THREE STRANGERS
US, 1945, 92 minutes, Black and white.
Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Joan Lorring, Robert Shayne, Marjorie Riordan, Arthur Shields.
Directed by Jean Negulesco.
Three Strangers is an entertaining thriller with twists. It was co written by John Huston with Howard Koch. It was directed by Jean Negulesco, who worked at Warner Bros at this time (Mask of Dimitrios, Humoresque, Johnny Belinda) and was to move to 20th. Century Fox and many glossy films including How to Marry a Millionaire and Woman's World.
This film shows three strangers and their midnight encounter, a Chinese goddess, a lottery ticket. It soon emerges that the three characters have secrets and are not at all the virtuous members of society they might at first seem. The film shows the reversions of luck. There is a dramatic and downbeat ending.
Geraldine Fitzgerald is effective as the selfish Crystal. Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet (who worked effectively in such films as Casablanca, Mask of Dimitrios, Passage to Marseille) give typical performances.
The film has the Warner Bros. production values - including a studio lot London.
1. Interesting and entertaining melodrama? Themes of good and evil? Fate and luck?
2. Warner Bros. production values: black and white photography, the London setting? Musical score? The stars?
3. The title and the focus on the encounter of the three people? Drawn together by fate? The goddess? The lottery ticket? The race? people and their secrets? Good and evil? Being defeated by their greed?
4. The plausibility of the plot: the chance encounter? Crystal controlling West and Arbutny? Her proposal? Midnight? The pact? The reversal of luck? Their downfall? The melodramatic style -making the implausible enjoyable?
5. Crystal and her background, tours of the East, the goddess? Her leading West and Arbutny to her flat? The proposal? The pact? Crystal and her husband? His arrival? Her schemes? Trying to win him back? Going to the Foreign Office behind his back? Poisoning his girlfriend's mind? Her melodramatic style? Her. husband wanting to murder her? Her hold over West? Her refusal to sell the ticket despite Arbutny's pleading? His killing her? Her husband intending to kill her? The reversal of luck?
6. Arbutny and Sidney Greenstreet's style, respectable lawyer, his financial dealings and speculations, the rich widow, his deciding to marry her, the irony of her seeming stupidity and talking with her dead husband and yet her getting the books examined? His pessimism? Decision to kill himself? News of the draw for the race? His putting pressure on Crystal? His madness in killing her? His going out into the street trying to draw attention to himself as a killer? His mental collapse? The reversal of luck?
7. Peter Lorre as John West? Musician? Alcoholic? His being caught up in the murder? The landlady and her prying? His friend? The court cast? His having to hide? The arrest? His being set free? His friend killing their enemy? His not caring about the money? Reunited with the girlfriend? His trying to cover for Arbutny? The irony of his having the winning ticket? Burning it?
8. The melodrama background of the murder: the man in court and the prosecution, his false witness and his phoniness? The girlfriend and her testimony? Betraying his friends? Gabby and his killing him? in prison? Freeing John? Girlfriend reunited with John?
9. Enjoyable melodramatic characters? Situations? Themes of chance, evil?
