Stranger on the Third Floor - Warner Archive Collection

It might be easier to find a needle in a haystack than pinpoint the very first film noir. Candidates for that honor abound, and one of the frontrunners is Stranger on the Third Floor, an innovative and visually arresting B movie from 1940. Directed by the very talented but little known Boris Ingster, a Russian immigrant who helmed only three films, this 64-minute gem stands as a thematic and stylistic noir blueprint that's impeccably mounted and executed.

Everything on the noir bingo card is here. Murder, paranoia, claustrophobia, twisted desires, flashbacks, delusions, extreme close-ups, and shadows galore permeate this hour-long thriller. The only missing element is a femme fatale, but there's so much stimuli to keep us occupied, the sexy, vile villainess is hardly missed. The story and screenplay by Frank Partos, who would earn his sole Oscar nomination for scripting The Snake Pit, a riveting exposé of mental institutions, might seem at first glance like a retread of other, more acclaimed film noirs until we remember Stranger on the Third Floor coined many of the most familiar noir tropes.

The simple story concerns Michael Ward (John McGuire), a cocky newspaper reporter (is there a journalist who isn't cocky in a Golden Age movie?) who happens upon a crime scene and becomes the star witness at the murder trial of Joe Briggs (Elisha Cook Jr.). Michael's damning testimony sends Joe to the slammer, but following a brief period of self-congratulatory euphoria, during which his sensitive finacée Jane (Margaret Tallichet) expresses sympathy for Joe and admonishes Michael's callous behavior, Michael begins to second-guess himself and wonder if Joe might be an innocent victim of circumstantial evidence instead of a cold-blooded killer.

Guilt over his role in Joe's conviction consumes Michael, whose short fuse and violent temper occasionally land him in hot water. Tortured by his personal demons, he struggles to remain on an even keel. After Michael espies an odd, diminutive man skulking around his apartment building, he's sure he has found the culprit, but when Michael's overbearing next-door neighbor with whom he clashed in several prior run-ins meets a grisly fate, Michael quickly becomes the crime's prime suspect. The police are fairly confident they have an open-and-shut case, but Jane believes Michael is innocent and sets out to find the murderer herself.

The film's titular stranger is the always fascinating Peter Lorre, and his finely etched, creepy performance echoes his iconic turn as a child killer a decade before in Fritz Lang's classic German film M. Like a snake, he slithers in and out of scenes, casting an eerie, ominous spell. His hollow cheeks, bulging eyes, and crooked teeth lend him a monstrous look that he milks for all it's worth. Though he receives top billing, Lorre is little more than a supporting player, but his aura hangs over Stranger on Third Floor and sustains it.

It's too bad Ingster didn't direct more films (he favored writing and producing instead), because he's a master of composition and possesses a striking visual sense. The centerpiece of Stranger on the Third Floor - and its pièce de résistance - is a dazzling, avant-garde dream sequence that may have puzzled contemporary viewers unaccustomed to such innovation and creativity, but remains one of the period's most influential pieces of filmmaking. The psychedelic sequence exudes an expressionistic tone, with off-kilter camera angles, distortion, harsh lighting, deep shadows, and symbolic imagery combining to produce a frightening, surrealistic peek inside Michael's fractured brain. The seven-minute odyssey is worth the price of the disc and a treat for cinephiles, who will surely enjoy dissecting every frame.

Though some familiar faces pepper Stranger on the Third Floor in brief character parts (including a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit by 26-year-old David Wayne in his film debut as a cab driver), the two leads are largely unknown, which helps suspend disbelief. Tallichet only made seven movies and would retire from the screen a scant year or two after the premiere of Stranger on the Third Floor to raise a family with director William Wyler, who she married in 1938. (The two would remain married until Wyler's death in 1981.) She's a good actress and a vibrant presence, and she works well with Lorre, who terrorizes her during the movie's climax.

I must admit I was not at all familiar with McGuire, but upon researching his career I discovered he appeared in countless films I had seen, albeit in unbilled small parts. He carries the bulk of Stranger on the Third Floor on his strapping shoulders (one of several B movies in which he played the leading role), filing an intense portrayal that holds up well today. McGuire doesn't shy away from exposing Michael's darker side, and he keeps us guessing as to whether he's a dashing hero or a scoundrel.

Stranger on the Third Floor was a box office failure upon its release. Audiences weren't sure what to make of it, but within a couple of years, the seeds Ingster planted yielded plenty of juicy cinematic fruit. A new, exciting, and enduring genre soon would be born, and films like Murder, My Sweet and Spellbound would follow Ingster's lead, much to the delight of moviegoers then and now. Whether or not Stranger on the Third Floor is the first film noir is irrelevant. Its contributions, though, can't be denied or minimized.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Stranger on the Third Floor arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative yields an absolutely spectacular 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that celebrates this seminal film noir and faithfully honors Nicholas Musuraca's dazzling cinematography. Clarity and contrast are superb, with minimal grain supplying just enough texture to maintain the feel of celluloid and enhance the tale's hard-boiled, urban atmosphere. Dense blacks, bright, stable whites, a wide grayscale, and excellent shadow delineation produce a vibrant, sleek image that delights the eye and serves the expressionistic dream sequence especially well. Clean shadow lines heighten the noir accents and sharp close-ups - some of them quite extreme - showcase pores, glistening sweat, and Lorre's bulging eyes. No digital anomalies could be detected and no nicks, dirt, or scratches mar the immaculate source. Warner Archive hits another home run with this exceptional rendering that makes this B movie look like an A production.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track pumps out clear, well-modulated sound. Sonic accents like screams and fisticuffs are crisp, and a wide dynamic scale handles all the highs and lows of Roy Webb's music score with ease. All the dialogue is easy to comprehend and no age-related hiss, pops, or crackle intrude. Though there aren't a lot of bells and whistles on the Stranger on the Third Floor soundtrack (literally or figuratively), this track delivers strong audio nonetheless.

A few vintage supplements add luster to the disc.

• Vintage Cartoon: Ceiling Hero (HD, 9 minutes) - This highly amusing Looney Tunes cartoon spoofs all aspects of aviation in a series of clever episodes.
• Vintage Cartoon: Wacky Wildlife (HD, 8 minutes) - The animal kingdom is the target of this equally funny Looney Tunes short that lampoons a host of species.
• Vintage Mystery in the Air Radio Programs (84 minutes) - Three episodes of the Mystery in the Air series starring Peter Lorre are included. Beyond Good and Evil (29 minutes), Crime and Punishment (26 minutes), and Mask of Medusa (29 minutes) show off the actor in a trio of colorful roles.

If you love film noir, then you must add Stranger on the Third Floor to your collection. This seminal entry in what would become one of the dominant genres of the 1940s and '50s delivers an absorbing, suspenseful narrative and arresting visuals that have been painstakingly restored by Warner Archive. The gorgeous black-and-white transfer struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative and remastered audio brings this diamond in the rough back into the limelight where it belongs. No film noir collection is complete without it. Highly Recommended. 

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