Strangers in the Night

19441944
ApprovedApproved
56m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

682

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

55,680

20,313

Virginia Grey, William Terry, and Helene Thimig in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Crime Drama Film-Noir

A lonely, mentally-unbalanced woman invents a fictitious daughter and has the "daughter" write to a Marine stationed in the South Pacific. When the soldier returns to the States, he goes to ... Read allA lonely, mentally-unbalanced woman invents a fictitious daughter and has the "daughter" write to a Marine stationed in the South Pacific. When the soldier returns to the States, he goes to look up his pen pal and is told by the "mother" that the daughter has moved away. An acqua... Read allA lonely, mentally-unbalanced woman invents a fictitious daughter and has the "daughter" write to a Marine stationed in the South Pacific. When the soldier returns to the States, he goes to look up his pen pal and is told by the "mother" that the daughter has moved away. An acquaintance of the women tells the soldier the truth, and in a rage the "mother" kills her. To... Read all

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

682

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

55,680

20,313

Director
- Anthony Mann
Writers
- Philip MacDonald(original story)
- Bryant Ford(screenplay)
- Paul Gangelin(screenplay)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Photos8

Virginia Grey and William Terry in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Helene Thimig in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Edith Barrett, Virginia Grey, and Helene Thimig in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Edith Barrett and William Terry in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Linda Stirling in Strangers in the Night (1944)

Trivia
The book in the film, "A Shropshire Lad", was an actual book published in 1896. Written by English poet A.E. Housman, it consisted of 63 poems.

Goofs
Johnny has just had major back surgery, but when he takes off his shirt his back has no scars of any kind.

User reviews17

Review

Featured review

7/10

'Rosemary's Mother'

A seriously wounded Marine is given the will to live again through letters from a girl he's never met. He arranges to go and visit her when he's home on leave. Aboard a train to where Rosemary lives he mistakenly thinks for a moment that their paths have physically crossed before he arrives. A woman sitting opposite is carrying a copy of 'A Shropshire Lad' book of poems by Alfred Edward Houseman. That is the very book that had brought about the correspondence between the marine and Rosemary.

The woman on the train is Dr Ross who has just become the doctor for Rosemary's household. As Johnny the Marine is about to explain his mistake to Dr Ross the train crashes and many of the passengers are in need of her medical treatment. This brings these two strangers close and romance would have seemed to have blossomed if it wasn't Johnny's love for Rosemary who had saved his life through those letters. But Rosemary is not at home when Johnny finally gets to his destination.

Rosemary's house is on a remote clifftop. There lives Rosemary's mother and her nervous companion Ivy Miller. Rosemary becomes a mystery and her disabled mother is shown to be the kind who may live in a fantasy world for some reason. Tension builds as 'Rosemary's mother' becomes capable of endangering others in her bid to keep the romance between her daughter and Johnny alive. Not one moment is lost in this deft telling of a poor deranged woman who needs to imagine an alternative reality for herself.

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