Movies: 18470 | TV Series: 3282 | Added today: 0 | Storage: 65898 GB

Genres: ActionThrillerRoma

Starring: Richard Widmark, O.Z. Whitehead, Grandon Rhodes, Ida Lupino, Ian MacDonald, Robert Karnes, Cornel Wilde

Country: USA

Year: 1948

Available Quality: DivX, iPod

IMDB Rating: 7.2 out of 10 (877 votes)

Jefty, owner of a roadhouse in a backwoods town, hires sultry, tough-talking torch singer Lily Stevens against the advice of his manager Pete Morgan. Jefty is smitten with Lily, who in turn exerts her charms on the more resistant Pete. When Pete finally falls for her and she turns down Jeftys marriage proposal, they must face Jeftys murderous jealousy and his twisted plots to punish the two.

		Road House (1948) (iPod)	Resolution: 480x320 px	Total Size: 314 Mb
		Road House (1948) (DivX)	Resolution: 720x480 px	Total Size: 682 Mb

Movie Photos:

We have taken some photos of "Road House (1948)". They represent actual movie quality.

Visitors Review

acdavis (20 May 2012)

Killer noir

Great noir, fantastic bowling scenes, Ida Lupino...What else do you need?One of the best noir films I've seen, terrific acting, and the dialogue ishilarious. Ida Lupino does not disappoint. If you can rent this one, doit.

(19 May 2012)

Trouble In The North Woods

ROADHOUSE(1948)---Richard Widmark, Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste HolmThis is a very good film noir, with everyone involved turning in first-rate performances. Widmark plays the owner of the title establishment, Wilde is his childhood friend and manager of the roadhouse, and Lupino is a singer hired by Widmark to work in his joint. Widmark also nurses fantasies of having more than a "working" relationship with Lupino. Celeste Holm plays Wilde's "right-hand girl" at the roadhouse and she has a pretty thankless part as the girl who everybody takes for granted. In typical Hollywood fashion, this was the role that Holm was assigned immediately after winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in, GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT---go figure!!! This is Lupino's movie all the way---she really steals the show from her two male leads. She's tough as nails and is nobody's fool. I've always thought that Lupino was very underrated as an actress and this film is strong suppport for that argument.Anyway, after some verbal sparring and some very sexually charged exchanges, Wilde and Lupino fall in love, which does not please Widmark's character at all. The final third of the film is devoted to Widmark's reaction to the situation and his attempt to "punish" the two lovebirds. Widmark is terrific as the "nice guy turned psycho". He is in fine form as the deranged, giggling nut-job we know and love. This was one of Widmark's last roles as a mental case. A couple of years later, Widmark began to insist on being given other types of roles and began showing his versatility in 1950 in PANIC IN THE STREETS. Of course, in that same year, he played a "foaming at the mouth" racist in NO WAY OUT!!!Anyway, I digress. ROADHOUSE is a very good movie and I highly recommend it---as a noir, as a vehicle for Lupino, and for Widmark's excellent performance.

(17 May 2012)

Lupino and Widmark burn up the screen.

Jean Negulesco's "Road House" is an above-average, noirish romantic thriller that deserves to be much better known. I don't find the screenplay particularly satisfying--among other things, I wish it showed us more of the trial that forms the film's centerpiece. Also, this isn't a true noir, because the ending is too hopeful. Despite the abundant gunplay, there's no innocent guy being led to his doom ("Out of the Past") or murderous lovers betraying each other ("Double Indemnity"). Nevertheless, the white-hot romantic tension of "Road House" makes it a must-see, as does the coiled-spring intensity of all the performances. Cornel Wilde fills the bill admirably in the "tall, dark, and handsome" regular guy role, and Celeste Holm is her usual excellent self in the wisecracking sidekick role. But the two who really burn up the screen are Ida Lupino, as the seen-it-all, done-it-all nightclub singer Lily Stevens, and Richard Widmark as Jefty Robbins, owner of the eponymous road house, who has a burning passion for Lupino and will stop at nothing to avenge himself against her and Wilde for the sin of falling for each other. It's fair to say that Lupino dominates the first half of the movie, and Widmark the second half. Lupino is endlessly fascinating as she sings old-time hits such as "Again" and "One for My Baby" in her husky, atonal but compelling voice, a kind of female Bob Dylan or Randy Newman. (As Holm's character says, "She does more without a voice than anyone I've ever heard!") As for Widmark, toward the end he outdoes even his landmark debut performance in "Kiss of Death" for menacing, mesmerizing lunacy. Lupino and Widmark are so brilliant in this movie that it's a tragedy they worked together only this one time. But at least we have "Road House" as testimony to their brilliance. Don't miss the featurette on this DVD about Lupino and Widmark, who--though very different in personality--were two of the most likable people in the history of Hollywood.

