User reviews

5 Against The House is a stylish noir caper film that involves four Korean War Veterans and the girl friend of one of them in a heist against a Reno casino. It was directed by Phil Karlson and while it's a bit slow in developing when the action starts, it builds up to a good climax.

The four veterans are Guy Madison, Alvy Moore, Kerwin Matthews, and Brian Keith. They're in college on the GI Bill of Rights and being a bit older than the other students there and with a shared wartime bonding, they kind of keep to themselves.

After a night in Reno where they overhear an arresting cop with a suspect who tried to rob Harold's club there saying how impossible it was. That gives Kerwin Matthews who's the genius of the group an idea to plan the perfect crime.

The others mean it as a prank to give the money back, but Keith is not a well man having spent some time in the psycho ward at the Veteran's Administration. He means to keep the money and he brings a long a pistol to enforce his argument.

It's hard for Madison to say no to Keith, he saved his life in Korea. But Madison who is also romantically involved with Kim Novak resents her being roped in on the scheme.

Best in the film is Brian Keith who does a very good job in suggesting a fundamentally decent man who's been unhinged by his wartime experiences. You have to understand that in order to understand why the film ended as it did.

Novak looks fetching and lovely as always and gets a couple of inconsequential songs to sing, no doubt dubbed as they were in Pal Joey.

5 Against The House did no harm to any of the careers among the cast here. Especially that of Kim Novak who was being prepped to take Rita Hayworth's spot as Columbia Picture's new sex goddess.

Four college buddies are out in a Reno casino when they mistakenly almost get arrested for a failed robbery. Upon proving their innocence, they hear a cop saying that robbing this particular casino is nigh on impossible. This gets young Ronnie thinking that it actually can be done, and sure enough he comes up with a fool proof plan that should be played out as a joke robbery. However, after letting his pals in on the plan, one of them, Brick, an ex army loose cannon, wants to do it for real.

There are many good things about this Phil Karlson directed picture, things that made me particularly glad I paid no attention to the meagre rating on the IMDb and watched it with no expectation. The cast is very strong, Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore, a young pre swash buckling Kerwin Mathews and a sultry and gorgeous Kim Novak in only her second credited role. Location work at Lake Tahoe is easy on the eye and the story from John Barnwell (adapting from Jack Finney's novel) is a good one, with a kicker of an idea in how to rob a casino.

I think that newcomers to the film should prepare for a more offbeat picture than what the plot synopsis hints at. It certainly has got tense moments, courtesy in the main from Keith's borderline psycho, but it's practically a talky picture with flecks of humour right up to the finale, where it all comes together without histrionics or fanfare. Phil Karlson, with the awesome Scandal Sheet on his CV, appeared on the face of it to be a good choice to direct, but although he has done crime/adventure/romance films very well before, blending those genres into one film was asking a bit too much. It's not bad directing, it's just an odd fusion that never really comes off, and it possibly stops the film from breaking out to a bigger and more appreciative audience. Karlson remains, though, a director well worth reappraisals because he has some excellent credits on his CV that are well worth checking out.

Still, it's an oddity of sorts, and tagging it as a Noir picture is a bit of a stretch, but this is one that's definitely recommended for the pluses that do indeed far outweigh the minuses. 7/10

Phil Karlson directed a lot of B movies and this one, "Five Against the House" is another one, released in 1955. It's notable for having Kim Novak in it just before she hit real stardom, and she's gorgeous. The other stars are Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Kerwin Mathews, and Alvy Moore. The story concerns Korea War vets in college on the GI bill who become involved in the heist of a Reno casino. It's supposed to be a lark by one of the men, Ronnie (Mathews). just to see if it could be done; he plans on returning the money. Lark or not, Al (Madison) opts out, but travels to Reno with his girlfriend Kay (Novak) and the rest of the guys as he and Kay are planning to be married there. However, the psychologically unstable Brick (Keith) decides to do the heist for real and forces his buddy Al to go along with it. Brick saved Al's life in Korea, and Al doesn't feel he can refuse him, even though the plan now involves Kay.

Though the end of the film had some excitement, the rest of it drags. The acting is adequate. Though the guys had served in Korea and entered college late, as far as I know, the Korean war lasted three years and not ten. With the exception of 29-year-old Mathews, the rest of the actors are in the 33-35 year-old range. Madison's career started out promisingly, but he became best known as Wild Bill Hickok on television and eventually made many Italian westerns; physical ailments kept him from working often past 1975 - his last credit is 8 years before his death in 1996. The other actors worked mainly in television except for the handsome Kerwin Mathews, who found career success in another type of film genre before his retirement circa 1978.

