven years; Max’s fiancée Maria Domenico Debra Paget breaks off their engagement to marry Tony, but Irene Bennett Susan Hayward waits for Max.

Meanwhile, Gino’s trial ends in an acquittal, but he is humiliated by his sons’ betrayal and drifts, turning to drink and cigarettes and writing countless letters to Max. Irene urges him to stop, knowing that Gino is trying to divide the brothers and provoke Max to take revenge, but he refuses. Gino dies, and Max is released briefly to attend the funeral. He vows revenge on his brothers, and, back at the family home, confronts them. After a fight in which Max is knocked down, Joe orders Pietro to throw Max from the balcony to his death. Pietro hesitates, and Joe’s taunts mirror their father’s old contempt; Pietro, moved, turns on Joe. Max saves Joe from Pietro’s wrath and convinces Pietro that killing Joe would fulfill their father’s brutal pattern. Max then walks away with Irene and heads toward a new life in San Francisco.