(16 May 2012)

Another good film noir

This review is from: Road House (Fox Film Noir) (DVD) Ah, the joy of an old film noir! It's wonderful to watch a crimestory without being offended by gory, bloody scenes and shocking language of present-day Hollywood movies. I recommend this filmalso for the pleasure of watching great movie stars at their bestand looking soooo young!

mauricebarringer (06 May 2012)

Widmark and Lupino are phenomenal

What a tremendously under-rated film classic. The wonderful Ida Lupinowas as sultry and sensual as one could get, especially in the 1940s.How about the scene at the lake when she improvised and made her ownbathing suit. I would have liked to see her in a bikini. She turned aroutine role as a hard luck woman singer into a great performance.Richard Widmark is one of my all-time favorite actors. Why he has neverreceived a Career Achievement Award from the Academy is mind boggling.No actor in film history has given so many memorable performancesportraying sociopaths and psychopaths.I will skip the fine plot as so many others have explained it but willsay that this is a great film noir that holds up exceptionally welleven 60 years later. Cornel Wilde and Celeste Holm were alsooutstanding in less flamboyant roles. Holm was superb as the goodhearted woman who was in love with Wilde who thought of her only as agood friend. Wilde gave a fine naturalistic performance as the stableand hard working good guy whom Widmark turned against out of jealousyand eventually hatred.The direction, screenplay and cinematography were also top notch, and"Again" is a classic song that has endured the march of time and isstill played on jazz and oldie stations regularly.Come on Acadamy! Give the great Widmark a Career Achievement Award.

jotix100 (05 May 2012)

"Again, this couldn't happen again..."

The main attraction here are the amazing performances by Ida Lupino,and Richard Widmark. Jean Negulesco was able to capture it all in thistale of passion gone wrong.Lily Stevens arrives at Jefty's Road House to entertain in the loungearea. Jefty, has offered her 250 a week, a sum that in Pete Morgan'sestimation is a lot more than the place can afford. Pete offers moneyto send Lily back to Chicago because he senses she will bring chaosbetween him and Jefty, the man who has been generous to him and who, hefeels, will fall again for this chanteuse of mysterious origins.Thus begins one of the best films of that era. It's a noir because ofthe elements, but actually it might be considered a semi-noir sinceit's not an obvious one. Ida Lupino had a way for 'talking' her songs at the Road House. She hada style that got to the lounge patrons that heard her sing. Herinterpretation of "It's a quarter to three" is done faultlessly. Hervoice, a combination of alcohol and the cigarettes she positions at thepiano's lid while singing, contribute to create a portrait of thesultry woman she is. She sings "Again" twice; her rendition of thatsong makes it impossible for anyone else to sing it without comparingit to what Ms. Lupino did with it, much better!Richard Widmark was the favorite looney in the 40s. His acting wasalways an exercise on intensity. He always played the weird roles onthe screen. In "Road House" he appears almost normal until he realizesthat Lily will never love him. He has to get his revenge on Pete whohas stolen Lily's affection away from him. Jefty will stop at nothingin order to get her back. Thus he accuses Pete Morgan, his loyalfriend, of stealing the week's receipts.Cornel Wilde plays a passive role as Pete. He too falls for the charmsof Lily, but at the same time, Lily wants him because she sees in himher own salvation from joints and a ticket to a normal life. CelesteHolm is the other principal. Her role is not as well defined. Sheshould be resentful of Lily, but she is a kind soul who accepts thefact that Pete never loved her. Ultimately, she is the one who solvesthe puzzle of the missing money."Road House" should be seen more often.