What the film has going for it is a really neat atmosphere. It was filmed on location in Lake Tahoe and Reno, and that part of it really pays off.

Of mild interest.

Kim Novak is of course terrific (she rarely phoned one in), and it's an interesting pre-star turn, meaning before PICNIC and VERTIGO, but the rest of the cast is pretty interesting, and particularly Brian Keith---Keith did a lot of 50's B-picture work that's worth watching, if you can find it. The real reason to see this picture is because it's a Phil Karlson. Karlson is one of those guys like Don Siegel, who came up in the studio system just before television. Early live TV produced people like Frankenheimer and Arthur Penn and Paddy Chayevsky, but there were already guys in the trenches like Siegel and Karlson, who got the chance to direct because they could do it quick and cheap, but make a picture look like it didn't come from Poverty Row. (See, for example, Clint Eastwood's PLAY MISTY FOR ME. Eastwood got his shot by rock-bottom budgeting, a lesson he might have learned from Siegel.) Karlson is due for a re-evaluation, along with, say, Budd Boetticher and Burt Kennedy. Siegel seems to be getting his due, not that he couldn't use an occasional boost. But watch this, and maybe THE PHENIX CITY STORY (not a misspelling), and tell me Karlson can't do it tense.

The boyish refulgence that brought him to movies over a decade earlier long since dimmed, Guy Madison has settled into William Holdenish good looks. Since Hollywood already had a Holden, and since Madison's acting skills were adequate at best, he no longer can hold the screen (this part came to him after a string of roles as Wild Bill Hickock). Luckily, Phil Karlson's 5 Against The House is an ensemble piece – an offbeat heist movie.

Madison and Brian Keith are Korea veterans attending `Midwestern University' on the G.I. Bill; their buddies are wiseacre Alvy Moore and sobersides Kerwin Mathews. Mathews (whose faint accent stays a mystery) yearns to do something extraordinary to make him stand out, and dreams up a hare-brained scheme (no more than a prank, since he plans to give the money back) to rob a casino in Reno, Nevada. They're all in on the plan except Madison, who nonetheless joins them on the road west with his girl Kim Novak, to get married. When Madison tumbles to the set-up, he tries to stop it.

The fly in the ointment, alas, is Keith, who spent time in the psychiatric ward for shell shock. He takes the prank dead seriously and intimidates the others to go along with him. Tricked out in Wild-West outfits and false beards, and wheeling a jerry-rigged money cart with a tape recorder inside, they hit the casino....

Phil Karlson falls short of top form here. The college hijinks are not this director's usual meat and potatoes, so he takes a long time getting any rhythm going. Then the heist itself, and the tensions among the robbers, seem oddly defanged, at least for Karlson; he seems to have fallen into a character study rather than an action movie, and unsure how to play it. Novak croons a couple of songs, and nobody gets killed. That's well and good, but a far cry from 99 River Street, or Kansas City Confidential, or The Phenix City Story, hard-core Karlson all. 5 Against The House remains in a no-man's-land between film noir and the light-hearted caper movies, like Ocean's 11, that would usher in the 1960s.

This is a Columbia picture starring, according to the credits, Kim Novak, Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Kerwin Matthews and Alvy Moore It also throws in William Conrad, later of Cannon TV fame.

The film begins with four ex-army buddies on a visit to a casino town, who both there and later back at college, spend much of their time wisecracking. But Keith exhibits his 'psycho' tendencies in a night club brawl and we learn that these were induced by his experiences in the Korean War. Then its back to college where a fresher (Jack Dimond) is the butt of some humorous pranks.

In the second half of the picture the emphasis changes to thriller as three of the four plan a supposedly foolproof heist at a casino, but intend to return the money, having once proved it can be done.

Keith is however back in violent mode and Madison and girlfriend Novak are forced to become unwilling participants in the robbery. Conrad, as a casino employee, is induced at gunpoint to help with the heist and the strong wartime links between the four are put under great strain.

This picture is neither one thing nor another and those led to expect a light hearted heist film by its early light hearted approach will be surprised at how it turns out.

Worth seeing for an early Kim Novak role and for a heist picture set in Reno and not Las Vegas.

This movie, 5 Against the House, had an interesting tag line which is why I saw it. However, I found that the build up of the story line and the build up of the characters took forever! Once the plot got going though, about thirty-five minutes in, the story took off from there and held my attention until the end. This movie is good if you are looking for an obscure film noir to view, other than that, pass on it.

