Talk About a Stranger (1952)

Director:

David Bradley

Writers:

Charlotte Armstrong (story) and
Margaret Fitts (writer)

Release Date:

18 April 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

Plot:

In an idyllic setting, a likable but dangerously volatile twelve-year-old boy tries to settle a score with his disagreeable, mysterious neighbor.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Stranger | Suspect | Tank | Dog

Cast

George Murphy	...	Robert Fontaine Sr.
Nancy Davis	...	Marge Fontaine
Billy Gray	...	Robert 'Bud' Fontaine Jr.
Lewis Stone	...	William J. Wardlaw
Kurt Kasznar	...	Dr. Paul Mahler, alias Matlock
Anna Glomb	...	Camille Wardlaw

Also Known As:

The Enemy (USA) (original script title)
The Stranger in the House (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #15527) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Redlands, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Shows Some Dreadful Things About The 1950s

This movie is creepy. To a small degree it's creepy in the way it intends: It does seem as if Harper Lee may have seen this before writing her lovely "To Kill A Mockingbird," also about children (here just one child) wrongly suspicious of an odd neighbor.

In that novel, and the movie made of it, the children are very likable. Billy Grey is not, though possibly he was at the time. Maybe if I ha been a little boy seeing this at the time I would have identified.

The fact is, though, the boy at the center of this is very troubled, constantly near the brink of hysterics. When he is acting like a boy, he is shooting a toy gun or making gun sounds. In a time capsule, this aspect would be interesting indeed but today it is distasteful.

The original may well have had to do with the boy's worries about his mother's pregnancy. Would a new little girl (the whole thing seems very misogynistic) or little boy take away all her attention? Something, for sure, has made his kid a bundle of nerves.

Nancy Davis has a thankfully small role and so does George Murphy. Kurt Kazsner as the eponymous stranger is good, as are the supporting players.

The fifties gave us some fine music and art but a little item like this serves to remind, or show someone unfamiliar with that decade, what an unpleasant time it was, also.