(05 May 2012)

Ida Lupino in all her glory

Ida Lupino is superb in this highly entertaining noir gem. What makes her much more interesting than her better-celebrated peers (Crawford and Davis among them) is the subtleties she injects into her nuanced acting. I also enjoyed her singing and piano-playing.

(04 May 2012)

Lupino is terrific

Lupino gives a premier league performance. Take her rendition of "One forMyBaby, One More For The Road": it's an object lesson in how aconventionallybeautiful voice is NOT required in order to triumph as a singer. Althoughshe croaks the number rather than sings it, she acts it as if thecharacterhas felt every ounce of suffering in the lyric - and then some.

Michael O'Keefe (29 April 2012)

A fractured love triangle.

Very good Film-Noir from 20th Century Fox. Richard Widmark is Jefty,the owner of a combination road house and bowling alley along theU.S.-Canadian border. His manager Pete(Cornel Wilde)worries about theprofit-loss ratio and really gets upset with talent Jefty hires for thebar. But Lily Stevens(Ida Lupino)is no doubt different from theprevious entertainment. She is a sultry, smoky voiced torch singer thatis hard to ignore. The independent no-nonsense Lily has Pete falling inlove with her and when borderline-psycho Jefty also has romantic ideasof her, he frames Pete on a robbery charge to flaunt his control inattempts to separate the two.Lupino sings four tunes with the better being "One For My Baby" and"Again". I never realized she could sing; more than likely one of herbest performances. Widmark is almost sinister, while Wilde is wooden.Also in the cast: Celeste Holm, O.Z. Whitehead and Ian Beranger.

(28 April 2012)

Gorgeous movie, but the worst audio commentary ever

This review is from: Road House (Fox Film Noir) (DVD) I know a friend who likes to comment on good pictures' first five minutes. She would be absolutely delighted!!! You see a film noir which is tempted to be more realistic and tougher than some pictures several years before, you are introduced to the four main characters, you learn to know all their relevant characteristics and the upcoming relations by little hints, their way to use their voice, the dialogue, some brilliantly photographed superimpositions, etc...The rest of the movie will not always keep that density, but is very good, with an excellent Ida Lupino as a nightclub singer who maybe has not a classically beautiful voice, but "she's a cutie with more than beauty, she's got a lot of personality" and she would pass any round of a TV casting show better than 10.000 of the would-be-starlets you can see in such shows.Well, and all this is missed by the audio commentators, who giggle to themselves and annoy us with silly anecdotes and praisings of each other. I really got furious. I admit of course that anyone has his expectations, but I would have liked a deep-focus analysis of the movie, which you won't find here.However, the picture itself and its technical quality are excellent.

Bacardi1 (26 April 2012)

Ida's Singing Should Have Been Dubbed

This could have been a top-notch film noir classic if it wasn't for IdaLupino's god-awful singing, made even more laughable by everyone in thefilm waxing rhapsodic over her re: how fabulous she was. Flat, off-key,talking thru most of it - you name it. Neither sexy nor torchy. Eventhe worst Grade D picture singers sound better. Can't help but feelthat once again, another example of a star's ego ending up ruining whatcould have been a very nice little film.Cornel Wilde does his usual shtick, which rarely changes film-to-film;but as usual, Richard Widmark shines in a role that he does best.But all in all, a nice little film.

(25 April 2012)

One of Widmark's good ones!!!

I am a huge Richard Widmark fan and love seeing him play the psycho. He doesn't disappoint in this movie. All of the supporting cast are very good in this one too. Nobody could play the laughing or giggling creep better than Richard could. Ida Lupino was great too but I'm not sure about her singing? Cornel Wilde does a good job as the partner Widmark turns on. I totally enjoyed this one but I'm a sucker for the older B&W movies.