Generally, heist films are among the best and most reliable movies you can find. After all, there are TONS of great heist movies and very few bad ones. Among the wonderful heist films are RIFIFI, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, GRAND SLAM and so many others. So, it's not surprising I'd see "5 Against the House". Sadly, however, it was an exception...a film that really failed to deliver and was disappointing.

The film starts in Reno, Nevada...and four college friends* are out enjoying one of the casinos. Then, for so much of the movie, they return to college (where they NEVER seem to go to classes) and nothing happens!! It's only later that one of them, Brick (Brian Keith) decides that they should return to Reno and rob the casino.

The film is a bit mistake in many ways. The ending is unrealistic and unsatisfying, the characters a bit annoying and glib and the story takes forever to actually get going. The only plus was a young and gorgeous Kim Novak...who is simply amazing to watch.

*The four would-be robbers are clearly all in their 30s yet are in college. This is NOT a case of miscasting but the men are supposed to be veterans going to school on the GI Bill...and during the 1940s and 50s, many older and non-traditional students existed.

This movie is included in one of the Columbia "Noir" DVD sets released in the early '00s. It is a rather fascinating movie but not a noir. In fact if anything it's a strange hybrid of musical and precursor to the "Ocean's" flicks (both the original Rat Pack version and the later movies with George Clooney and friends).

Four buddies in their late 20s to early 30s are law school roommates who are in college thanks to the GI Bill and their service during the Korean War. On a weekend trip to Reno, one of the students starts to hatch a plan to rob a casino of a million dollars - as a psychology experiment. He plans to return the money, as he explains to his confused roommates. But one in the group, a short-tempered guy named Brick, thinks the idea has promise, although he doesn't intend on returning the money to the casino.

Brick is played by Brian Keith, next to Kim Novak the best known actor in this movie. Before his stint on TV as the loving Uncle Bill on Family Affair, and then teaming up with Burt Reynolds for a few movies in the '70s and '80s, Keith was a character actor with a knack for playing heavies. In this movie, he's a vet who suffers from PTSD. When he can control it, he's easygoing and joking along with buddies and picking up women. But once the trauma sets in, he can become a monster.

Kim Novak is the best known face in the movie, and she has a rather thankless role as the night club singing girlfriend of one of the guys. She isn't given much to do.

The movie has some admirable things to say about vets suffering from PTSD; despite his illness, Brick prevails in the movie and it has a generally upbeat ending. This is no noir.

The on-location setting of Reno is interesting and events leading up to the caper have noir elements, but the lighting is neutral and as mentioned, the music rather inappropriate. Novak even breaks out into song during a pivotal moment for her character.

The DVD remaster is good and this is probably the most upbeat (in the end) of all of the movies in the set. But don't expect anything really riveting.

5 Against the House (1955)

Let's try to give this the best angle: the last half hour is terrific.

Before that is a lot of off and on development. The four hapless, likable college chaps are a kind of wobbly precursor to the "Ocean's Eleven," the 1960 casino classic (also a bit wobbly, actually, if you watch it again, but still a classic). The casino where this one begins is a vintage gem, an old style, small town joint (Reno, in 1955, was a small city), with guns on the wall and general lack of swank. It's great. And there's Kim Novak, not for her appearance or her singing (both were soon to be talked about), but simply for her screen presence, her higher level of professionalism. And she sings to some smooth easy band music. Novak was almost unknown--she had appeared in a sleeper noir called "Pushover" the previous year, but it was later in 1955 she starred in her breakout films, "Pal Joey" and "The Man with the Golden Arm". Finally, among the four lead males, Brian Keith, mostly known for decades of television work, is a surprisingly powerful figure, making the most of what he has to work with.

That's the extent of it, and Novak can't hold up the whole movie (especially all the parts she's not in--her role is relatively small). The chummy joking between the boys is weak stuff, including the college scenes, but these are meant to tap into the growing collegiate population (a full decade after WWII, college was becoming a far more normal step after high school). The initial crime incident with its interaction with the cops is patently unconvincing. And then there is the way the movie is patched together in separate segments. The first, fun road trip suddenly turns into a series of unexplained romances, which leads to the main plot again.

Why is this considered a film noir? Well, it actually has one key element, the soldier returned from war trying to cope with American mainstream life, only now the war is the Korean War, which changes both the romance and depth of the situation, at least historically. And there is, eventually, a full blown criminal aspect. In fact, the last half hour is tightly made, and if the gimmick is a bit of a stretch, it's all well done, and even if you don't like the movie overall, you'll really find the ending has a great feel to it, with lots of great night stuff. Reno back then was a neon wonderland, very cool!

