House of Strangers (1949)

House of Strangers is a stylish, powerful but ultimately unsatisfying family drama that benefits from a quartet of top-notch performers and from Joseph L. Mankiewicz's stylish and assured direction. Although Mankiewicz is not credited as a writer, the screenplay for Strangers bears a number of Mankiewicz touches, including an extended flashback (started, as in A Letter to Three Wives, by an aural cue); incisive, character-defining dialogue; and a slight tendency toward over-explaining. It's the last characteristic that tends to hurt Strangers, especially at the end. This is exacerbated by the fact that the climactic change of heart by the lead character comes from nowhere; he goes over territory that he has clearly been over hundreds of times before, but for some reason, this particular time it causes him to do a complete about-face. Of course, the fact that his girlfriend is now involved is a factor, but he has earlier dismissed that element so thoroughly that something more is needed. Fortunately, Edward G. Robinson's commanding presence, Richard Conte's smoothness and strength, Susan Hayward's complex and richly shaded characterization, and Luther Adler's oily opportunism help to overcome the flaws in the script and make Strangers a good, if not great, film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide