Monday, January 17, 2022

Stranger on the Third Floor

Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 film noir starring Peter Lorre and John McGuire. Elisha Cook Jr. is also in this, and it's always good to see him. Whether or not it's actually noir is debatable, but that's what Wikipedia says.


Noir of the Week calls it "The Film that Gave "Birth" to the Style called Film Noir". Time Out calls it "a remarkable film". DVD Talk calls it "a masterpiece in miniature." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 86%.

14 comments:

  1. I've never heard of the noir style film. Good example shared.

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    1. Oh, film noir is a wonderful style! Mostly 40s/50s movies if I recall correctly, and heavy on the character types. This may have been the film that kicked things off, but some of the best films ever are films noir :)

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  2. ...Peter Lorre is the only name that I recognize.

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    1. He's great, isn't he! Elisha Cook is one we always look for, too.

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    1. Yes, I'll watch anything with him in it :)

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  4. The first few moments look very dark! I doubt if there's complete agreement on which film was really the first of this style!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. This one seems less well known than some others.

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  5. Peter Lorre. Loved him. I always love the music and credits of noir films!

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    1. That voice! And he had a nice comic touch when it was called for. I agree about the music :)

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  6. Not a film I have heard of, but thanks for highlighting it.

    All the best Jan

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  7. If I have an hour or so after I've caught up, I will watch this.

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    1. I hope you enjoy it. I thought it was interesting to see where noir is traced back to.

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