Uneven heist film. Making 30-somethings Madison and Keith into college students is a bit of a stretch. But I guess pairing them with the youthful Moore and Mathews presented a problem that a college dorm room could solve. Screenplay is by the celebrated TV writer Stirling Silliphant who, nonetheless, can't seem to script a line without a wise-guy quip. It's clever, but does get tiresome.

The movie has two things going for it. First is an absolutely superb performance by Brian Keith. Few actors could get more mileage out of a squint and a cigarette than this low-key tough guy. His final descent into battle-shock madness is both persuasive and oddly touching. The entire movie turns on an ability to convey the required changes and he brings them off beautifully. The other plus is the location photography in Reno. It's entertaining to watch the crowds milling around the casinos, circa 1955. How the production crew got the crowds to act so natural, without acknowledging the camera, amounts to a real feat. Also, the parking garage makes for good staging, but apparently is a commercial novelty that never caught on.

At the time, Columbia's head Harry Cohn was promoting Novak into the studio's newest sex goddess. Novak is okay in the role, but unfortunately her scenes with Madison slow down the pacing. Her role here looks like a rather awkward add-on to the main plot. In fact the heart of the film is neither the casino heist nor the Madison-Novak romance. Rather, the emotional center is the solid bond between the two Korean war vets. The chemistry between the two older men strongly portrays the kind of special kinship forged only in combat

Certainly director Phil Karlson knows his way around action movies as proved by his gripping Phenix City Story. I suspect that had he a freer hand here, a leaner, sharper, more coherent movie would have resulted. As it is, the 90 minutes is entertaining, but not front rank. As a heist movie, it's so-so; as a buddy film, it's first rate. (In passing-- Looks like the producers of Oceans 11 {1960} sat through this film more than once.)

Brick (Brian Keith), Al Mercer (Guy Madison), Ronnie (Kerwin Mathews) and Roy (Alvy Moore) are college buddies having a fun night at a Reno casino. Roy and Ronnie are mistakenly detained after witnessing a failed robbery. Al reconnects with former girlfriend Kay Greylek (Kim Novak) who is a now nightclub singer. Korean vet Brick almost kills a guy over a girl. Some of the guys become obsessed with doing a heist themselves.

This is an early role for Novak and a fine early heist movie. The first half can be a grind at times. There are lots of different characters to follow and the heist is slow to develop. Brian Keith is the standout. His character is troubled and he has all the acting power in the world. Kim Novak is effective and does more than hang her sweater. They could do more to lay out the plan. They aren't that sophisticated yet. The cowboy disguises are a little cheesy. Imagine if the costume of the night is a black tie affair. I'm not sure about the final ending. It seems to need something much darker.

Brain Keith was the the standout here as Brick,, Keith had some great line as he becomes totolly unhinged Brick: to a sexy woman who is gambling] I'm a stranger in town. Can you direct me to your house?

Phil Karlson's 5 Against the House (1955) was an early credit for Kim Novak, made before she'd proven herself as a box office draw.

This casino heist film is bookend by two long sections n Reno focusing on the now-defunct Harold's Club.

5 Against the House originated with a novel of the same name by Jack Finney, best known as the author of The Body Snatchers (serialized in Colliers), which Don Siegel turned into the sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers the following year. The punchy crime tale, about a quintet of college friends who dream up and nearly execute the heist of a Reno, Nevada casino was first serialized in, of all places, Good Housekeeping in 1954 (Martin Scorsese has claimed that Karlson's movie adaptation of the book influenced his own 1995 film Casino).

This was an unusual film noir, that has an interesting crime, but is more noteworthy for its history.

The story is about four veterans who are home from the war and taking advantage of the G. I. bill to get a college education. Al, Brick, Roy and Ronnie are a tight knit group, no less for their shared experience serving our country overseas, but also being older and trying to navigate college amongst younger and more innocent kids. The film starts on a school break with the four friends taking a little trip to blow off some steam in Reno. They end up at Harold's Club...which is noisy and packed (wonderful film footage of this famous casino both inside and out, they had an elevator car park where man operated lifts moved your car into spots in a tightly packed vertical garage).

Once they return to campus we get a taste of their college life...including some of the extracurricular activities like a nightclub where Al's lovely girlfriend, played by the young and fresh on the scene Kim Novak, sings. Then, thanks to their visit to Harold's and the taunt that no one could rob it, Ronnie comes up with a fool proof plan to rob Harold's only to return the money...just to prove it can be done.

