Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Posted by A True Noiraholic

RKO Pictures, Inc Present, Original running time 64min.

The Film that Gave "Birth" to the Style called Film Noir

A young reporter name Michael Ward (John McGuire) is haunted by the the knowledge that he may have sent an innocent man to the electric chair for murder and that means the real maniac is still on the loose! Was the wrong man condemned? Then Michael's next door neighbor is also murdered, and in an ironic twist of fate, is Micheal the real maniac? And who is that bugged-eyed stranger on the third floor?

These are some of the questions that were waiting to be answered when the film that is considered the "first" film noir Stranger on the Third Floor was released in theatre(s) on August 16, 1940. Even though at the time of release this little "sleeper" wasn't considered the "first" film noir but just a "minor" low-budget "B" feature(s) film. Today it is often credited by most film critics, film historians, and film "buffs" as being the "first" film noir.

Directed by Boris Ingster (I'll Give a Million, Miracle on Main Street, Stranger on the Third Floor, The Judge Steps Out, and the noir Southside 1-1000)
Produced by Lee Marcus
Cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca
Musical Score by Roy Webb

The screenplay and story was written by Frank Partos (Guilty as Hell, Thirty Day Princess, She's No Lady, Rio (The last of which has been argued to be an even earlier noir than Stranger.) He was Oscar nominated for the film The Snake Pit and scripted two further noirs -- The House on Telegraph Hill and Night Without Sleep. (with uncredited script work by Nathanael West)

Stunning art direction by Van Nest Polgase (Whose next film project would be Orson Welles's Citizen Kane.)

The Cast: Peter Lorre (The Stranger), John McGuire (Micheal Ward), Margaret Tallichet (Jane), Elisha Cook Jr. ( Joe Briggs) (It seems as if a consensus has been reached among film noir buffs that if Elisha Cook Jr. is present in a film it has to be considered film noir...) Charles Waldon (District Attorney), Charles Halton (Albert Meng), Ethel Griffies (Mrs. Kane), Cliff Clark (Martin),Oscar O'Shea (The Judge), Alec Craig (Defense Attorney), Otto Hoffman (Police Surgeon).

In Stranger on the Third Floor a newspaper reporter Micheal Ward (John McGuire) get his "big" break when he happens upon a murder. Ward becomes the key witness at the murder trial of a petty criminal Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr.) who is accused of slashing the throat of a popular cafe owner name Nick Giuseppe. Briggs maintains his innocence and claims that he found the victim with his throat cut and "bleeding" inside his cash register. But Ward testimony convicts Briggs and he sentenced to the chair. With the "spotlight" now on Ward who acquired a $12.00 a month raise, a byline for his newspaper, and just enough money to consider marrying his girlfriend Jane (Margaret Tallichet) but she can't help feeling that Briggs is telling the truth and feels that their future will be "tainted" by Ward's testimony against Briggs. Unfortunately, Ward isn't too interested in her doubts about Briggs. As far as he is concerned Briggs is a petty criminal who made threats to Nick. Ward soon find out the hard way that threats and circumstantial evidence can convict an innocent man when an ironic "twist of fate" happens to him.

Stranger on the Third Floor also take a cynical look at the justice system and how people are indifferent to injustice. It also has one of the best dream sequences ever filmed. Taking place in Ward's boarding room, the protagonist dreams that he is arrested, tried, and executed for a murder he didn't commit~ is presented in a expressionist montage~thanks to strong character acting and to German expressionism cinematographer Nicolas Musuraca (1892-1975) who would go on to become arguably the definitive film noir cameraman through his work on The Fallen Sparrow, The Locket, Out of the Past (one of my favorite film noir flicks with Robert Mitchum), Clash By Night and The Hitch-Hiker. Musuraca's uses Germanic expressionism techniques to create the effects of high light and shadow effects, uses unique camera angles, and photographs the dark urban surrounding in a baroque style. His lighting was deliberately artificial emphasizing deep shadows and sharp contrast and were chosen to emphasize the fantastic and the grotesque. The actors seem to externalize his emotion to the extremes in the dream sequences in Stranger on the Third Floor.

Stranger was released in theaters on August 14, 1940 and was panned by film critics. "They have not done right by by Peter Lorre in this picture," wrote Variety on September 04, 1940. "He's so subordinated in the story that his character amount to a "bit." More accurately RKO hadn't done right by the audience who would be entitled to expect to see more of the ostensible star."

(Reviewer Note: RKO had Peter Lorre on a short contract when Stranger on the Third Floor entered production realizing that he was not booked to work on his last two final days, the studio assigned him to a minor role in the film. But as befitting his "star" standing, he received "top" billing.)


Today Stranger on the Third Floor is well received by film critics but, as a low budget "B" features it does not appear to have been reviewed anywhere in the press, and went largely unnoticed until film critics "rediscovered" it in 1970s and proclaimed it the first "true" noir even though there are some critics who disputed this. According to some film critics the films Blind Alley, Rio, and Let Us Live! predates Stranger on the Third Floor by a year. John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (in which both actors Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr. appeared in after their appearance in Stranger on the Third Floor) is also often cited as the first film noir until the appraisal of Stranger on the Third Floor because, unlike Stranger, Huston's Maltese Falcon partly conforms when it come to having all the elements of noir. But it doesn't seems to tick off as many boxes as Boris Ingster's Stranger on the Third Floor. For instance, Huston preferred balanced low contrast lighting, eye level shots, subjective and low level (when he was framing Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) viewpoint to emphasize his bulk.) Ingster's "Stranger on the Third Floor" on the other hand, exhibited all the elements to qualify in the category of a film noir with it high contrast lighting, deep shadows, aural expression, voice-over narration, oblique camera angles, dreams and flashback. These are just a few reasons that Stranger on the Third Floor is considered the first film noir because it exhibits all the elements of the Germanic expressionist style. Even though some films critics didn't like the ending I think that the ending is very appropriate because it is like emerging from a perpetual "darkness" into the "light "or waking up from a "nightmare" that wouldn't end, but still the thought of the nightmare lingers.

Was the wrong man convicted? Then Micheal's next door neighbor is murdered? In an ironic twist of fate, is Michael the real maniac? And who is that little bugged-eyed stranger on the third floor? In order to find out the answer to these questions, I highly recommend that film noir fans whether you are a "novice" or a long time "collector" of film noir to watch Boris Ingster's hidden "gem" Stranger on the Third Floor because it is considered by many film critics to be the film that gave "birth" to films with that "noir style" which consist of making use of high lighting-and shadow effects, unique oblique camera angles, dreams and flashbacks which is also characterized by dark somber tones, protagonist, femme fatale, and a cynical pessimistic mood. What we film noir "purist' like to simply refer to as Film Noir.

Availability: According to author of the book Film Noir by Eddie Robson(published in 2005) "At the time of writing Stranger on the Third Floor is not commercially available anywhere in the world and has not been for quite some time, a 1980s VHS release having been deleted long ago."

Availability Update: The film "Stranger on the Third Floor" is out-of-print on VHS but, you can probably find RKO original copies of this film on Amazon.com and eBay websites. (Reviewer Note:I was "lucky" to find a nice copy on eBay website.) The price can range anywhere from $29.00 (used) to $129.00 (new). By the way, noir fans another interesting website to visit in order to purchase this hard-to-find title at a more affordable price is: www.yammeringmagpie.com

Editor's note: Spoilers in the video below!