(23 April 2012)

The mating season

ROAD HOUSE sets a dark mood with plenty of night scenes. I'm usually turned away from a film having too many night scenes. Half the time you can't tell who's who and what's they doing. Nothing unclear in ROAD HOUSE. Director, Jean Negulesco, deserves a gold star for handling the lighting in those scenes. I give another gold star to Celeste Holm, the girl that you want for a "friend." The plot gets down to the simply fact of the mating season. I was a little concerned that Widmark's evil propensity wasn't foreshadowed during the earlier stages of the film, but it was acceptable to believe that he just flipped his cork. The best part of the movie was perky Ida Lupino's torch song singing effort beginning with "Set 'em up Joe," and "Again." The soundtrack was marvelous.

ZenVortex (23 April 2012)

Classic Film Noir, Brilliant Acting

The lovely Ida Lupino and curiously handsome Richard Widmark deliverbrilliant performances in this classic film noir about a love trianglein a small town bowling alley. Widmark is cast as the owner of the bowling alley who hires Lupino tosing in the bar. We learn that this is his way of meeting new women sohis best friend, convincingly portrayed by Cornell Wilde, tries to dumpLupino at the railway station before she causes any trouble. Of course,she refuses to leave and ends up in a love triangle with Widmark andWilde.Lupino exudes star quality in a truly amazing performance as a sultry,world-weary night club singer in search of redemption. Her mannerisms,vocalizations, and facial expressions are superbly nuanced and defineher as one the best actresses of her generation, comparable to BetteDavis. Widmark gives a mesmerizing performance as a repressed psychopath whonaively deludes himself into believing Lupino will marry him, then goesoff the deep end when he discovers she is in love with his best friend.In the final scenes, he explodes in a virtuoso display of controlledinsanity that characterized his early career as an actor. The direction and cinematography are excellent with beautifullycomposed shots and lingering close-ups of the stars. There is somesharp dialog and the rest of the cast deliver convincing performances,making this an outstanding film noir. Highly recommended.

jpdoherty (21 April 2012)

Silly Noir

20th Century Fox's ROAD HOUSE 1948) is not only quite a silly noir butis an implausible unmitigated bore of a movie. Full of unconvincingcardboard characters it is blandly written by Edward Chodorov, who alsoproduced, and is surprisingly directed by Jean Negulesco from whom onewould expect a great deal more. Miscast is Ida Lupino in the leadingrole! Lupino, a lady who was capable of exuding about as much sexappeal as a blood orange, is here under the illusion she is RitaHayworth playing the part of a sexy bar-room Torch Singer. HandsomeCornel Wilde as her lover is as wooden as usual and totally wasted isthe talented Celeste Holm who's role is little more than a bit part.Then we have Richard Widmark who has the most ludicrously written partin the picture! When we first see him he is a nice O.K. guy who runs athriving Road House. Then suddenly - and for reasons that are notsufficiently made clear - he becomes insanely jealous of his manager(Wilde) when the latter tells him that he is about to marry Lupino. Yousee Widmark wanted to marry her himself but - 1) He never proposed toher - 2) They never had a relationship (they don't even have anythingthat resembles a love scene together) and - 3)without telling anyone(including Lupino) he has obtained a marriage license. Wow! So howWidmark was to achieve something like wedded bliss with Lupino aftersuch a "courtship" is anybody's quess. Huh? Well, when Widmark goes topieces over the whole affair so also does the movie I am sorry to say.From here on the Widmark character turns unintentionally comical! Hislosing his marbles so early in the proceedings is totally implausibleand unconvincing. He finally goes over the edge, becomes completelyderanged and with a few Tommy Udo sniggers, he laughably goes gunningfor poor Cornel Wilde before biting the dust himself. And if that isn'tenough of a mess of a movie for you - the whole thing is marred withthe constant use of studio sets and indoor exteriors. There's not asingle outdoor shot in the entire film! Added to this - 95% of thepicture takes place at night.Besides an interactive press book and a photo gallery the extras alsoincludes a featurette "Widmark & Lupino At Fox". Whatever prompted sucha documentary is beyond me! As far as I know they were never beforetogether in a movie at Fox or anywhere else for that matter! Howeverthe featurette is hosted by such heavy hitter know-alls as RobertOsborne, Eddie Muller, Rudy Belhmer and a few others who amazingly heappraise on this wearisome and cringe - inducing affair. All I can saythen is it must be me I guess. But "Road House" up to now was aforgotten and buried Noir and as far as I am concerned it should haveremained so.Fox would do better if they issued DVDs of superior and thus farelusive Widmark movies like "Down To The Sea In Ships" (1949) and thecolourful "Red Skies Of Montana" (1952).

