Review of 5 Against the House (1955) by Blake P — 17 Aug 2011

"5 Against the House" is certainly one of the better heist films in the '50's. Four college pals are bored with life, and one of the friends thinks it would be real fun to do a casino heist.

The plan ends up going through, but when one guy (Keith) turns out to be insane, he drags in the good guy (Madison) and his girlfriend (Novak) to go along when really they just wanted to get married. This movie isn't really too special unless you really string all of the different aspects single handedly.

If you do, youll end up liking it a little bit more. "5 Against the House" is not really classic, but it certainly has its little perks. The script is probably the best thing in the movie, and that really counts.

The actors themselves are pretty amateur, so it helped their little experience (which showed at times) shine through, and the awkward bad moments are a lot fewer than there could be. Kim Novak and Brian Keith are really the only actors that truly had talent, which definitely remains true since they are the only notable names here.

They both are surprisingly good in early roles and make the most of them. I really only rented this movie because Phil Karlson directs. I recently saw "99 River Street" and was very impressed with his skills.

Though this is not as good, I still liked what he did with it. The cinematography and score bring the most out of this movie and really make it better. "5 Against the House" is just OK, but is still worth seeing.