Paul Valentine

House of Strangers (1949) starring Edward G. Robinson, Richard Comte, Susan Hayward

House of Strangers is supposedly a film noir, but it doesn’t feel like one. Instead, it’s the story of an immigrant family, with a controlling, hard father who runs the family with an iron fist, and his anger and control extends beyond the grave. It’s also the story of the favored son, who goes to prison for his father’s crime — and after his father’s death, manages to break free of the anger and bitterness that his father used to control him.