Stranger On the Third Floor

Stranger On The Third Floor is a movie that is not that well known. However, it deserves to be ranked amongst the best film noir's of the 1940's. The movie is relatively short, clocking in at just 64 minutes. The plot involves a reported who is a key witness in a murder trial of a young man who is accused of cutting the throat of a cafe owner. It's probably best that I leave the plot description there so that I don't provide any spoilers. Warner Archive has provided a stunning bluray restoration. The black and white cinematography looks pristine and the audio is solid. This is a must own for all film buffs. This is a true gem of a movie. Thank you Warner Archive for restoring this forgotten gem!!

This is the original RKO film noir with Peter Lorre as the evildoer (natch), Elisha Cook Jr. as The Guy Who Didn't Do It! (double natch) and the full talents of Van Nest Polglaise and Nick Musuraca were unleashed to design and film this 64-minute magnum opus. There's nothing like a good flashback and a dream sequence to show how unsettling life can be for a guy who sends Cook to Death Row (and having character actor Charles Halton for the original Neighbor Who Should Be Named Karen doesn't help). Director Boris Ingster never made another movie like this, and more's the pity, but it's on Blu-Ray now and it looks terrific.

I had never seen this or heard of this until its recent release. It moves along at quite a pace and I gather by its short length, this was more of a B picture, but don’t let that put you off. RKO has delivered some exceptional b grade movies and I would regard this as one of them.

Highly stylised, it is visually impressive, with its use of shadows and expressionistic imagery, it is captivating to look at. And this Blu ray release does the visuals justice.

I also enjoyed the inclusion of the WB spot-gag cartoon, Wacky Wildlife. A great bonus.

Stranger on the First Floor (RKO 1940) is considered by many to be one of the first Noir offerings. Running a brief 64 minutes, this blu-ray transfer is well up to the usual Warner Archive standard and has been remastered directly from 4K scans of the original nitrate camera negatives.

Peter Lorre, Margaret Tallichet, John Mc Guire and Charles Waldron star in this shadow-drenched mystery in the German Expressionist style. Well worth watching!