# Stranger on the Third Floor

Stranger on the Third Floor is a 1940 American film noir about an aspiring reporter who is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat but who is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
    Directed by Boris Ingster. Written by Frank Partos and Nathanael West (uncredited).

## The Stranger

* I want a couple of hamburgers, and I'd like them raw.
* [to Jane, in dark street] Come along... and I'll see that nothing happens to you.

## Dialogue

    Mike: But what if she's right? He didn't do it and they give him the chair?
    Martin: Suppose they do? What difference does it make? There's too many people in the world anyway.
    Mike: What's the use of talking to you? You think everything's a joke.
    Martin: My son, it is. If it weren't, life wouldn't be worth living.
    The Stranger: [suddenly grabs her arm] They send you to take me back?
    Jane: [frightened] No. Who?
    The Stranger: [cautiously looks over his shoulder] Don't you know? The people who lock you up.
    Jane: Oh, no. Of course not.
    The Stranger: How do I know I can trust you?
    Jane: [nervously] Well, they... they, they wouldn't send a woman, would they?
    The Stranger: No. [laughs] No, they... they wouldn't send a woman. [laughs, then continues dispassionately] The only person who ever was kind to me was a woman. She's dead now.
    Jane: Oh... Why? Why do they want to lock you up?
    The Stranger: Oh, so they can hurt me. They... they put you in a shirt with, uh... long sleeves and... they pour ice water on you.
    Martin: [noticing how Meng is eyeing the legs of a pretty young woman] Who is that citizen?
    Mike: It's my next door neighbor.
    Martin: He looks as though his mind could stand a little laundering.
    District Attorney: So now you believe both murders were committed by the same man, eh?
    Mike: Yes, I do.
    District Attorney: Um... maybe you're right. As you pointed out, there are certain similarities between the two crimes. But you missed one. Perhaps the most important. Both murders were discovered by the same man - you.
    Mike: What are you driving at?
    District Attorney: Tell me, has there ever been any insanity in your family?
    Mike: Listen, I'm as sane as you are. And if you think I had anything to do with it, you're crazy.
    The Judge: [noticing a sleeping juror] Juror number two! The jury will pay strict attention to the evidence.
    Juror #2: [sheepishly] I'm sorry, your honor. I was up all night with a terrible toothache.
    The Judge: Well, that's too bad. But it's your duty to stay awake. And try and follow the evidence with as much intelligence as you've got!
    [the spectators snicker]
    Mike: [referring to Meng] Did you ever want to kill a man?
    Martin: My son, there's murder in every intelligent man's heart.
    Mike: He's no man. He's a worm - the kind you ought to jump on with heavy boots.
    Martin: You'll have to do an awful lot of jumping. The Earth is covered with 'em.
    Mike: [while absentmindedly gesturing with his dinner knife] It'd be a real pleasure to cut his throat.
    Martin: Say, you're not kidding. Put down that knife!
    Jane: I guess I'm just being silly.
    Michael: It's becoming.

## Taglines

* She loves a man..who almost dreams himself into the electric chair!
* Trailing a "tiptoe" killer!
* MURDER ...in a nightmare that comes TRUE ...to haunt an innocent man... Mystery thriller to baffle you.

## Cast

* Peter Lorre - The Stranger
* John McGuire - Mike Ward
* Margaret Tallichet - Jane
* Charles Waldron - District Attorney
* Elisha Cook Jr. - Joe Briggs
* Charles Halton - Albert Meng
* Ethel Griffies - Mrs. Kane, Michael's landlady
* Cliff Clark - Martin
* Oscar O'Shea - The Judge
* Alec Craig - Briggs' Defense Attorney
* Emory Parnell - Detective

## External links

* Stranger on the Third Floor quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Stranger on the Third Floor at Allmovie