Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Genre: Filmnoir / Drama
Duration: 64 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Boris Ingster
Stars: Peter Lorre, John McGuire and Margaret Tallichet
IMDb score:
6,8 (5.028)
Releasedate: 16 August 1940
Stranger on the Third Floor plot
The statement of an ambitious reporter is decisive for the conviction of a young man accused of murder. However, the journalist changes his mind when he is himself chased by a crazed killer in his dreams.
Actors and actresses
The Stranger
Michael Ward
Jane
District Attorney
Joe Briggs
Albert Meng
Mrs. Kane
Martin
The Judge
Briggs' Defense Attorney
Reviews & comments
Bobbejaantje
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- 2306 messages
- 2094 votes
Really enjoyed this film noir. It is a fairly short film (just under 64 min.) in which the story is completed at a solid pace. The final with Peter Lorre may be handled a bit quickly. There was more to it. I found the lead actors John McGuire and Margaret Tallichet to be very natural with a believable chemistry between them.
Most of the plot consists of flashbacks, and a great expressionistic dream sequence. The rest of the film also excels visually in the creative use of light and shadow as befits a film noir. A small search on the internet tells us that the cinematographer on duty is none other than Nicholas Musuraca, who also worked on the Jacques Tourneur classics Out Of The Past and Cat People.
Summarized. I think it's an exciting film - regarded by certain connoisseurs as one of the first noirs - that stands out for me in terms of excellent camera work and lighting.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Corran
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- 369 messages
- 388 votes
A solid predecessor of the film noir genre, but personally I liked the idea behind the film better than the execution. Our protagonist is convinced who is to blame in a murder case through a lot of circumstantial evidence, but realizes that he himself can also end up on the wrong side of such a case. Good approach, but I found the execution rather wooden. The ending is also a bit too easy. Fortunately, the always cool, but a little too sporadically present Peter Lorre makes up for it.
Translated from Dutch · View original
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22475 messages
- 5145 votes
For a very long time and still very often, The Maltese Falcon from 1941 has been seen as the starting film of the classic film noir period. But just like my first film this month, this is also an alternative choice for the first noir. Both are from 1940. They Drive By Night was a bigger movie and came out just a bit earlier. Stranger On The Third Floor, however, contains many more noir ingredients.
The film is very expressionist and often goes further than most noirs. He really got a big blow from older European films. Especially in the highlight of the film: the dream sequence (also a noir element). It is also teeming with noir style elements: shadows and lighting in general. A voice over that tells the thoughts of one of the characters, supporting characters with eccentric traits, no femme fatale here but the other female noir prototype the lady who proves the innocence of the main character, innocent man must be innocence demonstrate.
This is an example of a movie that could be so wild stylistically because it was just a small movie (just over an hour) for RKO. There are no stars in it (Lorre comes closest and has first billing, but he was never much of a star), Tallichet in the female lead was married to William Wyler and retired from acting not long after this film.
Ingster was a director who had been an assistant to Sergei Eisenstein. In Hollywood he started as a writer, his modest directorial career consists of three films (two noirs and a comedy) and then he became a producer for American TV.
Weakness is the plot which has a few too many coincidences, but this is essential as an early noir example that anyone with an interest should see.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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