San Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.San Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.San Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.
Timothy Carey
- Frenchy - Arnie's Cell Mate
- (uncredited)
John Cliff
- Officer
- (uncredited)
John Close
- Guard
- (uncredited)
Joe Conley
- Convict
- (uncredited)
Richard H. Cutting
- Assistant Warden
- (uncredited)
Danny Davenport
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
Burt Douglas
- Dave
- (uncredited)
Bill Erwin
- Bank Teller
- (uncredited)
Joel Fluellen
- Ashlow - Convict
- (uncredited)
Michael Galloway
- Al Webson
- (uncredited)
Duane Grey
- Patrolman
- (uncredited)
Paul Keast
- Captain of Guards
- (uncredited)
Donna Martell
- Lois
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn one scene from inside Bill's cell, a cat passes outside. San Quentin has a long history of feral cats roaming the prison, getting in through drainage and sewer pipes. They are generally tolerated as they keep the rodent population down.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits are stamped on the screen by a hand.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Impossible Itself (2010)
Featured review
An inside view of San Quentin, two sides of Palance, and a daring plot
House of Numbers (1957)
This starts with a clunky, poorly written rush to fill us in on the situation--a brother in jail who needs help to escape. But hang in there. It gets better.
The premise is clear early on—Jack Palance plays a man whose brother (also played by Palance) needs to get out of San Quentin. So they plan an escape that involves the first brother breaking into the prison. And so on. Cool stuff.
And when it gets going, there is less talk and more action, and frankly Palance is a physically interesting actor (his delivery is always stiff). This is not a great classic by any stretch. Parts are almost filler—scenes from around the real San Quentin (one of the advertised perks of the movie). But there are also good suspenseful aspects watching this plan get underway. Whether it works, I'll not say. Both Palances are good enough to hold it together.
The leading woman, trying painfully hard to be a kind of Marilyn, is a drag on the whole thing. A few side characters spice it up nicely. But mainly we have the plot, and the details as we see the clever and rather nutty idea get underway. The improbable daring of the events continues right to the end, with a final twist and "The End" hitting you quickly.
The director, Russell Rouse, is obscure (he directed "New York Confidential," which is good), and he probably deserves a lot of blame here because the core idea of the movie is great. And Palance could have risen up a notch with some good leading. One aspect of Palance's performance that is great, for sure, is how he made the two brothers really seem like different characters. They aren't twins, and they look and act different.
The music by the soon-to-be well known conductor, Andre Previn, is an example of orchestral excess—it made me even laugh once, with the crash of music for dramatic effect, though the composing has some new qualities that take it musically beyond the great Max Steiner.
By half way through there was no way I was going to quit, so if you get into this for awhile you'll be hooked by at least the "what happens" part of it all, and by the location shooting and some good night stuff.
This starts with a clunky, poorly written rush to fill us in on the situation--a brother in jail who needs help to escape. But hang in there. It gets better.
The premise is clear early on—Jack Palance plays a man whose brother (also played by Palance) needs to get out of San Quentin. So they plan an escape that involves the first brother breaking into the prison. And so on. Cool stuff.
And when it gets going, there is less talk and more action, and frankly Palance is a physically interesting actor (his delivery is always stiff). This is not a great classic by any stretch. Parts are almost filler—scenes from around the real San Quentin (one of the advertised perks of the movie). But there are also good suspenseful aspects watching this plan get underway. Whether it works, I'll not say. Both Palances are good enough to hold it together.
The leading woman, trying painfully hard to be a kind of Marilyn, is a drag on the whole thing. A few side characters spice it up nicely. But mainly we have the plot, and the details as we see the clever and rather nutty idea get underway. The improbable daring of the events continues right to the end, with a final twist and "The End" hitting you quickly.
The director, Russell Rouse, is obscure (he directed "New York Confidential," which is good), and he probably deserves a lot of blame here because the core idea of the movie is great. And Palance could have risen up a notch with some good leading. One aspect of Palance's performance that is great, for sure, is how he made the two brothers really seem like different characters. They aren't twins, and they look and act different.
The music by the soon-to-be well known conductor, Andre Previn, is an example of orchestral excess—it made me even laugh once, with the crash of music for dramatic effect, though the composing has some new qualities that take it musically beyond the great Max Steiner.
By half way through there was no way I was going to quit, so if you get into this for awhile you'll be hooked by at least the "what happens" part of it all, and by the location shooting and some good night stuff.
helpful•60
- secondtake
- Sep 25, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The House of Numbers
- Filming locations
- San Quentin, California, USA(house overlooking prison)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,008,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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