Watch Stranger on the Third Floor For Free

Simply A Masterpiece

Just perfect...

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Okay, this was an interesting movie; but, despite having top billing, Peter Lorre barely shows up in this very short flick. He definitely doesn't stick around long enough to have a performance.The story revolves around a news reporter who has to testify in a trial, and a secretary, who is the man's fiancée. The woman has doubts about the trial's verdict and blames the reporter. The reporter feels no guilt about the situation. Circumstances seem to prove the defendants guilt.Until he ends up in exactly the same situation as the defendant. A mysterious stranger is the murderer, but no one will believe the reporter.A short movie. Definitely not the best of Peter Lorre's films.

After discovering a dead man with his throat slit, reporter Mike Ward (John McGuire) proves to be the key witness in the murder trial, putting away the accused to face the death penalty. His fiancée Jane (Margaret Tillachet) harbours doubts about the man's guilt, causing Ward to question himself and what he really saw. Returning to his apartment, he has a brief encounter with a strange man (Peter Lorre) who he sees lurking around the building, and after finding his neighbour murdered in the same way, he cowers into a paranoid and disillusioned state. When Ward is arrested on suspicion of the murder, Jane wanders the streets searching for this strange man with bulging eyes, thick lips, and a white scarf.Although it wasn't released until after similar films of the genre, Stranger on the Third Floor is considered to be the first 'true' film noir. The classic tale of an innocent man out to prove his innocence is given a slight spin with a short central section depicting Ward's descent into panic. This is punctured with a quite strange dream sequence that is filmed quite nicely given the obvious budget limitations. These limitations tend to damage the film's potential impact, with McGuire's quite outlandish performance making it disappointing that director Boris Ingster couldn't afford a better lead. With very literal narration, he flails around as if locked in an operatic Russian silent, feeling it important to inform the audience "I'm tired," after yawning and stretching.The extremely dull first two-thirds of the film spend most of the time tip-toeing around the strongest plot thread, which is Jane's search for Peter Lorre's creepy stranger. Lorre saves the film, having been a veteran of German Expressionism, is perfectly suited to the film's overwrought, dramatic style. His soft voice and small stature make him barely imposing, but subtly unnerving. Running at just over an hour, Stranger was never intended to be challenging, but a simple thriller, and that's exactly what it is. But it's also frightfully pedestrian, offering none of the sleaze or sweat I usually love from B-grade noirs. It certainly had a key role to play in the development of one of the most successful genres in American cinema history, but this, combined with Lorre's memorable but sadly brief appearance, are the only reasons why this film is fleetingly remembered.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

The reporter Michael 'Mike' Ward (John McGuire) is promoted in the newspaper when he becomes the key witness of the murder trial of Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr.), a young man that he had seen threatening the victim Nick in his coffee shop and then leaving the place with Nick with sliced neck. Joe swears innocence and despite the circumstantial evidence, he is convicted and sentenced to the electric chair. Mike's fiancée Jane (Margaret Tallichet) feels uncomfortable with the sentence and believes that Joe might be innocent. Mike loses his confidence and feels remorse for his testimony accusing Joe. One night, Mike brings Jane to his room and his nosy neighbor Albert Meng (Charles Halton) brings the landlord that expels Jane from the boarding house. Mike threatens Meng and later he sees a stranger with bulging eyes (Peter Lorre) on his floor that runs away from him. He has a weird nightmare and when he wakes up, he finds that Meng is murdered with sliced neck similar to Nick. Mike calls the police and is arrested as prime suspect of both murders. Jane seeks out the stranger on the streets to save her fiancé. "Stranger on the Third Floor" is considered the first film-noir of the cinema history. The story is engaging, supported by magnificent cinematography, and the sequence of Mike's nightmare is fantastic. Peter Lorre is creepy and the conclusion is naive on the present days. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Homem dos Olhos Esbugalhados" ("The Man with Bulging Eyes")

The style of Strangers on the Third Floor is striking, defined by the film noir style it was made in, however perhaps not as interesting as I had expected. The plot is fulfilling in general, however the film feels as if suspense should build in not knowing who the murderer is, yet we know all along. That said, Peter Lorry genuinely creeps me out. Lorry's performance leaves you wondering which is creepier: the fact that he is a murderer and is creeping around in the lives of the other residents, Mike and Jane, or the fact that the character is so eerily aware of his crime, and psychologically warped in this way. Nonetheless, the film is most enjoyable in its display of noir characteristics such as the main character's stream of consciousness. For example, as the character Mike trails along the street and we hear the stream of thoughts going through Mike's head, we can see where the style often spoofed in cartoons and the like was born. The character walks along side the local diner and you begin to wonder if this concept was more ground breaking at its induction, as now it is often used within the bounds of comedy. In the long run the film was a little mediocre as the female lead is constantly whining helplessly as the plot thickens. Made only a year after Hollywood's most famous year in film, Stranger on the Third Floor leaves you feeling as if something is missing. The gritty style of the film is quite interesting, and overall it is quite entertaining, although maybe not a favorite. What gives the film this feel isn't obvious. The film suggests that although one man may be the killer, perhaps hate for a person can be just as powerful as the main character considers the fact that he once threatened the victim quite harshly. By the end though, the man who we knew, and the characters knew, was the murderer ended up still being the murderer despite the feeling that perhaps there would be a surprise in the outcome.