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Stranger on the Third Floor

  • 1940
  • Approved
  • 1h 4m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
Peter Lorre, Ethel Griffies, and John McGuire in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
Play trailer1:50
1 Video
86 Photos
CrimeDramaFilm-Noir

An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.

  • Director
    • Boris Ingster
  • Writers
    • Frank Partos
    • Nathanael West
  • Stars
    • Peter Lorre
    • John McGuire
    • Margaret Tallichet
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    4.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Boris Ingster
    • Writers
      • Frank Partos
      • Nathanael West
    • Stars
      • Peter Lorre
      • John McGuire
      • Margaret Tallichet
    • 88User reviews
    • 35Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:50
    Watch Trailer

    Photos86

    Peter Lorre in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Charles Waldron in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Otto Hoffman and Paul McVey in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Ethel Griffies and Charles Halton in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Charles Halton in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Elisha Cook Jr. in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    John McGuire in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Peter Lorre and Margaret Tallichet in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    John McGuire in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Harry C. Bradley, Elisha Cook Jr., and Oscar O'Shea in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
    Peter Lorre in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Peter Lorre
    Peter Lorre
    • The Stranger
    John McGuire
    John McGuire
    • Michael Ward
    Margaret Tallichet
    Margaret Tallichet
    • Jane
    Charles Waldron
    • District Attorney
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    • Joe Briggs
    Charles Halton
    Charles Halton
    • Albert Meng
    Ethel Griffies
    Ethel Griffies
    • Mrs. Kane
    Cliff Clark
    • Martin
    Oscar O'Shea
    Oscar O'Shea
    • The Judge
    Alec Craig
    Alec Craig
    • Defense Attorney
    Otto Hoffman
    Otto Hoffman
    • Police Surgeon
    Bobby Barber
    Bobby Barber
    • Giuseppe
    • (uncredited)
    Vince Barnett
    Vince Barnett
    • Cafe Customer
    • (uncredited)
    Lee Bonnell
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Harry C. Bradley
    Harry C. Bradley
    • Court Clerk
    • (uncredited)
    Lynton Brent
    Lynton Brent
    • Cabdriver at Nick's
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Cheatham
    Jack Cheatham
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Ray Cooke
    Ray Cooke
    • Phil
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Boris Ingster
    • Writers
      • Frank Partos
      • Nathanael West(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Peter Lorre owed RKO two days on his contract and was given this role with few scenes and few lines. He received top billing largely because his was the most recognizable name among the film's principal cast.
    • Goofs
      At the beginning, after Mike joins Jane at the luncheon counter, she is holding a piece of toast in her left hand; i.e., next to Mike, who is sitting on her left. On the next cut, a shot of the mirror showing the reflection of Jane holding the toast and Mike pointing, the image in the mirror shows Jane holding the toast in her hand further away from Mike. Then, when it cuts back to the real them, Jane is no longer holding the toast.
    • Quotes

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

    • Connections
      Featured in Aweful Movies with Deadly Earnest: Stranger on the Third Floor (1969)

    User reviews88

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A B-Movie that transcends its lowly production status
    This is a classic B (not a quality-judgment, but a well-defined production level that existed before the legal consent-decree that ended studio ownership of movie theaters in the early 1950's. B-movies were lower-budget features, between 55 and 70 minutes, using second tier talent - rising actors or ex-stars on their way down - designed to play the bottom half of a double-feature with an A-picture. The studios needed to produce a certain number of these pictures to keep their theaters supplied, and the quality was only of second importance.) Very often, the low budget gave the filmmakers a certain freedom, because the studio wouldn't keep very tight control on a production of such relative unimportance. B- movies sometimes served as the canvases for highly innovative directors and photographers. (Note that the talent behind the camera includes both the (uncredited) work on the script by no less than Nathaniel West, author of DAY OF THE LOCUST, and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca, who went on to shoot such atmospheric classics as CAT PEOPLE, CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, OUT OF THE PAST, and the vastly under-appreciated psychological thriller THE LOCKET.)

    The late William K. Everson, a fanatical private film collector and one of the greatest film historians, used to show this picture in his B-movie class at NYU as an example of "Films made on one set." The one set in this case is the street scene, although the staircase of the apartment building is also prominently featured. The street was, of course, a standing set that appeared in many films. But if you watch the film carefully, you'll realize that many of the other settings are hardly more than lighting effects on a bare sound-stage. The so- called "surrealism" of the film is a triumph of turning low-budget necessity into an effective style.

    As to the claim that it's the first film noir, that's pretty questionable. Film noir really was born in France in the late 30's (there's a reason why the term is French). "Le Jour Se Leve" is probably the best-known example. It was characterized by the dark settings as well as the dark pessimism of its mood, using shadows to separate people, and to fragment the image of the individual. This is certainly an early American film noir, once again because of the spareness of budget forced the use of shadows to hide the lack sets.

    This is a very enjoyable, effective thriller, taking us from a rather mundane, plausible reality into a wild nightmare. Lorre's brief appearances become the engine of the fears, that frightening presence you expect to find in every shadow.
    helpful•78
    4
    • metaphor-2
    • Aug 25, 2004

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 16, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Stranac sa treceg sprata
    • Filming locations
      • RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • RKO Radio Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $171,200 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 4 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Peter Lorre, Ethel Griffies, and John McGuire in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
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