A House Is Not a Home is a 1964 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 loosely based on the 1953 autobiography by madam

Pimp

A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...

 Polly Adler

Polly Adler

Pearl "Polly" Adler was an American madam and author of Russian-Jewish origin.The oldest of nine children of Gertrude Koval and Morris Adler, Polly Adler emigrated to America from Yanow, Russia, near the Polish border at the age of 14 just before World War I. The war stopped her family from...

. The film stars Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...

, Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor (actor)

Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...

, Cesar Romero

Cesar Romero

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...

, and Kaye Ballard

Kaye Ballard

Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...

.

Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch

Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...

 made her film debut in a small role as a prostitute.

Plot

Polly Adler is a poor Polish immigrant who works in a sweatshop

Sweatshop

Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...

. She loses her job after she is sexually assaulted

Sexual assault

Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....

 by a coworker, for which her boss blames her.

Her next apartment is in a building owned by Frank Costigan, a gangster. Frank approves of Polly's attractive girlfriends and pays her to have the ladies go out socially with his friends.

One thing leads to another and soon Polly is the madam of a bordello. She has genuine feelings for a musician, Casey Booth, but does not reveal her true occupation to him.

Costigan becomes the top enforcer for mob boss Lucky Luciano

Lucky Luciano

Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...

 and backs Polly's business, which ends up on Park Avenue

Park Avenue (Manhattan)

Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....

 offering high-class call girls. Casey proposes marriage, so Polly finally confesses what she does for a living. He is willing to overlook it, but Polly feels it is for the best if they part.

Cast

Actor	Role
Shelley Winters Shelley Winters Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...	Polly Adler
Robert Taylor Robert Taylor (actor) Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...	Frank Costigan
Cesar Romero Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...	Lucky Luciano Lucky Luciano Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
Ralph Taeger Ralph Taeger Ralph Taeger is an American actor who starred in three television series during the 1960s.-Biography:Born in Queens, New York, USA,from German speaking parents Fredrich and Olga Siefert. Taeger's first career choice was professional baseball, and he did play briefly on a farm team for the Los...	Casey Booth
Kaye Ballard Kaye Ballard Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...	Sidonia
Broderick Crawford Broderick Crawford Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...	Harrigan
Mickey Shaughnessy Mickey Shaughnessy Joseph Michael "Mickey" Shaughnessy was an Irish American character actor who specialized in playing lovable, but not-too-bright lugs...	Police Sergeant Riordan
Jesse White Jesse White (actor) Jesse White was an American television, film, and stage character actor. He is best remembered for portraying the Maytag repairman in television commercials, a role he played from 1967 to 1988.-Life and career:...	Rafferty
Lisa Seagram	Madge
Meri Welles	Lorraine
Connie Gilchrist Connie Gilchrist Connie Gilchrist was a stage, film and television character actress.Born Rose Constance Gilchrist in Brooklyn, New York...	Hattie Miller
Constance Dane	Laura
Allyson Ames	Gwen
Lewis Charles	Angelo
Steve Peck	Vince
Sandra Grant Sandra Grant Bennett Sandra Grant Bennett is an American actress, most famous for marrying singing legend Tony Bennett and dating Joe DiMaggio for many years after he divorced Marilyn Monroe. She had two daughters with Tony Bennett...	Call Girl
Raquel Welch Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...	Call Girl
Edy Williams Edy Williams Edwina Beth "Edy" Williams is an American television and film actress.-Early years:Born in Utah and raised in Oregon and Southern California, Williams began her career as a model and beauty pageant contestant...	Call Girl
Charles Fredericks Charles Fredericks (actor) Charles Fredericks was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He was particularly known for his highly prolific career in B-Western movies and television Westerns during the 1950s and 1960s...	Bert

Award nominations

Edith Head

Edith Head

Edith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...

 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White.