mgrindberg (20 April 2012)

Widmark, Wilde, and Lupino

Richard Widmark gives a superior performance in this film as anunstable owner of a road house that's located in a small communityclose to the Canadian border. He inherited the business from hisfather. His lifelong friend, played by Cornel Wilde, works for himmanaging the business. The two are equals until Ida Lupino shows up asan out of town singer and pianist who's hired by Widmark to provideentertainment. Her presence is what causes the extreme strain thatbreaks Widmark's and Wilde's friendship for good. The settings areunique, with a taut finale out in the woods, and as well a courtroomscene. Widmark gets best actor honors (in my opinion). He slips soeasily into his character's unpredictability, and goes from cool andcunning to sadistic, which is even more than he did in Kiss Of Death,where the character was entirely crazy and sadistic. Lupino, whoapparently had zero vocal range, is great as the sultry singer fromChicago with a troubled past. For such an idyllic setting as the RoadHouse is in, miles of forests and lots of lakes, the film noircharacters provide a great contrast. Directed by Jean Negulesco andshot by Joseph LaShelle, the film looks and moves quite crisply. Whilethe finale is really well done, it's not as if the viewer suffersthrough lapses before that point, as the tension between Wilde andWidmark, and Wilde's romance with Lupino are well enough placed to keepthe punches coming.

(18 April 2012)

Mediocre menage a quatre

Jean Negulesco's "Road House" is an average film noir melodrama that gains some credence due to the acting performances of Richard Widmark and Ida Lupino.Widmark plays Jefty Robbins adolescent minded rich guy and owner of a roadhouse and bowling alley in the backwoods near the Canadian border. His best friend and manager of the place is Pete Morgan played by an athletic and muscular Cornel Wilde. Wilde doesn't approve when Widmark hires life hardened and gravelly voiced Lily Stevens played by Ida Lupino as entertainment for the club. Not a bad opinion as Lupino has no voice.Widmark immediately falls for Lupino but the feeling isn't mutual when he proposes to her. She has deep feelings for Wilde who had previously been attached to roadhouse cashier Susie played by Celeste Holm. While Widmark is away on a hunting trip, Wilde and Lupino's relationship blooms. When Widmark learns of this he becomes insanely jealous.Widmark frames Wilde for the theft of $2000 for which he's unjustly convicted. In lieu of a prison sentence , Widmark convinces the judge to parole Wilde to him. Now he can torment Wilde and Lupino holding them as virtual prisoners to cater to his psychotic whims.Widmark, a film noir master, displays his talent in portraying another character with a twisted personality. Lupino also nicely plays a classic tough broad with a tender heart in this film.

planktonrules (18 April 2012)

