Three Strangers (1946)

Three Strangers

Tonight’s November Noir is 1946’s “Three Strangers”. This was part of a series of movies starring Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet that were marketed as spiritual sequels to “The Maltese Falcon”. The pair made nine movies together and when they weren’t supporting Bogart their pairing became the selling point. They had great chemistry and who doesn’t love a trailer that starts out with Greenstreet offering to tell us an astounding story. Joining them in this one is the very talented Geraldine Fitzgerald who plays the pivotal character bringing the three together, though this is very much Peter Lorre’s movie.

The movie was based on a John Huston idea that he came up with at a party and after bouncing the idea off Alfred Hitchcock presented it to Warner. Originally Humphrey Bogart was on board but that changed and at director Jean Negulesco insistence they settled on Peter Lorre as lead. It’s worth noting Negulesco had worked with both Lorre and Greenstreet previously with the very entertaining “The Mask of Dimitrious” and was clearly a fan of the pairing.

Three Stories

The movie is basically three shorter stories linked by pivotal meetings between the three strangers. These meetings were instigated by Crystal (Fitzgerald) who believed an old superstition about her bronze statue of the Chinese goddess Kwan Yin (The goddess of fortune) who would grant three strangers that meet at her statue at midnight on Chinese New Year their wish (of fortune). She convinces the other two strangers, Johnny (Lorre) and Jerome (Greenstreet) to go along with it and Johnny offers up his sweepstakes ticket he purchased with the last of his cash at the end of the day as the source for that potential fortune if the others buy out a third of the ticket. After the initial meeting their stories progress separately until the first horse of the sweepstakes comes in and then they return to the apartment for the conclusion of both the sweepstakes and their own stories.

Of course this is Film Noir, not a fantasy or comedy. So as we get into the individual stories we see that these are broken people heading towards disaster. Jerome is a dishonest accountant embezzling money from a trust fund to make a profit on the stock exchange. A proud man that refuses to admit his own guilt and so when his schemes start to collapse he becomes desperate. Crystal meanwhile is a manipulative Femme Fatale refusing a divorce to her estranged Husband and trying to drive a wedge between him and his lover (Who he wants to marry).

Three Tragedies

Johnny however is not himself a bad person and though in a desperate situation remains calm and it seems has a good heart. He is on the run from the law, but in truth he is only a petty criminal (If even that) mixed up with something much more dangerous due to his alcoholism and agreeable nature. He has been framed by one of the criminals he was mixed up with for the murder of a policeman.

In traditional Noir style things obviously don’t end up well for Jerome or Crystal but Johnny does find some redemption by the end of the story and is ready to change his life (and even stop drinking). This movie landed well with me from start to finish. But it’s worth noting that Johnny’s story is by far the highlight. Jeromes is fairly bland though Sydney Greenstreet has his moments in the role. Crystals story is an interesting one as is her character. Although a Femme Fatale, Crystal is not your typical one as she is driven more by her idea of a fairy tale ending than greed and selfishness. She actually deals honestly with her fellow strangers and it’s only in dealing with her husband that her darker side comes out.

As I said though Peter Lorre is the star and he nails it. The little Hungarian may have had a funny voice and a strange face but he had buckets of charm and talent in equal measure. His story is the most complex of the three and his supporting sub-cast is the most entertaining. Greenstreet barely has a supporting cast and it’s not a surprise really he is at his best when meeting up with the other strangers. Fitzgerald’s supporting cast is basically her husband and his lover and they are fine but it’s Geraldine herself that makes that story interesting.

One Resolution

Overall this was a very crafted story. The weaker third is the shortest and the stronger third the longest which keeps the pace solid and for the time given all the stories did their job. The three leads were all superb and the linking anchor added a really interesting element to the stories. I have to admit I am a sucker for stories involving strangers meeting up in unusual circumstances. It’s just something that I find narrative gold. The elements of gambling on a fortune are also very much ones you see regularly in Film Noir, though usually ancient Chinese goddesses aren’t involved in the gamble. Then on top of that we have several classic Noir tropes with the alcoholic, the dishonest businessman and the femme fatale. Lorre’s character though is somewhat outside of the usual Noir gallery and that allows the film to feel unique.

There aren’t really any negatives her outside of not especially being into Greenstreet’s Story. But as a Film Noir I do have to examine the use of visuals and there is really nothing special here. Competent though Negulesco is, he was not one of the great visionaries of his day and I recalled that fairly straightforward movie style from his “The Mask of Dmitrios”. The music is your average affair for the time and doesn’t especially stand out. But this is all fine because the John Huston story is what makes this film work. I’m giving this a strong 6.5/10