Nonetheless, it has many of the hallmarks of film noir: an urban setting, heavy shadows, diagonal lines, voice-over narration, a dream sequence, low camera angles shooting up multi-story staircases, and an innocent protagonist desperate to clear himself after being falsely accused of a crime. It's absurdly overwrought (which was often the problem with the German variety), but interesting for it.

And he might even be right! Roy Webb Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 RKO Radio Pictures film noir directed by Boris Ingster and starring Peter Lorre, John McGuire, and Margaret Tallichet, and featuring Elisha Cook Jr.. This page was last edited on 25 January 2019, at 05:22. He is arrested and, in order to clear him, Jane sets out to find the strange man. August 16, 1940 (1940-08-16) One evening, outside his room in the house where he lives, Ward sees an odd-looking stranger. See, e.g., Lyons (2000), p. 36 ("RKO is usually cited as having produced the first true film noir, Margaret Tallichet, who played Jane, made only three more films, then married director, Server, Lee (1998). The trial of the ex-con is a vicious rendering of the American legal system hard at work on an impoverished victim ... [T]he sinister role of police and prosecutors in obtaining confessions and convictions [are] hallmarks of the hard-boiled literature that paralleled and predicted what we call film noir.

Lee S. Marcus When upstart journalist Michael Ward (John McGuire) testifies that he saw Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr.) at the scene of a murder, Briggs is jailed and sentenced to death.
Peter LorreJohn McGuireMargaret Tallichet The notion seems to have been that the way to put a psychological melodrama across is to pile on the sound effects and trick up the photography. "[9], The staff writer at Variety also believed the film was derivative, and wrote, "The familiar artifice of placing the scribe in parallel plight, with the newspaperman arrested for two slayings and only clearing himself because of his sweetheart's persistent search for the real slayer, is used ... Boris Ingster's direction is too studied and when original, lacks the flair to hold attention. Boris Ingster Directed by Boris Ingster. Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 American film noir directed by Boris Ingster and starring Peter Lorre, John McGuire, and Margaret Tallichet, and featuring Elisha Cook Jr..

"[8] Robert Portfino called it "a distinct break in style and substance with the preceding mystery, crime, detection and horror films of the 1930s. Modern research has shown that Nathanael West wrote the final version of the screenplay, but was uncredited.[2][1]. This article is within the scope of WikiProject Film.If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces.To use this banner, please refer to the documentation.To improve this article, please refer to the guidelines. "The Black List: Essential Film Noir" in. Approved | 1h 4min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir | 16 August 1940 (USA) An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself. "[8], Rotten Tomatoes reported an 83% approval rating with an average rating of 6.6/10 based on six professional reviews.[12]. The director, Boris Ingster, is better with shadows than with actors – venetian blinds carve up the characters with more fateful force than Paul Schrader's similar gambit in American Gigolo, and there's a dream sequence that has to be seen to be disbelieved.
The source code for the WIKI 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Apple. Stranger on the Third Floor is often cited as the first "true" film noir of the classic period (1940–1959),[3][4][5] though other films that fit the genre such as Rebecca and They Drive by Night were released earlier. "[8], Van Nest Polglase, who has been called "one of the most influential production designers in American cinema", was the film's art director. It will enhance any encyclopedic page you visit with the magic of the WIKI 2 technology.