Stranger on the Third Floor

Summary

“Do you know a strange looking man…”

Warner Archive releases some of the greatest pictures of the film noir genre. I enjoy looking each month to see if the Archive is releasing some other crucial film from the Forties that help expand my knowledge of the genre. Dubbed as the first true film noir, Stranger on the Third Floor absolutely deserves the fantastic brand new restoration that Warner has given the film. An RKO picture, this brief film from 1940 is a great early example of the genre that is sure to please newcomers and aficionados of the genre alike. I watched it the other night and enjoyed seeing all the building blocks of the genre I love so much on full display.

Reporter Michael Ward (John McGuire) has found an apartment for himself and his girlfriend Jane (Margaret Tallichet) to move into that is only going to cost him sixty bucks a month. He gives her the news at a diner while also telling her that he just got promoted to star reporter. He has plans to marry her tomorrow if she is free. Michael has been in the news because he is involved in a murder case that has been splashing across the news. He is the star witness for the prosecution. On the stand, Michael explains that he saw Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr.) standing behind a counter at Nick’s Diner near the diner’s owner Nick, whom had been stabbed to death. When Michael saw Briggs, Briggs ran out the back of the place. Michael had also seen Briggs threaten Nick at the restaurant just a few days earlier. On the stand, Briggs claims that he arrived on the scene and Nick was dead. He claims he had no reason to kill him. Jane is conflicted by the testimony of Briggs, because the evidence in the case is all circumstantial. Briggs is found guilty of murder in the first degree. When Nick calls Jane with the news of the verdict, she is distraught. He had been set on Briggs as the killer, but now reasonable doubt has crept into his mind. Returning to his apartment, Nick bumps into a mysterious man (Peter Lorre) sitting outside the building on a stoop. Nick can’t wait to get out of his crummy apartment house where the overbearing neighbor next door Mr. Meng (Charles Halton) complains about his typewriting to the landlord. Nick sees the stranger from the stoop enter Meng’s apartment which makes him curious. When he sees him exit Meng’s place, he gives chase. Did that stranger kill Meng? In retrospect, has he given anyone reason to believe he would have wanted Meng dead?

Fans of film noir are going to find a lot to enjoy about Stranger on the Third Floor. The film’s script by Frank Partos is enjoyable and moves at a good pace with everything in the picture taking place in just over an hour of screen time. The main characters are given enough personality to feel well formed and the main dilemma faced by the characters is crafted well enough. Director Boris Ingster was much better known as a writer and producer, but he does a solid job in the director’s chair thanks to the work of the incredible cinematographer Nicolas Musuraca. Musuraca was a visual stylist who worked miracles in black and white on the films Out of the Past and Cat People when working with director Jacques Tourneur. Musuraca’s work defined the style of the classic Val Newton productions, so fans of those films will definitely enjoy seeing his work here. The camera movements in this picture are very well considered and the flashback techniques are pretty clever. There is a fantastic nightmare sequence that is very stylized and still holds up. Musuraca’s use of light and shadow in the picture is one of the key reasons why this film was considered to be the first film noir.

The noir elements in the movie are pronounced and will jump out to fans of the genre immediately: a killer on the loose, a wrong man on trial, a hallucinatory nightmare sequence, a mysterious stranger, presumptuous police, a woman in peril – all of these tropes and more can be seen in so many later noir pictures, but they are all present in this 1940 film. It is like watching the genre form as the film proceeds, which I found to be a lot of fun.

John McGuire is a real gem as the leading man. I’m surprised his career didn’t have many highlights, because I thought he had a lot of screen presence. Margaret Tallichet is well cast as the romantic counterpart that also shows a more heroic side in the latter part of the film. Charles Halton is enjoyable as the obnoxious Mr. Meng. Elisha Cook Jr. is always a welcome addition to a film, and I liked him as the wrongfully accused Briggs. Peter Lorre is not given a lot of dialogue in the picture, but sometimes all you need is a specific look and strong screen presence. Peter Lorre had that in spades and was more than capable of playing a creep.

These types of films with trench coats and fedoras appeal to me, so I really enjoyed Stranger on the Third Floor. People who don’t care for this genre may not feel the same enthusiasm that I felt for the picture, but I had a great time watching it.

Video

Stranger on the Third Floor is presented in 1.37::1 using an MPEG-4 AVC codec from a brand new 4K restoration in glorious Black and White. Thanks to the fantastic cinematography by Nicolas Musuraca, this film looks great on Blu-ray. Warner are some of the absolute best in the business on restoring older films, and this is another sterling example of their fine work.

Audio

Warner Bros. have provided a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that sounds good. As a mono mix front speakers are used for the entire mix. The audio has been cleaned up well.

Supplements:

• Vintage Cartoons –
  • Ceiling Hero
  • Wacky Wildlife
• Radio Shows with Peter Lorre – Three vintage radio broadcasts from Mystery in the Air, which aired in 1945 and 1946.
  • Beyond Good and Evil
  • Crime and Punishment
  • The Mask of Medusa

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 4.25/5

Warner Archive’s release of Stranger on the Third Floor will be of interest to fans of the film noir genre or fans of the classic Val Newton productions for RKO (due to the cinematography of the great Nikolas Musuraca.) This film has been considered by many to be the first film noir. I am not quite expert enough to be able to completely verify that claim, but I can verify that many of the building blocks of film noir can be seen in this picture. The cast is likable and the script is enjoyable. The film moves at a brisk pace and flies by in just over an hour. Overall, I had a great time watching Stranger on the Third Floor.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.