STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 64 Minutes 14 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Boris Ingster
Cast: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet
In the RKO seminal horror-noir thriller Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), directed by Boris Ingster (The Karate Killers), New York City newspaper reporter Mike Ward (John McGuire, Dead of Night) finds himself in the spotlight when he becomes a key witness in a murder trial in which cab driver Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr., The House on Haunted Hill) is accused of murder, he protests his innocence, but Ward's testimony of what he saw bolsters the circumstantial evidence against him and he is convicted of the murder, screaming his innocence while he is carted off to jail. Ward's pretty fiancé Jane (Margaret Tallichet, A Star is Born) is in the courtroom during the trial and finds the ordeal rather unpleasant, moved by the cabbie's passionate protestations of innocence she begins to question the "what if..." of it all, what if Ward didn't see what he thought he saw? Ward, having been given a raise by his newspaper for his part in the trial doesn't really question it initially, he only told what he saw as he recalled it, and that's not his problem, he's just happy to have the raise which will make it feasible for him to marry the girl of his dreams.
After getting caught in a downpour later Ward invites Jane into his apartment to dry off, its innocent enough but the couple find themselves on the receiving end of scorn from Ward's landlady Mrs. Kane (Ethel Griffies, Werewold of London) and nosy neighbor Albert Meng (Charles Halton, 3 Godfathers), both of whom feel that the unmarried couple behind closed door's together is a rather shameful thing - oh the social mores were so much different 86 years ago! Ward is embarrassed and angered by the accusations and in the heat of the moment threatens to kill Mr. Meng. Later that night Ward has a nightmare that Meng has been killed and he is on trial for the murder, a real banger of a nightmare too with warped surreal imagery and shadowy expressionistic style, the nightmare is fueled by creeping doubt and guilt of his own involvement in the trial that condemned a man. Waking from his nightmare he is shaken and has a bit of a nervous breakdown. The next day when Ward doesn't hear Meng's signature loud-snoring through the walls he fears something may have happened to him, and when he checks on him he discovers that he has been murdered, his throat slashed, just like the victim Joe Briggs was convicted of murdering, casting further doubt on the man's guilt. He reports it to the police and asks to speak to the judge who convicted Biggs to contest his guilt, even mentioning a weird looking bug-eyed man (Peter Lorre, A Comedy of Terrors) he'd seen stalking the stoop outside of the apartment the night before the murder. The problem is that no one else seems to have seen this peculiar looking guy, and the case could be made that maybe Ward has flipped his wig and he is the murderer himself, after all, it was he who was present at both of the murder scenes! Ward's paranoia of being wrongly convicted proves all too founded, and he is arrested for the crime, leaving loyal Jane to try to prove his innocence, which put her in too-close proximity to the demented killer!
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is a terrific thriller, and at just 64-minute long it's tightly paced and fast moving noir-tinged horror, this one has pentyl of style, having been lensed by Nicholas Musuraca, who practically invented the Val Lewton-style of films like Cat People, Bedlam, The Seventh Victim, and the influential noir Out of the Past, with some terrific NYC street scenes, and a terrific cast. Lorre is only on screen for a few minutes, but as ever, he is memorable and off-putting. Likewise Elisha Cook Jr. is also only onscreen briefly but he also turns in a terrific performance.
Audio/Video: Stranger on the Third Floor (1990) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Archive in 1080p HD framed in 1.37:1 fullscreen, sourced from a 'New 2026 1080p HD Master from 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative', and it looks terrific, inky blacks with excellent shadow detail, crisp whites, and perfectly dialed-in contrast. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean an well balanced, dialogue and the Roy Web (Cat People) sound terrific, the track has been cleaned-up nicely and no hiss or distortion is resent.
Extras include a pair of Tex Avery Animated Shorts from 1940, both the 9-min "Ceiling Hero" and the 8-min "Wacky Wildlife", plus three episodes of the 1947 radio drama Mystery on the Air starring Peter Lorre, a mystery and suspense series sponsored by Camel cigarettes, and the inclusion of these three roughly half-hour radio dramas is a terrific inclusion for fans of old time radio and Lorre. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring the original illustrated movie poster artwork.
Special Features:
- Three episodes of Peter Lorre starring in the classic radio series Mystery on the Air: Beyond Good and Evi' (28:58), Crime and Punishment (25:40), and Mask of Medusa (29:01)
- Two Classic Cartoons: Ceiling Hero (8:49) and Wacky Wildlife (7:40)
Warner Archive's Blu-ray of Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is a total knock-out, a flawless transfer for a phenomenal horror-noir. The included extras are terrific as well, we get two Tex Avery animated gems and almost an hour and half of vintage radio dramas starring Peter Lorre, - this fantastic flick gets an enthusiastic recommend from me, no caveats whatsoever, everyone who loves cinema should own this.
Buy it!
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