5 Against the House
5 Against the House

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- 58/100 based on 1,941 votes

Four college buddies enjoying a night at a Reno casino are told by a cop that robbing the casino "cannot be done." That gets the brainiest rich kid among them thinking up a plan for the perfect robbery. He convinces the others to join in when they hear that it will only be a college hoax, his plan being to let the police know where the money is afterwards. The thing is, one of his friends has a head injury from the war, and has no intention of returning a dime.... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in 5 Against the House:

Guy Madison
Kim Novak
Brian Keith
Alvy Moore
Kerwin Mathews
William Conrad

Full Plot Details

Four college buddies enjoying a night at a Reno casino are told by a cop that robbing the casino "cannot be done." That gets the brainiest rich kid among them thinking up a plan for the perfect robbery. He convinces the others to join in when they hear that it will only be a college hoax, his plan being to let the police know where the money is afterwards. The thing is, one of his friends has a head injury from the war, and has no intention of returning a dime.

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Classic Film and Television - 7/10 by Michael E. GrostStrange caper film with odd touches in character and setting.
User Review - 6/10 by Blake P"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.
User Review - 6/10 by Adam SWhat starts as a college-friends-in-Reno comedy becomes a dark heist film, with themes of psychological fatigue and PTSD, as four friends jokingly figure out a "perfect" plan to rob a Reno casino, and put it in action. Phil Karlson directs this entertaining B Columbia programmer, with an early starring role for Kim Novak as a chanteuse taken along for the ride.
User Review - 6/10 by Bruce BWhat was enjoyable in this movie was seeing actors that later in life became more famous then this movie would make them. Brian Keith, smoking away as the tough guy who later played Uncle Bill in Family Affair, William Conrad who was later in Cannon and Jake and the Fat Man, and the beautiful Kim Novak, and many more. All combined to make a film about some college students going to Las Vegas to hold up a casino, Brian Keith plays the war veteran from the Korean War who's just not fully recovered from the things he saw and did, So this makes for a bad road ahead. Its Film Noir, and worth 3 stars.
User Review - 6/10 by Allan C"Everybody's got a headache today. We're living in the aspirin age." As a lark, four college buddies and one fella's dame (the stunning Kim Novak) conspire to knock over a Reno casino. The joke, of course, turns sour and frat boy turns on frat boy. Honestly, I was not thrilled with this semi-noir caper despite digging Brian Keith's troubled Brick and bein' doe eyed for Kim Novak. The friends just don't gel that well together and the story never turns from its obvious outcome. Solid, but not a stunner. VF.
User Review - 6/10 by Van Râ??Hornetâ??s Nestâ?? director Phil Karlson helmed many memorable films, including â??Kansas City Confidential,â?? â??The Phenix City Story,â?? â??Walking Tall,â?? â??The Texas Rangers,â?? â??Key Witnessâ?? and â??Frame Up,â?? during his 31-year career, but his far-fetched 1955 casino caper â??5 Against the House,â?? with Guy Madison and Kim Novak, doesnâ??t qualify as one of those films. This 84-minute, black & white crime melodrama lacks substance, and the robbery itself is nothing to rhapsodize about in the greater scheme of heist movies. None of the usual characters that populate these dramas appears in this Columbia Pictures release. Essentially, four college age studentsâ??two Korean War veterans on the G.I. Bill and two roommates try to steal a million dollars from Harold's Club in Reno during a city-wide celebration. Indeed, they donâ??t get away with the crime, but the initial plans that the mastermind concocted had little to do with getting away with the transgression. Karlson stages this modest crime story with his customary aplomb, but he is forced to stretch out the rather lackluster screenplay by â??In the Heat of the Nightâ?? scenarist Stirling Silliwthe crime. The heroes have just gone back to Midwestern University after spending a summer at work. Al Mercer (Guy Madison of â??Till the End of Timeâ??) and Brick (Brian Keith of â??Arrowheadâ??) are attending college to obtain law degrees. Al and Brick served in the infantry in Korea, and Brick saved Alâ??s life. Unfortunately, Brick