House of Numbers (1957 film)

House of Numbers is a 1957 American film noir, based on author Jack Finney's 1957 novel of the same name, starring Jack Palance and Barbara Lang.

In the film, Palance plays two similar-looking brothers: Bill and his younger brother Arnie Judlow. Bill is a good citizen, trying to help his ex-professional boxer brother, Arnie, convicted of murder, escape from San Quentin State Prison to return to Arnie's wife, Ruth, played by Lang.

The movie was filmed on location at San Quentin and set in San Quentin and Mill Valley, California, then the home city of author Finney.

Plot
Arnie Judlow (Jack Palance) is an imprisoned gangster. During a prison visit, Bill Judlow, his law-abiding brother, switches places, allowing himself to be incarcerated as the real criminal walks free. Ruth Judlow (Barbara Lang), wife of one of the Judlow boys, wavers in her loyalties.

Cast

 * Jack Palance as Arnie Judlow / Bill Judlow
 * Harold J. Stone as Henry Nova - Prison Guard
 * Edward Platt as The Warden
 * Barbara Lang as Mrs. Ruth Judlow
 * Frank Watkins as Brother
 * Joe Conley as Convict in line

Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $500,000 in the US and Canada and $600,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $92,000.