Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Boris Ingster

Writer:

Frank Partos (story)

Release Date:

16 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

Rising reporter Michael Ward is a key witness in the murder trial of young Joe Briggs, who is convicted...

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Trial | Dream | Murder | Death Sentence

Cast

Peter Lorre	...	The Stranger
John McGuire	...	Michael 'Mike' Ward
Margaret Tallichet	...	Jane
Charles Waldron	...	District Attorney
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Joe Briggs
Charles Halton	...	Albert Meng
Ethel Griffies	...	Mrs. Kane, Michael's Landlady
Cliff Clark	...	Martin
Oscar O'Shea	...	The Judge
Alec Craig	...	Briggs' Defense Attorney
Otto Hoffman	...	Charles Evans, the Police Surgeon

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PA (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6407)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Peter Lorre owed RKO two days on his contract and was given this role with few scenes and few lines, but received top billing.

Quotes:

The Stranger: I want a couple of hamburgers... and I'd like them raw.

Hardly a starring role for Peter Lorre but....

An interesting film noir with Peter Lorre in more of a cameo as the mysterious villain than a starring role. He appears briefly, lurking darkly as he attempts to avoid a confrontation with the hero, not saying a word until the final ten minutes of the film. With a fairly nondescript cast, Lorre received top billing for what must have been a fairly easy few days' work. The film runs for just 64 minutes and is not unlike one of the Hitchcock tele plays in prime-time television in the 50s. Boris Ingster includes some creative moments with the dream scenes impressive. I particularly liked the angular images of the prison bars with the gruesome shadow of the electric chair. The ending is a little glib for my liking and the plot fits into place just a little too easily resulting in a fairly banal ending to what could have been a more complex psychological thriller - I thought for a while the hero had actually committed the two murders and that may have been a more interesting development than the more obvious ending. This film was shown on ABC television as part of a series of Film Noir and I was impressed with the superb quality of the print. 2 stars out of 5.