came out of the war with a combat injury that makes him susceptible psychotic episodes. He nearly beats a younger man to death during an argument. This brief close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat scene is beautifully staged and â??Womenâ??s Prisonâ?? lenser Lester White does a superb job with his pictorial compositions. Al and Brick are friends of Roy (Alvy Moore of the CBS-TV sitcom â??Green Acresâ??) and rich boy Ronnie (Kerwin Mathews of â??Barqueroâ??) and they operate as a quartet. During their return journey to college, our protagonists stopover in Reno at Haroldâ??s Club and witness an attempted robbery. Actually, the authorities are on the verge of arresting Roy and Ronnie as accomplices of the anonymous thief (Frank Gerstle of â??Between Heaven and Hellâ??) because they appeared to be in on the crime. This is when Ronnie gets an idea for a â??foolproofâ?? plan to rob the casino. He constructs a cart like the ones that the employees trundle into and out of the counting rooms. Essentially, he plans a large but portable reel-to-reel tape player inside the cart and attaches it to a concealed button in the handle so that it sounds as if there is a man hidden in the small compartment. They smuggle their cart into the casino during a celebration and coerce a casino employee, Eric Berg (William Conrad of â??The Killersâ??), into helping them. Basically, Berg believes the heroes that there is a small man armed with a gun who will burst from the cart and start shooting if Berg doesnâ??t comply with their orders. Complications arise from Brickâ??s violent episode with another college student during a vicious fight and Al recommends that Brick check back into the hospital, but Brick refuses to go quietly. Meantime, Ronnie devises his plan to hold up Haroldâ??s Club, but the catch is that he will return the money. Once Brick gets wind of the crime, he has no desire to get the money back. While all of this is transpiring, Al has fallen in love with an initially reluctant Kay Greylek (sexy bombshell actress Kim Novak of â??Pushoverâ??) who sings in a nightclub. Ronnieâ??s plan requires four people and Al and Kay accompany them to Reno with no idea what is in store for them. Of course, everything works out in the end and nobody dies. Ronnieâ??s plan works like a charm, but the police are on to them because Kay has contacted them. The heist takes place near the end of the action with about 15 minutes devoted to the actual crime. It appears that Karlson shot the action on location in Reno, and they showcase an interesting as well as elaborate car parking gantry that scoops up a vehicle with huge metal tusks, hoists it up vertically to a parking space in a high-rise garage and parks it. Motorists are not allowed to ride up in their cars. This gadget is more interesting than anything else in the film. What sets â??5 Against the Houseâ?? from most crime pictures of its day is the way that Karlson depicts the actual workings of the crime. Early on in the action, Ronnie buys a disposable car and trailer using cold cash so that nobody can trace the vehicles back to him. Earlier, the Production Code forbade the depiction of a crime because the censors feared that such a depiction might inspire impressionable viewers into attempting the crime. Naturally, our heroes are good kids. Brick cannot help himself and the police capture him in the garage after Al talks him down. The actual crime itself with the tape player in the cart is rather far-fetched, but even this crime seems like it foreshadows the far more elaborate crime that Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin orchestrated in director Lewis Milestoneâ??s â??Oceanâ??s Eleven.â?? Karlson and his scenarists provide us with a glimpse of casino security; we see the guards roaming the catwalks in the gambling house and peering through slots over the gaming and cashier areas that are concealed behind mirrors. Altogether, â??5 Against the Houseâ?? never generates much in the way of either momentum or tension until the commission of the crime. You wonâ??t feel your palms getting sweaty or your mouth dry in anticipation of the danger involved.
User Review - 6/10 by Doug CAn odd caper noir about a group of WW II veterans disillusioned with law school who scheme to rob a casino in Reno, but the PTSD of one of them, played by Brian Keith, brings added danger to the heist. Good acting by all, including Kim Novak who also stars in the film, and nice plot development to the finale.

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