It's a fairly simple plan that involves a recording on a reel to reel (another little bit of history), the manufacturing of a money cart like those used at Harold's, and the Wild West costumes which will blend in to their frontier days an annual Wild West event held at Harold's.

The costumes are great and the history (including dealing with PTSD) even better. Kim Novak is in fine form and worth seeing...also, this film introduced me to Guy Madison. He was incredibly handsome and did a wonderful job playing the role of Al...the level headed one, who had a bright future to look forward to. I am looking forward to checking out more films starting Guy Madison...the rising star in the 1950's.

This is a big recommendation from me, although I would call it noir-light as it doesn't seem to have done of the elements that you might expect in a film noir film. I would recommend this to fans of heist films, WWII buffs, history buffs, and fans of casinos or the casino lifestyle...oh! And Kim Novak fans, of course.

This so called "film noir" isn't up to the best of them. Interesting premise that takes forever to get going. Once it does, it's an OK sit through, but forgettable as well. The heist is the basis of the movie and it's quite implausible in the way it's carried out. What were security guys in the two-way mirror looking at anyway? It was obvious what was going on. Oh well, it was just a movie with a point...I guess.

Brian Keith saved the film as he was excellent as the disturbed buddy of the other three guys. Kim Novak shines in one of her early roles. Luckily she was able to snag better roles as her career bloomed. Kerwin Mathews and Guy Madison did as best they could the way their roles were written. The one annoying thing was Aly Moore as the wise-cracker buddy. Wish he would have been left out entirely or maybe bumped off before the movie got too far along. A truly atrocious performance and I can see why his career was regulated to bits as his stint in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS in a bit trying to try a fast one on Mitzi Gaynor.

5 Against the House is part romance, part buddy movie, part Vegas getaway, part robbery, and part analyzation of the social dynamics of bullying. With all those elements, you'd think it would have a chance at being a good movie, but maybe screenwriters Stirling Silliphant, William Bowers, and John Barnwell spread themselves too thin. It tries to do too much, and doesn't really succeed in any of the attempts.

Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore, and Kerwin Mathews are all college buddies who enjoy a lost weekend in Las Vegas. They witness an attempted robbery, and when they return to campus, Brian Keith gets an idea to return to Vegas and rob a casino themselves. Guy Madison isn't interested, though; he's too busy romancing Kim Novak and trying to get her to marry him. Most of the guys spend the movie bullying younger kids on campus as well as each other, and while Guy is the head honcho, Brian sometimes has mental problems that flare up and cause the others grief.

This isn't the worst movie in the world, but there's just nothing spectacular about it. Even if you love Kim Novak, she doesn't have a very demanding part; she just sings and looks pretty. You're better off watching Pushover.

The last 25 minutes are good, since this is considered a film noir, but the first hour of this movie is pretty lame. Make that "very lame." It's as if they tried to make a comedy about this heist story. Some of the dialog is humorous and clever but most of it is just plain dumb. Why Columbia Pictures added this to their excellent "Film Noir Volume One" set is beyond me. It's the only poor movie in the package.

One of the few redeeming qualities of the movie, at least for us males, is a chance to ogle Kim Novak, who began to make a name for herself the year this film came out.

Brian Keith is fairly intense as "Brick," the ex-Korean soldier with mental problems but even he is fairly boring most the movie. The rest of the cast looks and sounds more "Gilligan's Island" than actors in a supposed film noir.

It was doubly surprising because director Phil Karlson didn't usually offer up "fluff" like this. This light-hearted wink-wink comedy-drama was not his normal style.

Somewhat standard heist pic, (not a noir, in my opinion, despite what Mr. Muller avers), that features a wonderfully twisted turn by Brian Keith as a Korean War vet with PTSD and some great location shooting in 50s Reno, including the University of Nevada standing in for "Midwestern U", but which is rather slackly paced (unusual for noted action director Phil Karlson) with the heist taking way too long to be set in motion. Also annoying is the too talky screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, one of the great diarreah of the typewriter men in Hollywood, and William Bowers, obviously brought in by the producers to wipe up Silliphant and falling down on the job. Acting beyond Keith is a problem, as well. Muller was complimentary about Kim Novak's performance but I found it serviceable at best as was Guy Madison as her boyfriend. Scenes with these two are by far the dullest in the film, although Alvy Moore, the compulsive jokester, ninety percent of whose quips fall well short of funny, also tries patience. Give it a C plus, mostly for Keith, in my opinion one of the truly under rated character actors in 50s/60s Hollywood, (nothing close to a bad performance or an Oscar nomination).