Despite quite a few plot holes, this is an enjoyable Noir thriller

There is a lot to like about ROAD HOUSE. The plot idea is very good andit's enjoyable throughout. The only problem is that the film reallylooked like the script should have been polished a bit first as thereare just a few too many plot holes--particularly at the end.The style of this film is rather Film Noir, though it doesn't featurethe usual gangsters or cops. Instead, Ida Lupino plays a world-wearylounge singer who acts much like your typical Noir femme fatale. She'sa chain-smoking and smart-mouthed dame through and through, thoughlater in the film she inexplicably changed to a "nice girl in badgirl's clothing". This is a bit unexpected because I assumed the filmwas about how she trapped poor Cornell Wilde in her evil clutches--butthe film takes a much more unexpected detour. You see, once Lupinocatches Wilde, their boss (Richard Widmark) oddly switches from a niceguy to a calculating psycho bent on destroying the lovers. This iswhere the plot really kicks into high gear and the next 20 minutes ofthe film are exciting.Unfortunately, the ending where there is a final confrontation doesn'twork at all because again and again there are plot problems. Widmark isobviously crazy and dangerous, but once Wilde beats him up, he doesn'teven bother to tie up Widmark or plug him to make sure he doesn'treturn for round 2--which he naturally does. Again and again they needto fight off this mad man even though one time should have been enough!Despite the hole-riddled ending, it's still worth seeing because ofLupino's and Widmarks' performances. She is great as the 2nd-ratesinger (singing her own songs with a decent but obviously less thanstellar voice--which was perfect for the role) and she exuded sleazysex appeal. Widmark was interesting because he combined two totallydifferent performances in one film--one a nice guy and the other highlyreminiscent of his psycho from KISS OF DEATH! A great film? Nah. But anenjoyable bit of Noir, that's for sure.

blanche-2 (17 April 2012)

Great cast in '40s noir

Richard Widmark, Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde and Celeste Holm are all inthe "Road House," a 1948 film noir directed by Jean Negulesco. Widmark,fresh from his career-making role of Tommy Udo, plays Jefty, who owns aroad house. His friend from the service, Wilde, runs the place. Jeftyis gone on Lily (Lupino) but can't get to first base and hires her as asinger. Unfortunately, she falls for Pete. Jefty frames Pete forrobbery to keep him and Lily from leaving town to get married, and thenarranges with the judge to have Pete paroled to him. To say he's up tosomething is an understatement.The revelation here is Lupino as a sexy torch singer. She does her ownsinging here, husky, seductive, very stylized and smoking. She'swonderful. Widmark is vicious as only Widmark could be, and Wilderepeats his "Leave Her to Heaven" nice guy as victim role. Celeste Holmlooks great and does her usual excellent job as a woman attracted toPete who takes pity on him and Lily just the same.My only criticism is that there is a scene where Lily turns on theradio to a classical station where a soprano is singing "Einsam imTruben Tagen." She tells Pete that she studied opera, and her fatherhad great ambition for her. With that whiskey and cigarette soaked setof vocal cords - I doubt it.

Jem Odewahn (16 April 2012)

Pure melodrama, but very good

"Road House" is another of those slinky noir films from the 40's, andin filming this crackling but melodramatic script the directorbenefited from the talents of a great cast. Ida Lupino is Lily, anightclub singer who comes to the unhinged (but we don't know it yet)Jefty's (Widmark) bar. He soon falls hard for her, but she's got thehots for his long-time pal and right-hand man, Pete (Cornel Wilde, inone of the better performances he ever gave). Add to this mix thelovely Celeste Holm, playing Ann, who also works at Jefty's and isquietly in love with Wilde's character. Lupino and Wilde enjoy aweekend rendezvous when the controlling Jefty goes away hunting...butwhen he comes back all hell breaks loose.This noir has plenty of sharp dialogue, and the stars deliver it withaplomb. Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark are always so darnwatchable--and their scenes crackle with force and fury. Lupino's justthe right fit for Lily, a woman who has been dragged through the gutter(and with a voice to match), but underneath is vulnerable. MaybeWidmark was told to overdo the psychotic laugh he introduced in theprevious year's "Kiss Of Death"...he is terrific but has a tendency toover-act in this film. Celeste Holm always equips herself well but herrole is rather thankless. I liked this noir, even if was verymelodramatic. It's got plenty of atmosphere (the cigarette burns on thepiano), mixed-up characters, blurry motivations and hot moments. Thereare many better noir films out there, but "Road House" is well worth avisit.

Review total: 20, showing from 1 to 20

Buy Road House (1948) Movie. Watch online or Download