The Passing of the Third Floor Back

René Ray is wonderful as Stasia, servant girl at a London boarding house occupied by a nasty landlady and a wicked bunch of boarders. Stasia was hired on the cheap from a reformatory and receives nothing but scorn and cruelty from the boarders. She longs for escape, or at least a bit of kindness: "If only there was one decent person…." Pushed to her limit, Stasia heads for the door, where—

Conrad Veidt walks in and immediately the girl senses something different in him. It's a beautiful, surprising scene: She is suddenly smiling.

Veidt is a very polite, extremely soft-spoken and apparently nameless stranger. He leases a tiny third floor apartment in the house and quickly and quietly changes the atmosphere, the relationships, the attitudes of the other boarders.

Among the group, Beatrix Lehmann stands out as Miss Kite, a not-so-old spinster who is bitter that time is passing her by—and in whom the spark of energy and love of life is perhaps re-lit. Anna Lee gives a strong performance as the beautiful young woman who is her impoverished parents' only valuable possession. Must she marry the wealthy Mr. Wright, thus solving their financial problems? It's a heartbreaking dilemma; Lee makes it seem real.

Frank Cellier is the slimy Mr. Wright, a businessman whose success is achieved through laying others low. Alone among the boarders, Mr. Wright is not affected by the stranger's mysterious presence. The action will eventually build toward a showdown of sorts…but not one in any way conventional or expected.

Although most of the action takes place in the boarding house, a joyous sequence in the film's midsection shows the group taking a boat trip down the Thames. The characters loosen up, find enjoyment, begin friendships. The wonder in Stasia's face when the boat goes under the Tower Bridge as it opens for them! It's a glorious moment.

Conrad Veidt is mesmerizing and intense; René Ray is full of fear and joy and excitement. Their scenes together are quite wonderful.

It's an oddball movie, not particularly easy to watch; it looks evil and human weakness pretty directly in the face. But it's also positively moving—it's certainly left me thinking and wondering what it's all about.

This film is about a boarding house in England that rents rooms to a variety of people. One day a tall, older man wishes to rent a room. At first the landlady does not wish to rent the room, but due to his mesmerizing eyes, she allows him to be her tenant. At the beginning, the house he enters is full of selfish, problem-ridden people who are fairly miserable with their lives and can't have any fun. After a few weeks of living and talking individually with this mysterious stranger, they begin to ease up and live their lives more happily. However, a rich, old scrooge (who looks like Hitler minus the moustache) lives in the house, too. He has evil intentions to destroy everything the stranger has mended in the house by tempting the contented tenants with his dirty money.

This movie had good characters. I especially liked Miss Kite and the stranger. Miss Kite looks a lot like a prettier/smarter Tori Spelling and is quite an intriguing and gutsy character. The stranger is so calm and shaman-like, it's very soothing to see him on screen. He almost mesmerizes YOU!

The character Vivian looks a lot like Drew Barrymore. It's funny how female movie stars seem to keep the same basic aesthetics throughout film history - at least in this film.

I liked the English cynicism presented in this film. For example, while two men are arguing, they are offering each other sugar in their tea, or milk, and being ultra polite to each other. More polite than usual. It is funny to see how polite they are to each other while they are discussing how each will screw the other over. It's like the more polite you are to your enemy, the more points you get towards conquering them.

The only downfall to this movie is, as an American, it was rather difficult for me to understand the 1930's British accents. But this has nothing to do with the film and plot itself. Overall is was an quirky and oddly entertaining film that you would probably enjoy!

I thoroughly enjoyed this film the first time I saw it. I have seen it twice in about the last 10 years on late night TV. It's been a while since my last viewing of the film.

It has a powerful message and has elements of the hero-flick, in the personal presence, and apparent infallibility of Mr Veidt's character.

The sinfulness of our human character, in several of its guises, is on display in this film; lust, greed, folly, etc.

What is compelling is Veidt's character's dealing with such realities of our nature. Rather than blasting all the evildoers away with bullets as one might expect in a "hero-flick", he expresses patience, acceptance of their frailties and love to the unlovable house guests.

The film might prompt you to ask the question, who in history has loved humanity in such a sacrificially way?

To demonstrate to anyone that 1930s films could be imaginative without being pompous, clever but still fun, and thought-provoking but not preachy, make them watch this! It's a beautifully made thoroughly entertaining story essentially about being nice to one another!

The script was written by Alma Reville, Mrs Alfred Hitchcock who frequently collaborated with her husband. On this occasion however Gaumont-British used their new Austrian exile, realist avant-garde Berthold Viertel to direct along with another German exile, distinguished cinematographer Curt Courant who both created a perfect blend of gritty realism and surreal expressionism. A lot of time was spent before shooting took place experimenting with different camera angles, with light and shadows to both capture the drudgery of normal life whilst at the same time hinting at something ethereal and mysterious without being too obtrusive about it.

Subtlety is the watchword here in both the story and the presentation. The acting is subtle - there's no early thirties style theatrical gesturing here or ridiculously over-blown clichéd stereotypes. You can believe that these people you're watching are real people and when you watch them you think you notice little tell tale signs which give you a insight into what they're thinking. The story is subtle - although some reviews suggest that the stranger is an angel there's absolutely nothing in the film to back that up. He's just a charismatic force for good. That's what's so good about this picture, it allows your imagination to fill in the gaps. Personally, I'm going with he and MARY POPPINS are both time travellers who have come back to save the world by making various people happy who otherwise would have started World War Three. There is one scene however which alludes to something more spiritual: the stranger intimates that the loathsome, evil Mr Wright recognises him as though this conflict between good and evil, between the angels and demons has being going on for a long, long time.

This is very much an ensemble piece, although Conrad Veidt will ingrain himself forever into your memory, the rest of the cast - all of them are just as authentic. The film's co-star is Réne Ray. She plays Stasia the maid from the slums who is treated with such cruelty and scorn by her "betters" that her life is unbearable. She is one of those characters whom you find totally adorable and instantly likeable - perhaps it's because the rest of the boarders are so unpleasant, perhaps it might even be because she looks a bit like Jessie Matthews? It is Stasia who in desperation cries out into the darkness: Is there not one decent person in the world? .... and it's at that point that Conrad Veidt knocks on the door and the world slowly changes.

This is a really interesting film, based on a Victorian play by Jerome K. Jerome, famous for his humorous Three Man in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) ca 1890.

Its director, Viertel, had left Germany for England, where he made several films. The Stranger is played by Conrad Veidt, famous for his roles in Dr. Caligari, and Casablanca. It is an allegory of the struggle between good and evil. I especially enjoyed the performances of Conrad Veidt and Mary Clare, and it amused me to note that the builder, Mr. Wright, also appears in The 39 Steps as the Sheriff.

It is not an easy film to find, but I think it is one of my favourite British films of the 30's, except for Hitchcock. Even so, I think's it better than some of his minor works, like Rich and Strange. It may be one of Veidt's best portrayals, which says a lot, especially if you are familiar with his work in The Thief of Bagdad, The Spy in Black and Casablanca.