Stranger On the Third Floor
Closed CaptioningBoris Ingster
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Plot Summary
Critics and fans agree: Stranger on the Third Floor is the little B picture that launched one of the greatest movements in cinema history: film noir. Peter Lorre plays the eerie title role in this once-neglected gem about a reporter (John McGuire) whose testimony sentences a small-time loser (Elisha Cook Jr.) to the electric chair for murder. When the reporter himself is fingered in a second murder, he realizes both crimes are the work of a furtive stranger – but will anyone believe him? All the shadowy, shivery,angled angst of German Expressionism is here, married to the hard-boiled moral ambiguity that marks the genre. The highlight: a suspense-and-sweat-drenched dream sequence that jolted 1940 audiences into an exciting new way of looking at the movies.
Customer Reviews
Good Movie - A Comfortable Noir
I'm a big fan of Noir. I've seen a bunch but missed this one.
Given the time period this was filmed (1940) and its German Expressionism mode (I'm not a Film Buff but I understand the perspective) there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes that are priceless. The court room scene is really something. Lorre may be at his best here, which is something to say given his many other excellent roles, but in this movie he trully achieves "chilling".
Given the rental fee this is an absolute steal!
Peter Lorre makes the movie
Didn't care for this movie. A bit too much going on and strays too much from point. The 15 mins or so Peter Lorre is in it, is classic Peter Lorre. Watched the ending twice just to admire his classic & unique style.
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- $14.99
- Genre: Drama
- Released: 1940
- Stranger on the Third Floor © 1940 RKO Pictures, Inc. Package Design © 2010 Turner Entertainment Co. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.