Stranger on the Third Floor
1940 Directed by Boris Ingster
Synopsis
Newspaper reporter John McGuire plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death. A stunning example of cinematic expressionism, cited by many as the first studio film shot in a completely noir style. Peter Lorre virtually reprises the eerily convincing persona he created in Fritz Lang's M, adding an emotion-wringing melancholia to his performance as a paranoid, lost soul. Featuring the astounding art direction of Van Nest Polglase and the brilliant cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca, as well as reportedly uncredited script work by Nathanael West (The Day of the Locust)!
Cast
Genre
Popular reviews
More-
Stranger On The Third Floor is a strange little film - which I guess is fairly apt give its name. It's certainly one of the oddest noirs that I have ever seen, and I would be surprised if I see many odder.
Newspaper journalist John McGuire catches a big break when he is the star witness at the murder trial of Elisha Cook Jr (I never noticed how much Geoffrey Lewis resembles him before). When he is found guilty, McGuire starts to doubt the verdict under pressure from his girlfriend Margaret Tallichet and he starts to doubt his own sanity when he spots Peter Lorre lurking around his apartment building, as well as fretting about the welfare of a nosy…
-
Titles speak most clearly when everything seems so muddled. It takes only a brief glance at the poster to know what one's in for: a dark-horse bout of B-movie pulp fiction. Stranger on the Third Floor must have sounded enticing when it was first released; no one knew what to make of it before John Huston made The Maltese Falcon! Somehow the whole thing's more than a curio. For all of the flaws I could name, this flick's got plenty to say not just about life in transition, but about the emergence of new forms of film-making that gained ground with spiritual successors from Orson Welles and company. Even the cast and crew have legacies of their own.
Lorre's character's,…
-
How to make a good movie with 64mins, a humble cast and a nice idea. This is Stranger on the Third Floor
Once you watch it, you soon realize why they say this is often categorized as the first noir. The cinematography is credited to Mr. Nicholas Musuraca, a Italian who also worked with Jaques Tourneur in his masterpiece Out of The Past. SotTF already holds the typical high contrast of the noir films, as well as a plot about a certain crime and the presence of a psychotic character. It is a simple movie, but it is completely different than every that has been made before.
The best achievement is has, however, is technical. The light changes, the dreamlike sensation, the boldness of the screenplay's subject and the accuracy of this piercing music. Not a masterpiece, but certainly the right source to create one.
-
Film #4 from my 'Classic Film Noir' list
A short and sharp thriller that is one of the three films (along with M & The Maltese Falcon) credited with starting film-noir. It isn't anything special, but the performances are good, the cinematography is interesting and it is only 60 minutes long. Worth checking out.
-
Considered by many the first film noir. Plot and characters are a little naive in my humble opinion, in the vein of Cause For Alarm, but the daring use of lightning and bold camera angles inheritated from german expressionism movement inaugurated a new genre.
-
A newspaper reporter gives evidence at the trial of a murder suspect that helps convict him. He begins to doubt his testimony, especially when a second murder is committed, but the fact that he is linked to both murders means that he becomes a suspect too.
An odd little film noir (often thought to be the first noir, I have no idea if it is or not) with some great dream sequences, and all tied up in just over an hour. 7½/10
Recent reviews
More-
Film #4 from my 'Classic Film Noir' list
A short and sharp thriller that is one of the three films (along with M & The Maltese Falcon) credited with starting film-noir. It isn't anything special, but the performances are good, the cinematography is interesting and it is only 60 minutes long. Worth checking out.
-
Titles speak most clearly when everything seems so muddled. It takes only a brief glance at the poster to know what one's in for: a dark-horse bout of B-movie pulp fiction. Stranger on the Third Floor must have sounded enticing when it was first released; no one knew what to make of it before John Huston made The Maltese Falcon! Somehow the whole thing's more than a curio. For all of the flaws I could name, this flick's got plenty to say not just about life in transition, but about the emergence of new forms of film-making that gained ground with spiritual successors from Orson Welles and company. Even the cast and crew have legacies of their own.
Lorre's character's,…
-
Wow. This is some great film noir. It's all in my wheelhouse as well with surrealism, german expressionism and a hard-boiled, cynical atmosphere. Highly recommended!
-
Considered by many the first film noir. Plot and characters are a little naive in my humble opinion, in the vein of Cause For Alarm, but the daring use of lightning and bold camera angles inheritated from german expressionism movement inaugurated a new genre.
-
A newspaper reporter gives evidence at the trial of a murder suspect that helps convict him. He begins to doubt his testimony, especially when a second murder is committed, but the fact that he is linked to both murders means that he becomes a suspect too.
An odd little film noir (often thought to be the first noir, I have no idea if it is or not) with some great dream sequences, and all tied up in just over an hour. 7½/10 -
Many Film Noir scholars consider this film the first Film Noir coming a year before The Maltese Falcon. There is an amazing dream sequence that should be considered along side the very best surrealistic dream sequences of all.
-
What an interesting surprise. Not a good movie, per se. Overwritten, over acted, over everything...but cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, who also shot Cat People and Clash by Night, among others, basically creates one of the most stylish examples of film noir a year before The Maltese Falcon. Chiaroscuro lighting, harsh angles, and a legitimately surreal and unnerving dream sequence elevate what is essentially a B-roll excuse to force Peter Lorre to finish out his contract.
-
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
How to make a good movie with 64mins, a humble cast and a nice idea. This is Stranger on the Third Floor
Once you watch it, you soon realize why they say this is often categorized as the first noir. The cinematography is credited to Mr. Nicholas Musuraca, a Italian who also worked with Jaques Tourneur in his masterpiece Out of The Past. SotTF already holds the typical high contrast of the noir films, as well as a plot about a certain crime and the presence of a psychotic character. It is a simple movie, but it is completely different than every that has been made before.
The best achievement is has, however, is technical. The light changes, the dreamlike sensation, the boldness of the screenplay's subject and the accuracy of this piercing music. Not a masterpiece, but certainly the right source to create one.