{"id":2325,"date":"2007-02-19T12:58:46","date_gmt":"2007-02-19T19:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2021-01-07T10:20:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T17:20:12","slug":"five-against-the-house-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2325","title":{"rendered":"Five Against the House (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s the greatest hoax of the century &#8212; it&#8217;s nefarious as Fu Manchu, and as practical as a zipper!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-27043\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Poster.jpg 2005w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThree college buddies plan a casino heist as a lark, intending to give back the money immediately. But when one of them &#8212; damaged Korean War veteran Brick (Brian Keith) &#8212; decides he wants to keep the money, it&#8217;s up to his friend Al (Guy Madison) to stop the entire scam.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brian Keith Films<\/li>\n<li>Casinos<\/li>\n<li>Heists<\/li>\n<li>Kim Novak Films<\/li>\n<li>Phil Karlson Films<\/li>\n<li>Veterans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis unusual caper flick (directed by Phil Karlson) effectively draws upon the theme of veterans struggling to live &#8220;normal&#8221; lives in mainstream society. While Al (Madison) is on the fast track to success as a lawyer, and desires nothing more than to marry his sweetheart (Kim Novak) and settle down, his friend Brick (Keith) represents the opposite extreme: a man so broken by his experiences as a soldier that no amount of schooling or friendship can erase the damage that&#8217;s been done. Meanwhile, their young, carefree buddies Ronnie (Kerwin Matthews) and Roy (Alvy Moore) serve as a telling contrast: they are content with simply having fun, scoring with chicks, tormenting a naive freshman (Jack Dimond), and (for Ronnie at least) proving their genius against the seemingly impervious machinations of a casino.<\/p>\n<p>Karlson maintains genuine tension and interest throughout the movie, thanks to fine performances by most of the actors, clever dialogue, and a nicely shot casino heist. The emphasis on character and friendship is refreshing &#8212; rather than watching seasoned crooks hoping to make &#8220;one final score&#8221; (an overused trope if there ever was one), we see a drama which may revolve around a heist, but is ultimately about pride (Ronnie), survival (Brick), and loyalty (Madison).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Ronnie&#8217;s cool, calculated plotting is reminiscent of John Dall&#8217;s character in Hitchcock&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18528\"><em>Rope<\/em> (1948)<\/a> &#8212; though ultimately <em>Five Against the House<\/em> is more concerned with the veterans&#8217; stories than with Ronnie&#8217;s potential psychopathy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brian Keith&#8217;s sympathetic performance as the damaged war veteran<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62066\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Keith-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kim Novak in one of her earliest roles<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Novak-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The tense casino heist (especially well-played by Eric Berg as the cash cart man)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62065\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Heist-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A clever script with many memorable lines:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think you two are going to like marriage&#8230; I&#8217;ve heard it described as something like tennis, played with 40-mm cannons.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62064\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Five-Against-the-House-Quote-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s a nifty caper flick, and definitely worth watching if you can find a copy.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0048077\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1955\/06\/11\/archives\/harolds-club-foils-five-against-house.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the greatest hoax of the century &#8212; it&#8217;s nefarious as Fu Manchu, and as practical as a zipper!&#8221; Synopsis: Three college buddies plan a casino heist as a lark, intending to give back the money immediately. But when one of them &#8212; damaged Korean War veteran Brick (Brian Keith) &#8212; decides he wants to keep the money, it&#8217;s up to his friend Al (Guy Madison) to stop the entire scam. Genres: Brian Keith Films Casinos Heists Kim Novak Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2325\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62070,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions\/62070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}